Keeping cool

As I write this, we’re getting the first rain we’ve seen in about a month, along with quite a bit of lightning (including a strike that knocked out my power for half a second, requiring me to start this post over-grrr). When I got out of my air-conditioned car this afternoon after work, the blast of hot air that hit my face really was like opening an oven. In this kind of weather, nothing beats a cold dessert!

I made a recent favorite of mine last night to take into work today. I got the recipe out of a company cookbook from the last place I worked and made a few tweaks that really turned it into a home run. Here it is:

Buster Bar Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients: 1/4 cup melted butter; 1 bag of regular oreo cookies; 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream; 1 can of fudge topping; 1 8-oz. container of cool whip; 1-2 cups of honey roasted peanuts.

Directions:

1. Set the cool whip out long enough to thaw completely. If you’re using a rectangular box of ice cream, leave it in the freezer until you’re ready to use it-otherwise, leave it out long enough to be soft but not soupy.
2. Crush 2/3rds of the oreos into very small pieces and crumbs, but set aside 1/3 of them for garnish, then pour the crushed ones in a large bowl. Melt the butter and add it to the oreos, mixing well into a kind of crust. Mash the mixture into a 9” x 13” baking pan.
3. Using a spoon, scoop all of the fudge topping into a skillet (I made the one last night using caffe mocha flavor, which turned out excellent). Set the burner on the lowest setting and melt the fudge, but turn it off if it starts to bubble.
4. If you’re using a box of ice cream, open up the box and peel it off the ice cream. Then, with a long knife, slice the ice cream into three, 1”-thick layer pieces. Lay two of these on the oreo crust in the pan, the third will require more slicing in order to fit. If you’re scooping the ice cream, just make sure the entire oreo crust is covered-this will require about a half-gallon’s worth.
5. Gently pour the fudge out of the skillet on top of the ice cream. (If you scooped your ice cream and it is melted, the fudge will run between the scoops and form a second crust when frozen.)
6. Sprinkle as many peanuts as you prefer over the top.
7. Add the cool whip on top of the peanuts.
8. Crush the remaining 1/3 of the oreos as chunky or fine as you like and sprinkle them on top of the cool whip.
9. Put tin foil over the pan and freeze for at least 3 hours.
10. Cut with a knife and serve.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!