In the Kitchen: Nutella (again) in an ice cream cake!

You have probably figured this out but, I have a thing for Nutella. Plus, we've found that buying it at Costco is the best deal so I keep trying to find ways to use it in ways we can share before I eat an entire jumbo size of it myself. All in one night.

Earlier this year I started with the Nutella Cookies, which I turned into Nutella Ice Cream Sandwiches which I have now turned into Nutella Ice Cream Cake! If you remember, I ended up using a biscuit cutter to make cleaner edges on the Ice Cream Sandwiches which left me with lots of leftover cookie crumbles. Rather than throwing them away I turned them into this:

What you'll need:

4 Cups Nutella Cookie crumbles
1/2 Gallon Choclate Chip ice cream
2 cups hot fudge
2 cups Nutella
For the icing- 1 pint whipping cream, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon cocoa

The plan:

Before icing.

First, take a loaf pan and line it with saran wrap. Next, take your cookie crumbs and whizz them through the food processor until they are finely ground. Fill the pan evenly with a layer of ice cream about two inches high then put the pan in the freezer. While you are letting the first layer chill for a bit, put 1 cup of the hot fudge and one cup of the Nutella in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it has melted evenly through. Take the pan out of the freezer, layer two cups of the cookie crumbs followed by the hot fudge and Nutella. That's right- put the pan back in the freezer to chill for a couple minutes. Then, take it back out and add another 2 inches of the ice cream, then back into the freezer and prepare the cookie crumbles/melted hot fudge and Nutella step over again. Once that layer has set to chill for a couple minutes add the crumbles, fudge and Nutella. Make sure this layer is even and thick because it will end up being the  bottom layer of the cake. Put back in the freezer overnight or for 12 hours.

Before serving, mix a pint of whipping cream with a stand or powered mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in powdered sugar and blend until smooth. Pipe or spread icing onto cake and then sift cocoa onto the top for garnish.

This may look like a long process, but it is extremely easy and the perfect make-ahead dessert for entertaining! I tested the first run out on my co-workers and they seemed to really like it. My boss gave me a great tip too- next time she suggested adding raspberries for a tart touch which I totally plan on doing. Everyone offered to be used as a taste tester again should I try another round with berries so I'm taking that as a good sign!

In the Kitchen: Return of the Nutella Cookie

Last week, my Nutella Cookie recipe went over so well I decided to kick it up a notch and make it into a more summer-ish dessert.

Behold, the Nutella Ice Cream Sandwich.

To make these bad boys I just used the same Nutella Cookie recipe and added some chocolate chip ice cream. I thought long and hard about how I was going to make them look presentable so, after the cookies were baked and cooled I used a scalloped biscuit cutter and cut them into a more clean-cut shape. (Don't worry, I have yet another trick up my sleeve to use the baked cookie scraps!)

For the center, I spooned the ice cream into a standard muffin tray, filled the cups up about half way, smoothed the tops and popped them back into the freezer. This made them into a much easier shape to work with.

Once the ice cream was frozen, I assembled the sandwiches and put them back in the freezer to make sure everything stuck together.

 After testing these out on a few people I can verify that these are a true warm-weather hit!