Doppelganger Ice Cream Cake--Recipe Friday

I looked up this past week and saw a man peeping at me out of a boy's eyes. Nope. I'm not trying to say Precious Angel is a man but he just returned from participating in back-to-back summer programs at West Point and the Air Force Academy After that, there's bound be some (a minuscule bit) man about the boy. He started drinking black coffee while he was gone. The coffee drinking isn't new. He drank coffee as a toddler when he could get someone to give it to him but he liked it loaded down with cream and sugar. If he could get chocolate syrup and whipped cream, even better. This habit lasted until two weeks ago. No more. Frankly, I'm relieved.

He loved it—not just the black coffee, but the whole experience. The only bad thing he had to say was that he couldn't get any decent sweet tea in New York or Colorado. Go figure. It's not going to be any better next week while he's at Annapolis.

We're glad he loved it. Truly. But his mother and I did not love his absence. Not one little bit. But we might as well get used to it. Anyway, there was much rejoicing and producing of his favorite foods upon his return.

She made grilled venison burgers. Oh, my word. What that woman can do to venison. I can't even tell you. Even if I could, you probably don't have any venison. I know I don't. Which is fine for me, since I have her and she's got a freezer full. Too bad for you.

Anyway. I was in charge of macaroni and cheese with bacon and ice cream cake. I wandered into the kitchen and found him looking at the last of the ice cream cake.

"I think I'm going finish it off," he said. (This was not his first piece. I don't even think it was his second.)

"You go right ahead, baby," I said. "Don't even get a bowl. Eat it right off of the serving dish. It's better that way,"

His head snapped up. "Whoa," he said, putting his hand out. "Get behind me, doppelganger! The real Jean would never say that. She would say, 'Get a bowl!'"

Yeah, well.

Doppelganger Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pints of vanilla ice cream
• 3/4 cup peanuts
• 1 cup plus 1/4 peanut butter chips
• 2 ounces of toffee chips
• 1 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
• Butterscotch sauce
• Chocolate sauce

Directions

Let the ice cream soften in the refrigerator for a while.

Line an 8-inch spring form pan with plastic wrap. It should hang over a little.

Empty the slightly softened ice cream into a bowl and mix in the peanuts, 1 cup of chips, toffee chips, and 1 cup of the cookie crumbs.

Scrape the ice cream mixture into the spring form tin flattening the top like a cake and cover the top with plastic wrap and place in the freezer to firm up. Overnight is best but four or five hours ought to do it.

Serve the cake straight from the freezer. Unmold from pan and put on a plate or cake stand.

Sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining chips and crumbs.

Cut into slices and serve with the butterscotch and chocolate sauces.

It should go without saying, but you can mix this up any way you like, using different cookies, ice cream flavors, nuts, etc.