Milk Dud Ice Cream Cake

I volunteered to make dessert for Jeff's birthday a couple days ago; a couple things I know for sure is that he doesn't like regular cake, he does love my ice cream cookie sandwiches (click here for last year's ice cream cookie cake) and milk duds are his favorite candy - so I thought I'd make a milk dud ice cream cake this year. I couldn't find anything like that when I googled for ideas, hmmmm - am I onto a new thing? The fact that I couldn't find any milk dud ice cream cake recipes should have given me pause, but I charged ahead.

First of all - the ice cream cake part was delicious. The problem came when we tried to eat the frozen milk duds - the term 'rock candy' comes to mind! Also, between the rice krispy base and the magic shell topping it was not easy to cut. So I'll tell you how I made it, then add a couple notes on what I'd change to spare you a little trouble.

• 1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream, divided
• 2 cups cocoa rice krispies (regular flavor would be fine but our store was out)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 bottle caramel sauce (I used Saunders)
• magic shell (click here for my homemade version that was great)
• 3 boxes milk duds

1. Let the ice cream sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften. 

2. Spray a springform pan with non-stick spray. Cut 2 long pieces of saran wrap, long enough to wrap up over the cake, and line the pan with the long ends hanging over the edge of the pan.

3. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth, stir in the rice krispies. Reserve about 1/4-1/3 cup and press the remainder in the bottom of the pan.

4. Put a layer of ice cream on top of the base, press and smooth into an even layer. Add caramel sauce to cover, top with the remaining rice krispies and 1.5 boxes of milk duds cut in half. Freeze until solid. 

5. Top with more softened vanilla ice cream, return to freezer. Once solid, pour magic shell over the entire top, letting it run down the sides. Once it's hardened drizzle with caramel sauce and top with the remaining 1.5 boxes of milk duds cut in half. 

notes: 

1. Initially I melted 1 cup of chips and added 4 cups of rice krispies but that made way too much. The thinner the better since it was a little hard to cut thru the frozen base. For this recipe I cut the amount in half but you might still have too much (or too little) so use your judgement and make more or less. Same with the bit I reserved out for the middle layer, I just put a handful of crumbled rice krispie/chocolate mix on top of the caramel. Use more or less as you want.

2. The magic shell topping looked and tasted great - but when I sliced the cake it shattered (like magic shell does!). I didn't think that out before topping the entire cake with it. It looks good tho, so if you want to add it just let everyone see the cake before you start cutting it - it's not pretty after the top cracks apart.

3. The milk duds looked great but frozen they're hard to eat. Next time I'd add the candy right before serving instead of putting in on top of the cake and then freezing them! Didn't think that thru either hahahha.