Around the Table

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

by Annelle Williams

Summer is full steam ahead and our goal continues to be learning how to live this new life with COVID-19. Groceries are easier to come by these days, and the fear of chicken and pork shortages has passed. You can even find toilet tissue on the shelves, along with paper towels and napkins. Here’s a very easy dessert with simple ingredients that will satisfy everyone and help keep us cool. We’re having our cake and ice cream, too!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

Use an 8-9 inch cake pan lined with parchment. Leave 2 strips of parchment long over sides of pan to help with removal.

Crust

2 cups mini pretzels 2 T brown sugar 1/3 cup salty peanuts 3 T butter, melted

Put pretzels, peanuts and brown sugar in food processor. Pulse until medium grind. Add butter and continue to pulse until combined. Mixture will begin to stick together.

Pour half the crumbs into cake pan lined with parchment paper. With a large spoon tamp the crumbs until they are spread evenly over bottom and up sides. Pour remaining crumbs on sheet pan. Bake both pans in preheated 350° oven for four or five minutes, until beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Cake

3 pints vanilla ice cream 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (or your favorite flavor that 1 small container of whipped complements peanut butter I used vanilla chocolate chip.) topping

Spoon half the ice cream into bowl. Stir and break up until softened. Fold half the peanut butter into ice cream, creating ribbons of peanut butter running through the ice cream. Spread this peanut butter/ice cream mixture on cooled crust. Sprinkle most of crust crumbs evenly over top. Cover with plastic wrap. Freeze until hard. Repeat with remaining ice cream and peanut butter. Smooth this layer over frozen layer. Freeze again until very hard about 4 hours.

When ready to serve remove cake from pan to a flat cake plate. Top cake with whipped topping. Garnish with remaining crumbs from crust. Serve immediately.