Oreo® ice cream cake is a frozen confection that combines the flavor of Oreo® cookies with the sweet, creamy taste of ice cream. The novelty is usually shaped like a cake, and people generally slice and serve it like a cake as well. It can be made out of Oreo®-flavored ice cream, or it can contain plain vanilla ice cream with Oreo® cookies in the middle. Sold in many grocery stores and ice cream specialty shops, other flavor variations might also be available.
Many people are familiar with Oreo® cookies as the brand that has a layer of sweet icing sandwiched in between two chocolate-flavored wafers. It is unclear who first came up with the idea of mixing Oreo®s into ice cream, but the flavor became popular in the early 1980s. Sometimes generically called cookies and cream, either the whole cookie or just the chocolate wafer is mixed with vanilla ice cream to create a taste combination that is a favorite of many.
Ice cream cake itself is an irresistible treat, combining two classic party favorites, that is, cake and ice cream, into one easy-to-eat dessert. The exact history of ice cream cake is a bit foggy, but it might go as far back as the mid-1800s, when ice cream was sometimes frozen together with sponge cake and served at special occasions. Over time, commercial manufacturers developed better methods for freezing and molding ice cream into different shapes, and the ice cream cake became a well-known treat.
For those who enjoy both the taste of Oreo® ice cream and the fun novelty of ice cream cake, Oreo® ice cream cake combines the two. Usually, an Oreo® ice cream cake is made from a cookies-and-cream-style ice cream that is molded into either a round or square shape and frosted with a frozen whipped cream topping. Oreo® cookies are sometimes placed on top for decoration. While this confection is widely available at stores and ice cream shops, some people choose to make their own, using pie plates or cake molds to form the ice cream into the desired shape.
Other variations of Oreo® ice cream cake are also available. For instance, one sandwiches crushed Oreo® cookies between two layers of vanilla ice cream, rather than having the cookies mixed into the ice cream itself. Another style contains no cookies at all. Rather, the name “Oreo®” refers to the layering of vanilla ice cream in between two layers of chocolate to mimic the design of the cookie. People also enjoy chocolate versions of Oreo® ice cream cake, where the cookies are blended into chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla.
