M&M Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake with Hot Fudge {plus big news!}

Before I tell you about this ridiculous, hot fudge covered, M&M cookie dough studded, ice cream laden chocolate cake, I should probably explain to you why I have been so absent from blog land for the last few weeks. You guys were probably worrying that I was never coming back from Germany. Well, I wasn't going to. I reminded my boyfriend every day that I was never leaving. But... 

Now I've got a wedding to plan, so I had to leave him after all. But I will return. And soon. We are getting married in August (!!!!!!!!!!!). And then we are moving back to Berlin (!!!!!!!!!!). So anyway, I have a lot of planning to do in a short amount of time, so if any of you guys have any kind of advice on wedding planning, comment your hearts out below. 

I guess you guys probably want to know all about how and we got engaged and all that. Well, I'll just sum it up as quickly as I can so I can get back to being a bridezilla. 

First, let me say, Berlin is amazing. It's such a cool city. It's full of green trees, beautiful architecture, cobblestone roads, food to eat, places to see and things to do. I could go on all day about how much I love Berlin. Believe me, I have. But I'll spare you the thirteen paragraphs for now.

How did we get engaged? Well, it was much more romantic than either of us anticipated. After he didn't propose in the tunnel of lilac bushes by the lake (apparently there was a big trash can in sight, which I don't remember) and he didn't propose in the rowboat at the river cafe (actually why didn't you? I totally thought you wanted to do it there), and he didn't propose on our romantic walk before dinner one night (I think he was too hungry or something? I can't remember.), we finally decided to go on a Sunday drive up to the sea. 

We found ourselves at this resort and asked the butler (or whatever you call those fancy guys who stand at the front of hotels) where we could find a restaurant. He told us the only place to eat in town was at his resort. Well, okay. I don't know if he was being 100% truthful, but we got out anyways. 

We get to the restaurant. The lady asks us if we want the gourmet restaurant or the regular. Regular of course. We were hoping for maybe a burger or something. She leads us into the restaurant. It's a gigantic ballroom with crystal chandeliers as big as semi trucks and a lady playing a grand piano for our entertainment. The waiter pulls out our chairs for us. Actually he didn't pull out my chair because I'm sitting on a bench with about a million fancy cushions. We are almost the only people in there and waiters keep bringing us things and doing all kinds of fancy things that we don't understand.

"If this is the regular restaurant, what's the gourmet one?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad we happened to be dressed up from church still or else we would look really stupid right now."

"We just have to act like we know what's going on. We probably can't fool the waiter, but we can at least fool those two old aristocrats sitting over there."

"I don't think we have to whisper."

"Oh yeah, we can probably talk normally. It is the regular restaurant after all."

So I was totally feeling the mood sitting there seeing my handsome man all dressed up, the sea out the window behind him, gourmet dinner, candles flickering, piano playing, waiters bowing. All ridiculously romantic. 

Then we ran down to the beach. Sun setting, waves crashing, etc. That's where he did it.

You probably are going to ask now, "Well, did he get down on one knee??" 

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did. I was in kind of a daze from everything being so romantic, but I do think he did get down on one knee. Yeah, of course he did!"

"And did you say 'yes' or what exactly did you say?" you ask.

"Well, I must have. What did I say, honey? Yes? Okay, yeah, I said yes."

Now about this cake. You should definitely make it. It was a big hit. I don't remember when or why I made it, but I do remember it was a big hit and everyone loved it (well, at least I did). If you are a raw cookie dough fanatic, you will go crazy for this cookie dough frosting. If you are a hot fudge lover, you will appreciate this super easy and delish hot fudge recipe. If are an avid eater of chocolate cake, this one is the richest, chocolatiest one you'll ever have. If you are all of the above, then prepare yourself for a sugar coma.

• M&M Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake with Hot Fudge
• 
  
• For the Cake:
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk (or coffee or dairy free milk or a combination)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (or all-purpose gluten free flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease two 8 inch pans and dust lightly with cocoa powder. 
• Combine the butter and cocoa and cook on the stove or in the microwave until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and then the milk a little at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla. 
• Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. 
• Divide the batter into the pans and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before moving on to the next step.
• 
  
• For the Ice Cream (I made my own cookie dough ice cream since it needed to be gluten free, but you can just use about 2 cups of cookie dough ice cream instead of making your own cookie dough):
• 
  
• 1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 
  
• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup flour (I used gluten free oat flour)
• 1/4 cup mini M&ms
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 
  
• Mix together the butter, sugars, and vanilla. Add the salt and flour and stir just until combined. Add the M&Ms and chocolate chips and stir just until combined. Press into about a one inch slab and refrigerate until firm. Cut into chunks. 
• Soften the vanilla ice cream and stir in the cookie dough chunks (I left some of the cookie dough chunks to put on the top of the cake at the end). 
• Immediately stack the cooled cake layers together with the softened ice cream in between and place in the freezer until firm before moving on to the next step. You can press some plastic wrap around the edge to keep it from dripping if you want to.
• 
  
• 
  
• For the Cookie Dough Frosting:
• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup flour (I used gluten free oat flour)
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 1 cup M&Ms (I used a combo of mini and regular)
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 
  
• Mix the butter and sugars together. Add the vanilla and salt. Alternately add the milk and flour until desired consistency is reached. Immediately frost cool cake (if you leave it sitting out and try to stir it again, the color on the M&Ms will just run). 
• 
  
• 
  
• For the hot fudge:
• 14 oz. can  sweetened condensed milk 
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 
  
• Microwave for five minutes, stirring after every minute. You can also cook it on the stove. Can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated. 
• 
  
• For the little cookies to garnish (optional):
• 1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), softened
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoona vanilla
• 1 cup flour (I used gluten free oat flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• About 1/2 cup mini M&Ms and/or mini chocolate chips
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
• Combine the butter and sugars and mix well. Add the yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined. 
• Add the flour, soda, and salt and mix just until combined. Stir in the M&Ms and/or chocolate chips.
• Scoop out by about 1/2 tablespoon. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until done. 

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