Inspired by the other week’s fake-cake recipe, I came up with the following boo-tiful Halloween dessert. This would be perfect for any seasonal dinner party you might have coming up on your calendar, but especially works for the Halloween holiday.

I didn’t want to overdo it with the pumpkin richness, especially since my T-man is involved (he’s a vanilla fan), so I alternated the one pumpkin layer of ice cream with a plain vanilla layer. Of course, if you have a crowd who just LOVES pumpkin, try it out with a double-pumpkin, no vanilla option. I also did not sweeten my whipped cream because of the existing sugars – and again, overall richness – of the other ingredients (cookies and ice creams both).

Other ideas for topping your terrine: Drizzled pumpkin butter (another Trader Joe’s product); crumbled plain vanilla Joe-Joes; or a savory, spooky scene made up of cookies, candies, and other decor (i.e., chocolate wafer gravestones with white or orange gel script on them; candy corn jack-o-lantern designs; or a large skull made up of black licorice). I was short on time, so crumbled cookies it was for me. You could even change the layers and overall flavor from a cookies-and-cream variety to another cookie flavor by using chocolate chip or  peanut butter cookies. The possibilities are endless really.

By the way, all of the ingredients I list below are straight from the shelves of Trader Joes, so this version is a one-stop shop recipe along with being easy-to-make (20 minutes assembly; 1-2 hours set-up). Not sure about you, but I love not having to take a tour of my local grocery stores when it comes to gathering baking ingredients for just one recipe.

Enjoy!

“Kooky” Ice Cream Terrine

Gear:
– 4.5”x8.5” Loaf Pan
– Parchment Paper (I tried wax paper, but it didn’t hold up as well)
– Large Ice Cream Scoop
– Hand-mixer
– Soft Rubber Spatula
– Bowl to whip cream (pre-chilled or not; I didn’t chill my bowl simply because I forgot to!)
– Wooden Spoon
– Zip-top plastic baggie

Ingredients (all found at Trader Joe’s):
– 3 large scoops Trader Joe’s Premium Pumpkin Ice Cream
– 3 large scoops Trader Joe’s Premium Vanilla Ice Cream
– 1 cup whipping cream
– 24 Trader Joe’s Halloween-Style Joe-Joes chocolate sandwich cookies (pumpkin faces with orange-colored, vanilla-flavored cream centers)

 Directions:

1. Layer 8 of the Joe-Joes 2×4 along bottom of a parchment-lined loaf pan; line paper to cover all four sides of the pan cleanly with a nice portion overlapping the sides (enough to cover top when folded back over the finished dessert, enough to use to potentially lift dessert later from the pan).

2. After letting ice cream sit countertop in its carton for a few minutes to soften slightly, place 3 large scoops of the pumpkin ice cream equidistant along the length of the loaf pan on top of the 8 cookies.

3. Using a very gentle touch, take rubber spatula and in an “X” motion smooth the ice cream scoops one-by-one over the top of the cookies. As ice cream softens more, smooth ice cream in an even layer on top of the cookies as if you are frosting a cake. The amount of ice cream should easily cover the cookie layer.

4. Whip cold cold cream as-is (do NOT add sugar!) on high mixer setting until stiff peaks form (90 seconds – 2 minutes). Take ½ of the cream and smooth over the ice cream layer, which should thinly cover ice cream entirely.

5. Layer another 8 of the cookies 2×4 on top of the cream layer.

6. After letting ice cream sit countertop in its carton for a few minutes to soften slightly, place 3 large scoops of the vanilla ice cream equidistant along the length of the loaf pan on top of the cookie layer.

                                

7. Again using a very gentle touch, take rubber spatula and in an “X” motion smooth the ice cream scoops one-by-one over the top of the cookies. As ice cream softens more, smooth ice cream in an even layer on top of the cookies as if you are frosting a cake. The amount of ice cream again should easily cover – but not push down – the cookie layer.

8. Take the other ½ of your whipped cream and smooth over the ice cream layer, which should thinly cover ice cream entirely and almost come to the top of the loaf pan.

9. Take last of the 8 cookies; in a sealed sandwich bag, crush cookies with a wooden spoon. Take cookie crumbles and sprinkle over the top of the terrine.

10. Fold in overlapping wax paper pieces to cover top of the terrine; completely wrap pan in plastic wrap and return to freezer; terrine should set up in 1-2 hours.

11. Remove terrine from freezer, unwrap, and using wax paper overlapping pieces, lift terrine from loaf pan. If you need to thaw and loosen a bit, use this trick: Fill a loaf pan next size up with warm water 1/3 way up; nest your frozen dessert still in the pan in the larger pan for 10 seconds, remove, then try to lift terrine out again.

12. Once out of the pan, transfer terrine to a plate and cut 1” slices with an electric or other serrated knife (we used our serrated cheese knife that has holes for a non-stick, clean slice) and serve immediately. Serves 8.