Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

It's been so hot in Utah the last few days that I've been craving ice cream and Popsicles every day. This is my answer to the summer heat- Strawberry Ice Cream Cake adapted from this Vegetarian Times recipe. The original recipe uses basil insted of mint, agave nectar instead of honey and significantly less ice cream.

Ideally,  you will need an ice cream maker to make the sorbet, but I managed without it. The sorbet layer was just a tiny bit hard to cut at first, but if  you let the cake sit for a few minutes, it cuts just fine. If you have an ice cream maker, use it.

• 4 cups vanilla ice cream
• 4 cups strawberries, stemmed and halved, plus 1 cup whole or sliced strawberries
• 1 ripe banana, cut into pieces
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp fresh mint, chopped 
• 1/2 cup chocolate graham crackers, pulsed in food processor

1. Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with tin foil. Make sure the ends hang over the pan edges for about 2 inches. This will make the unmolding job so much easier once the dessert is frozen.

2. Using a stand-up mixer or blender, soften the ice cream for about 1 minute. Add 1 1/3 cups halved strawberries and mix for 30 seconds. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the loaf pan. Freeze for 30 minutes.

3. In a blender, pulse 2 2/3 cups halved strawberries, banana, lemon juice, honey, and mint until pureed. Transfer to ice cream maker and follow the manufacturing instructions to create a sorbet. Spread sorbet over ice cream mixture in pan, freeze 45 minutes or until just beginning to set.

ALTERNATIVE: If you don't have an ice cream maker, just spread the pureed strawberry mixture over ice cream mixture. Freeze for 30-45 minutes or until just beginning to set.

4. Spread graham crackers over the sorbet, pressing in. The reason you spread them on partially set sorbet is so that the the crackers crumbs would stick to it. Some of them won't stick and that's okay. Wrap pan in tin foil. Freeze 6-8 hours or until fully set.

5. Unmold the cake unto a serving plate. Let stand in room temperature for 5-8 minutes. Slice into 1/2 inch slices. Serve garnished with reserved whole or sliced strawberries and fresh mint.