Dessert of the Week: Malted Milk Ball Ice Cream Cake

This dessert is no joke.  It is hands-down the richest, most decadent ice cream cake dessert I've ever had.  Yes, it really is THAT good!
I have had an addiction to malted milk ball candies for decades now.  They're my candy.  17 years ago, one of my coworkers knew of my malted milk ball addiction and made this dessert for one of my bridal showers.  It was so good, I begged her for the recipe and then made it for almost every Summer party our first year of being married.  But then, since my husband isn't a huge Whoppers fan, I kind of forgot about it.  Until now.
For our family's Labor Day BBQ, my mom asked me to make a dessert.  We already had the jumbo box of malted milk balls in our pantry, so it was an easy decision.  I made sure to make it the night before so that it would have time to set and get firm before the party (if you forgot to prepare it the night prior to your party, plan to make it so that it can have at least 6 hours of chill time to set).
For this dessert you will need:

• 1 and a 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1 Stick Butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• One large box of Whoppers malted milk balls (at least 14 oz., but we usually do more)
• 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream
• 4 tablespoons malt powder
• Hot fudge or caramel sauce (we love Sanders chocolate sauce)
• 8 oz. Whipped cream (we use cool whip)

First, melt the butter and mix in the graham cracker crumbs and sugar (my daughter loved the job of crumbling up a packet's worth of graham crackers!).  Firmly press them in a 9x13 pan, making a crust, and set aside.  Next, break up all of the malt balls (This is really easy if you let them freeze for about 30 minutes first).  

If you have little helpers around, this is a great was to keep them occupied AND get the work done!  

Spread the ice cream onto the crust and then evenly sprinkle about 1/2 cup crushed Whoppers on top.  Next slightly heat the chocolate sauce in the microwave and pour over the crushed Whopper layer.

Once you have a layer of chocolate sauce, mix the malted milk powder and 3/4 cup crushed Whoppers in with the whipped cream.  Spread that on top of the chocolate layer and sprinkle the rest of the crushed Whoppers on top as a finishing touch.  

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge to harden for at least 6 hours.  Then comes the fun part!  Five to ten minutes before you serve the dessert, take it out to slightly thaw (to make it easier to cut into).  If you really want to overdose on sugar, heat up and drizzle a few tablespoons of chocolate sauce on top.

Enjoy!