1/4 cup good quality caramel sauce, store bought or homemade, recipe follows
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Whipped cream or whipped topping, salted peanuts, maraschino cherries, and sprinkles for decorating
Homemade salted caramel sauce:
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap so that there is a good overhang on all sides. Dollop about a third of the softened ice cream or defrosted whipped topping into the pan and spread it into an even layer. Gently press four of the ice cream bars into a layer on top of the ice cream/whipped topping followed by a drizzle of half of the caramel sauce, half of the banana slices, and half of the peanuts. Carefully spread another layer of the ice cream/whipped topping on top and repeat the layers as listed above.
Finally, finish off with a final layer of ice cream/whipped topping and gently cover the loaf with the overhanging plastic wrap. Pop your ice cream sundae cake into the freezer to firm up for 24 to 36 hours so that it is nice and solid.
Before you’re ready to serve the cake, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring after each until completely melted.
Retrieve the cake from the freezer, unwrap the top and turn out the cake onto a serving dish, making sure to remove all of the plastic. Quickly drizzle or spread the chocolate shell on top of the cake and decorate with a few dollops of whipped cream or whipped topping, extra salted peanuts, maraschino cherries, and sprinkles.
Serve immediately or pop back in the freezer until ready to eat.
For the homemade caramel sauce:
Pour the water into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and top with the sugar. Do not stir this mixture at all prior to adding the cream as this will cause crystals to form and prevent your caramel from being silky smooth.
Cook the water and sugar mixture until it becomes a deep golden colour, approximately 10 to 13 minutes.
Remove the caramel from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream and whiskey.
Return the caramel to the heat and cook, stirring frequently over medium-low, until the caramel has thickened quite a bit. This should take approximately ten minutes.
If there are lumps in your caramel after adding the cream, that's ok. Just keep whisking over the heat and they should dissolve.
Once thickened, remove the caramel from the heat and whisk in the butter, vanilla, and salt. Set aside and allow to cool completely. Store the caramel in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for up to two weeks.