If making home-made ice-cream, prepare it in advance. Mix the condensed milk and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended. Using an electric whisk, beat the cream in a separate bowl, until stiff. Fold the cream into the condensed milk mixture until well blended. Spoon into lidded plastic or foil containers and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight until solid. You will not be using 400ml of this for this recipe so keep this in a separate container for another time. This will keep for up to three months in the freezer. Remove 10-20 minutes before serving (depending on size of block and how warm your room is) until soft. When needed to assemble the cake it should be spreadable but not completely thawed.

To make the caramel sauce, place the caster sugar in a large, heavy-based, stainless-steel (so you can see the colour) saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer, without stirring, for 6-8 minutes until amber in colour. Remove from the heat and add the brown sugar, butter, cream and salt. The mixture will bubble, spit and become lumpy but just stir vigorously until it dies down. Return to the heat, turn it up and allow to bubble for a further 2 minutes, continuing to stir until it forms a smooth thick sauce. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. This will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

For the chocolate sauce, snap the chocolate into a large heatproof bowl and melt either in the microwave in 30-second blasts, stirring between each go, or over a pan of simmering water, shallow enough that the water doesn’t touch the bowl. When melted, remove from the heat and set aside. Put the cream, milk and butter into a medium pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Once simmering, remove and pour into the melted chocolate, stirring all the time until evenly blended to a smooth chocolate sauce. This can be made in advance and stored for 2-3 days in the fridge.

To soften the sauces if necessary, warm them through gently in 30-second blasts in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water, until pourable. Then leave to cool to body temperature.

Oil the cake tin and line the sides with parchment paper. Cut the Snickers bars into 5mm-thick slices and roughly chop the waffle biscuits into small bite-sized pieces.

Scatter a third of the waffle pieces in a single layer in the bottom of the tin. Spoon a third of the ice cream on top and spread evenly. Scatter on a third of the Snickers pieces in a single layer. Drizzle with a third of each of the caramel and chocolate sauces. Repeat these layers again, using the same quantities of everything. Then scatter with the remaining waffle pieces and finish with the remaining ice cream, smoothing the top. You should have a third each of Snickers pieces and caramel and chocolate sauces left for serving. Cover with cling film and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight until frozen solid.

When ready to serve, remove the cake from the tin and sit it on a cake stand or serving plate. Peel off the parchment paper and leave for 15-20 minutes to soften a little. Then, to decorate, arrange the remaining Snickers pieces on top and spoon over the caramel and chocolate sauces so they just dribble down the edges.

To serve, cut into 12-14 wedges, which is best done with a long sharp knife, dipped in boiling water and wiped dry between each cut. Leftover ice-cream cake should be frozen straight away. Wrap individual portions in parchment paper and seal in a food bag. These will keep happily in the freezer for up to a few months.

This recipe is taken from my first book, No Bake-Baking, available in all great bookstores and online here.

Photo (c) Donal Skehan.