Quick and Easy Ice Cream Birthday Cake
For Kids from 3 to 103!

Yield: one 9-inch cake serves 12

Ok, if you'd like to see a group of adults regress to childlike behavior, make this cake! This candy-studded ice cream cake has been a beloved part of every one of my children's, husbands, and many of my friend's birthday celebrations. Actually, I wouldn't dare serve anything else! Although I love making homemade ice cream, for this cake, which has so many contrasting tastes and textures, its fine to use best-quality, commercially prepared ice cream. You'll notice that throughout this recipe I've specified my favorite specialty "brand names" of cookies and candies, but this is only a guide. The ingredients you choose are strictly about the person being celebrated. And, if you want to make a sugar-free cake, there are loads of sugar-free ice creams, cookies and candies to choose from. This recipe is, from top to bottom, about giving pleasure to someone you really care about. You won't believe how easy it is to make someone happy!

Special Equipment:


• 9-inch spring-form pan (for a larger crowd, use a 10 or 12-inch pan)
• Food processor (optional)
• Electric mixer or a balloon whisk and wide shallow bowl
• Metal icing spatula, preferably with an elbow bend
• Pastry bag with star tip
• Cardboard cake box (optional), for freezing

Ingredients:


• 1 box Nabisco thin chocolate wafers
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1 stick (¼ pound) unsalted butter, melted
• 1½ pints each best-quality vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, softened to a spreadable (not soupy) consistency
• 4 large Butterfinger bars, crumbled (hit with a can or meat mallet while still wrapped)
• 1½ cups crushed Oreo cookies (regular or fudge-covered)
• 1 recipe Perfect Whipped Cream (see recipe)
• Optional Toppings (below are just a couple of suggestions)
• Assorted colored sprinkles (also called "Jimmies")
• Cake decorating gel
• Chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• M&M's candies (regular or peanut filled)

1) To prepare cookie crust: Put chocolate wafers in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and grind them fine. Alternatively, place broken up cookies (in batches) in a heavy-duty plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin until finely crushed. Transfer crumbs to another bowl and whisk in cinnamon, if using. Add melted butter, mixing with a fork until thoroughly blended. Press a thin layer of crumbs on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan, using all of the crumbs. Place pan in freezer to firm up crust while ice cream continues to soften to a spreadable consistency.

2) To set up to assemble cake: Line a shallow baking sheet with waxed paper and place chilled crust on the tray. Squeeze vanilla ice cream out of its containers onto the bottom of the crust. Using a metal spatula and your hands, spread the softened ice cream evenly over the bottom of the crust. (Dip your hands in the hot water as necessary but always dry them thoroughly before continuing.) Cover ice cream with crumbled Butterfinger bars, pressing gently. Spread chocolate ice cream over crumbs and cover with crushed Oreos, again pressing gently. Cover crushed cookies with strawberry ice cream and smooth the top with a metal spatula. Place into the freezer to firm for 1 hour.

3) To top the cake: Prepare Perfect Whipped Cream (following) as directed in recipe. Spread 2/3 of the whipped cream over the top of cake and reserve the rest for a decorative border. (For smoothest surface, spread only once in one direction, then scrape off excess whipped cream into bowl. Continue spreading and scraping until surface is perfectly smooth.) Return cake to the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes, just to firm the whipped cream.

4) To decorate the cake: Fit your pastry bag with a star tip and fill bag with remaining whipped cream. Remove cake from freezer and pipe on a simple swirled border around its circumference. If desired, sprinkle border with some colored sprinkles. Return to freezer to firm for 4 hours, uncovered (or freeze for several days). Once very firm, you can cover the cake with plastic wrap. The day of serving, write a message on top with decorating gel and/or sprinkle the inside of the piped whipped cream with another thin border of crushed unsalted peanuts or a ring of M&M's.

5) To freeze and store the cake with a written message: Either purchase a cardboard cake box from a bakery or stick toothpicks in the border of whipped cream (to camouflage the holes) and drape aluminum foil loosely over the top. This will help prevent freezer burn.

6) To remove the spring-form sides and serve: When cake is thoroughly frozen, dip a dish towel in very hot water and wring it out. Place the hot towel around the sides of the pan to help release it from the crust. Unlatch lock and ease off sides. Return cake to freezer. To serve, remove cake from freezer 30 to 40 minutes before serving to enable it to become softened enough to cut into wedges. Present the cake whole and cut into wedges at the table.

For a 10-inch cake: Increase the cookie crumbs (for the crust) to: 1 ½ boxes of chocolate wafers, mixed with 1½ sticks of melted, unsalted butter. Increase the amount of ice cream, per layer, to 2 pints. Use a bit more cookies and candies in between the layers and keep the whipped cream topping the same.

For a 12-inch cake: Increase the cookie crumbs (for the crust) to 2 boxes of chocolate wafers, mixed with 2 sticks of melted unsalted butter. Increase the amount of ice cream, per layer, to 3 pints. Use a bit more cookies and candies in between the layers and increase the whipped cream topping, as follows: Whip 3 cups heavy cream with 2/3 cup sugar and 1½ teaspoons vanilla.

To Fill a Pastry bag: The star tip should first be inserted into the bag and secured in place. Place the bag with the tip facing down into a tall drinking glass. When the tip hits the bottom of the glass, fold the remainder of the bag down over the outside rim of the cup. Fill the inside of the bag with the filling. Alternatively, you may simply cuff the top portion of the bag over your left hand (if you are right handed) and fill the bag with your right hand. The glass method is particularly good for the beginner and when filling a pastry bag in advance of a procedure so the bag can stand upright without the contents spilling out.

Perfect Whipped Cream

Special Equipment:
• Electric mixer or a large balloon whisk and a wide, shallow bowl

Ingredients
• 2 cups very cold heavy cream (preferably not ultra-pasteurized)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup regular or superfine sugar, to taste
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1) To whip cream by hand: Add cold cream to a chilled, wide and shallow bowl. Tilt one side of the bowl upward slightly with your hand and grasp a large balloon whisk in your other hand. Apply large, sweeping, circular strokes to the cream in a continuous, repetitive motion until the cream becomes thick. Once thickened, add sugar and vanilla while continuing to beat. (To relieve some of the pressure from your mixing arm, hug the bowl in toward your body as you continue to whip until you reach the desired consistency.)

2) To whip with an electric mixer: Place cold cream in the chilled bowl and begin to beat with the chilled whip attachment. As cream begins to thicken, add vanilla and gradually increase the speed while adding the sugar in a steady stream. Beat until the cream is of desired consistency, checking the consistency frequently to avoid overbeating.

3) To store: Use the whipped cream as desired and refrigerate leftovers in a covered bowl or secured in a pastry bag (with the tip in place) standing within a tall drinking glass.

Variations: Fold 1 to 2 tablespoons melted chocolate into the already thickened cream. Or, reduce the vanilla to 1/2 teaspoon and, when adding to the cream, add 1 tablespoon of your favorite liqueur.