Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sam's Birthday Cake!
Sam's birthday is September 12th, and I decided to try something new...my first-ever ice cream cake. What can I say...she's worth it!
I started working on it on Thursday, the 8th; I knew there were steps involved.
First, I had to bake some cake. I made a pretty basic white chiffon cake--flour, sugar, egg whites, milk, and vegetable oil. I kicked them up a bit with some lemon zest and freshly-ground ginger. Two layers, about 7 inches in diameter.
The following day, I lined one of those same cake pans with plastic, and filled it with strawberry ice cream (Sam's favorite). I put it back into the freezer, to allow it to get thoroughly hardened.
Next, the frosting. I wanted to keep it basic, so I made a cream cheese frosting, with confectioners sugar, Greek yogurt, and a little more lemon zest. I also added a teaspoon or so of strawberry jam, to give it a faint pink color.
I trimmed the cake layers, making sure they were perfectly flat (they weren't, but so what?). I layered the ice cream between the cake layers, and applied a crumb coat of my frosting. The cake then went back into the freezer for a couple of hours, to allow the crumb coat to solidify.
The crumb-coated cake:
I decorated the cake with "Gummi" strawberries, and strawberry-flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans. The little rabbit on top is actually a garden decoration--he's made of ceramic!
The finished product:
Happy birthday, Sam. I love you!
Sam's birthday is September 12th, and I decided to try something new...my first-ever ice cream cake. What can I say...she's worth it!
I started working on it on Thursday, the 8th; I knew there were steps involved.
First, I had to bake some cake. I made a pretty basic white chiffon cake--flour, sugar, egg whites, milk, and vegetable oil. I kicked them up a bit with some lemon zest and freshly-ground ginger. Two layers, about 7 inches in diameter.
The following day, I lined one of those same cake pans with plastic, and filled it with strawberry ice cream (Sam's favorite). I put it back into the freezer, to allow it to get thoroughly hardened.
Next, the frosting. I wanted to keep it basic, so I made a cream cheese frosting, with confectioners sugar, Greek yogurt, and a little more lemon zest. I also added a teaspoon or so of strawberry jam, to give it a faint pink color.
I trimmed the cake layers, making sure they were perfectly flat (they weren't, but so what?). I layered the ice cream between the cake layers, and applied a crumb coat of my frosting. The cake then went back into the freezer for a couple of hours, to allow the crumb coat to solidify.
The crumb-coated cake:
I decorated the cake with "Gummi" strawberries, and strawberry-flavored Jelly Belly jelly beans. The little rabbit on top is actually a garden decoration--he's made of ceramic!
The finished product:
Happy birthday, Sam. I love you!
