The Perfect Ice Cream Cake

A summer birthday or a summer party deserves a good ending namely an ice cream cake. Most people usually head to their local ice cream shop to get this treat. However an ice cream cake is easy to make and assemble. What  is great about a home made one is that it can be customized with favorite fillings.

The first step is deciding is how elaborate you want to make it. There is one recipe that just calls for layering ice cream sandwiches in a nine by thirteen baking pan. Hot fudge and Cool Whip is slathered on between layers. The icing is another layer of Cool Whip with a heavy dusting of shaved chocolate.It is then covered and frozen for an hour before serving.Caramel sauce can be subbed in for the fudge for a different spin. Another idea that takes a little more work but has a lot of flavor is one that takes inspiration from those Dairy Queen and Carvel cakes. It's easy but has a lot of steps. The recipe involves first placing a springform pan in the freezer for fifteen minutes.  Vanilla and chocolate ice cream is used, however you can vary the flavors. Try chocolate and mint chip for mint lovers. Coffee lovers should have layers of coffee ice cream. The filling is crushed Nabisco chocolate wafers mixed with that hard shell topping (although you could use a fudge sauce as a binder too.)  The three layers are frozen for two hours and then iced with whipped cream. Multicolored sprinkles are then scattered on it.You can also pipe whipped cream rosettes  around the bottom and top or even make buttercream roses if you're feeling ambitious.

Another idea is baking a cake and filling it with ice cream. If you don't have time buy the mixes. There are some good ones such as Red Velvet  and German Chocolate. You can also make scratch cakes too, and make them a bit healthier by using whole wheat flour. These can be made in layers or as a sheet cake, depending on the size of your party. The ice cream can also be homemade if you have an ice cream maker. You can try different fruit varieties here too. Think a vanilla sheet cake with a peach, blueberry or strawberry ice cream along with a topping of fresh fruit too. A fun idea is a "naked" ice cream cake , one without icing. Bake three scratch cakes, try a marble or chocolate chip one  and then  as you would with filling, cover the layers with about an inch of softened ice cream. You can even blend in candy, fruit or cereal for some texture and more flavor.Just "ice" the top most layer with a thin layer of ice cream and decorate with sugar gel or with sprinkles. Some home bakers recommend using a "dense" cake like pound cake because it holds better than the lighter , more crumbly cakes. It's up to you with what kind of cake to use..Any ice cream cake can be served with chocolate or salted caramel sauce.

An ice cream cake adds so much to a summer party. Making one and customizing it is a real treat  because it's full of favorite flavors.It's a nice way to welcome a warm summer night.

Cookie Party Interactive Baking

Cupcakes at the mall? Yes, these fun treats are even showing up next to department stores thanks to the latest pop up stand Cookie Party. Despite the name, the micro bakery serves some cool cakes along with other treats. Best of all they can even plan a party for your kids. Not many regular bakeries can do that but Cookie Party can.

Cookie Party is , like other bakeries, a family owned business, started in 2007 by Judy Pennetti and her two children , Dana and Anthony, who also help in the baking and managing. She cashed in on the concept of "mother's little helper" to create an interactive bakery at their East Hanover location . Here kids  bake and decorate their own creations along with having cake and pizza . Parents are not that far away,  relaxing in a separate room, enjoying  a big screen TV and Cookie Party treats.There's also a micro bakery in the Garden State Plaza as well as one at the ultimate kid's paradise, Times Square's Toys R Us.

The cupcakes I had were good - and kid perfect. The brownie nut  was just that but in cupcake form with a creamy, fudgy frosting.The sprinkle kind  was not only cute but also tasty. It was a simple vanilla with a fluffy butter cream topping. On my next trip I am definitely going to try their red velvet along with the tiramisu. There's cookies,of course, including the butter S spritzes which is the bakery' signature treat. Brightly colored butter cookies  and pecan cups are also featured as well as the Cookie Party's version of a Reese's peanut butter cup. This last is more like a ping pong ball sized  truffle . Cookie Party also makes regular cakes and cheese cakes too.

Cookie Party represents a new kind of interactive bakery. However it still makes thesame treats we've loved as kids as well as some spins on classics. It's not only fun but also unique.