Ice Cream Cake Winter Penguin Fest

December is the craziest month in my home. The two boys' birthdays pile up with Hannukah and Christmas and all the functions that come together for the end of the year. Normally I rush so much that the birthday cakes are not well photographed, and I never get to post about them. The same happens to my latkes, Christmas cookies, and all other festive food prepared for the season.

But this one here was different: It sounded like the easiest cake ever, so I dared to organize my bag with the camera and decorations for the cake and hope that everything would go well before putting the cakes together.

But it was one of the most challenging cakes I ever prepared, because it was a first. The result was so interesting that I decided to share it here, because I could not find a good recipe with step-by-step instructions and had to work with my own intuition.

My 5-year-old, who is turning 6 today, was adamant about having a ice cream cake, and his theme was penguins. I figured out that edible penguins could be added to the side of the cakes, and cute plastic figurines could add action to the penguin playground.

The day before assembling the cake, I baked a single layer in one the molds that became the first base for the rest. But putting it all together was not as easy as I imagined. I had some difficulties, like spreading the ice cream evenly and making sure that all would be set.

The birthday boy helped destroy cookies to make a layer of crunchy yumminess. And later, he celebrate with his friends and an avalanche of ice cream cake. Happy birthday to my creative and inspiring boy!

Ice Cream Cake

You can certainly play with flavors and shapes, and add your own touches. It's best to assemble it one day before the party, and take it out from freezer one hour before serving (depending on the weather). 

                                                        What you will need:

2 springform cake pans
4 1.5-quart tubs of ice cream (I used Breyer's  French Vanilla, Cookies and Cream, and Strawberry)
1 package vanilla-filled chocolate cookies (like Oreos)
1 package vanilla wafers (like Nilla)
1 recipe of cake, baked
1 package mini marshmallows (for hot chocolate)
1 tub whipped cream
1 package (or less) jumbo-size marshmallows
Penguin-shaped cookies and chocolates

Cover the bottoms and sides of the springform pans with parchment paper. Bake one layer of your favorite cake recipe on the bottom in each pan. On the next day, top the cooled cake with a layer of ice cream and then crumbled chocolate cookies. Cover with parchment paper and gently pound with a flat kitchen tool (I used a potato masher) to level it. Put cake in freezer for one hour, and then add the second layer of ice cream. Top with whole vanilla wafers. Repeat layers until both molds are full of ice cream and cookies.

When taking out of the pan, cover with whipped cream and marshmallows and decorate. To prevent an avalanche (like the one I had here with chocolate),  use vanilla or cream ice cream on the last layers to mix the white with the white cream so to avoid a "landslide" of chocolate ice cream.