Tomorrow's theme at Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap is birthday cakes, so I thought I'd finally post what I made for Tiny Tot #2's birthday in 2009.The story begins with his favorite food at the time: cookies, chocolate chip specifically. My idea was to make a cake for him that appeared to be a cookie. I thought about a giant decorated cookie, but in the end went with the cake idea. So incredibly happy I did. And so was Buppy's family. I think that cake will live on in all our minds and taste buds until a.) we're old and can't remember anything anymore, or b.) I make another one. 'A' might be the more likely thing to happen, but you never know.
The cake wasn't complicated by any means, although we did struggle with the frosting tinting until my sister saved the day. Here we go . . .I purchased 2 boxes of Ghirardelli brownie mixes and baked according to package directions in round baking pans. Then I basically made a sandwich out of them with Hoffman’s ice cream, which I've learned is some of the best ice cream I've ever had. Hoffman's is local, so don't get your hopes up, but still, any ice cream you choose to use [think peanut butter to go with the chocolate!] will be spectacular. The party was in late Feb., so I decided to use their peppermint. I kid you not, that stuff is amazing. Wonderful. Yummy. Delish. All their ice creams I've had thus far have been good, but their seasonal peppermint stick just rocks my socks. In a major, major way.
Once I've got the sandwich made, I stick it back into the freezer to firm up. Hmmmm, now how to make it look like a chocolate chip cookie? I'd decided I wanted to use whipped topping as frosting, but how to tint it brown? I tried food coloring with very unsuccessful result. Buppy and I thought and thought and thought. And then we thought some more. Then I called my sister, who is an artist, among other things, and therefore much more creative than I am. Her response when I told her my conundrum? "Uh, so you don't want to use cocoa powder?" Sheer genius my girl! I knew I called her for a reason! Apparently she told the story to my dad, and even before she told him what her suggestion was, dad made the same comment: why don't they want to use cocoa powder? Because neither Buppy nor myself thought of it! How we didn't, I'll never know, but I'm happy someone could point me in the right direction. I did as suggested and used cocoa powder to tint the whipped topping a light brownish color, then sprinkled chocolate chips all over it. This was honestly love at first bite. John's nieces asked me to make their next birthday cake. Everyone present loved this. The simplicity of it still baffles me, but I'll go with it. Brownies, local peppermint stick ice cream, whipped topping and chocolate chips. Sometimes I amaze myself.
Please-please-please try this out if you haven't before. You won't regret it, promise! And if you'd like to see more birthday cake ideas, head on over to Life as Mom’s blog. Enjoy!Oh yeah, and once upon a time, I made a train cake for Tiny Tot #1's 4th birthday. I was pretty proud of this one since it was my first-ever attempt at making a birthday cake!
Wow - it looks cute and very delicious.
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