More Birthday for Bookworm!

And this is not even the end of it, lol - he still has his "friends" party coming up after the holiday - a trip to the movies followed by a party back at home. Oh, it's so good to be a kid! :)

These pictures here are from our family gathering last night. My folks and my brother came over for a cookout supper and cake and ice cream (or, in this case, ice cream cake). Damee, my grandmother, wasn't feeling well enough to make it to the party, and Bill's folks are away for the summer (in Alaska, no less!) so I wanted to post a lot of pictures of the boys, especially for them. I also wanted to share the ice cream cake recipe with you all (it was so easy and yummy!) so I tacked that on the end.

Not surprisingly, Bookworm got lots of help opening his presents. Here we have Earlybird, who was absolutely convinced this new notepad was for him. Bookworm was a good sport and let his little brother hold onto it while while he dug into the rest of the present pile. He was very excited to receive many new books from my folks - most of all I think for The Two Towers (the second installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy).

Crackerjack helped too - of course, he's a bit more hands-off. ;)

Bookworm received a package all the way from Alaska filled with birthday goodies from his grandparents. We all thought the rubbing of a petroglyph was cool, but I think he liked the Pokedex the best.

Crackerjack and Uncle Matt. In case you can't tell, we're Sox fans around here.

Bookworm had help blowing out his candles (Earlybird made a fast getaway - he doesn't care much for the happy birthday song, lol.)

And here's a close-up of the ice cream cake. It doesn't look very fancy, but it was really quite delicious and refreshing. Bookworm found the recipe some time ago and kept it in mind for just this occasion. The original recipe called for peppermint ice cream and crushed peppermint candies on top, but we substituted mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate chips for the top. Not a bad trade, eh?

And before I go, here's the recipe, as found in Williams-Sonoma Kids Baking:

Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Ice Cream Layer

• 1/2 gallon of your favorite: peppermint, vanilla, mint chocolate chip or chocolate)

Whipped Cream

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, well chilled
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

Crushed hard peppermint candies or chocolate chips

Before you start:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter. (I used canola spray)

Make the cake:

Put the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into the sifter and sift into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar with a whisk. In a medium bowl, using the whisk, beat the water, egg, oil and vanilla until blended. Pour the egg mixture and stir together with the whisk just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared dish. Use a rubber spatula to scrape all the batter out of the bowl into the dish. Put the dish in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Using oven mitts, remove the dish from the oven and set it on the cooling rack to cool completely.

Spread on the ice cream layer:

When the cake is cool, remove the ice cream from the freezer and set it on the counter to soften for 10 to 15 minutes. Drop large globs of the ice cream over the top of the cake with the rubber spatula and spread them out to make a thick, even layer. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for about 4 hours, until the ice cream is hard.

Make the whipped cream:

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer on low speed to beat the cream, sugar and vanilla. When the cream begins to thicken and no longer splatters, increase the speed to medium high. Continue to beat until medium-firm peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Decorate the cake:

Spread the whipped cream evenly over the frozen cake with a rubber spatula, then sprinkle with crushed candies (or chocolate chips).

Cut into 12 squares. Remove immediately from the pan with the metal spatula. Serve immediately or store in the freezer.

Very easy and yummy - a cool summer dessert! You could really play around with the flavors and toppings. A fun combination for the Fourth of July would be vanilla ice cream inside with blueberries and strawberries on top. :)