I realize that given the sheer number of two- and three-tiered springform-bound buttercream-covered party cakes I have in my archives you’d think that I had some pretty spectacular birthday cakes as a kid. You’re right but they were almost never homemade not because I suffered from cake neglect but because the only one I asked for every year for my birthday was an ice cream cake preferably from Carvel. Okay I insist on a Carvel you know the one in the shopping center at the end of the main road. Carvel’s ice cream cake was to me about as perfect as a June birthday cake could be: a layer of chocolate and vanilla ice cream separated by a bit of Oreo-like cookie crumbs covered in a suspiciously buttercream-like buttercream and sprinkled with colored sprinkles. It was perfect. I loved it. I saw no reason why anything should ever change.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 smitten kitchen | 2021-06-30 12:00:05 |  102,789 Views |
The 'I Want Chocolate Cake' Cake | Smitten Kitchen with Deb Perelman
And maybe it isn't except that I have this problem now which is that when I daydream about the ideas that go through my head like "I wonder what it would be like to make an ice cream cake from scratch… no a sundae cake… no! A hot fudge sundae cake with hot fudge and whipped cream and those awful-but-I-love-those-jarred cherries…" instead of my so-called loved ones saying "That's ridiculous. Why would you make that when we can buy it at a store?" they encourage me. No they challenge me. Then they applaud my efforts and say "Again!" (True story: We think "Again!" was the child's first word exclaiming with joy.) And then this kind of thing happens.
Before we go any further I need to get something off my chest. Unlike my so-called loved ones I want you to know that I think making a hot fudge sundae cake with homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream homemade Oreo-style cookie crumbs homemade hot fudge sauce homemade whipped cream and by that I mean pre-made maraschino cherries (cause come on) is absolute insanity. There is no sane reason to do this. You could buy premium ice cream Oreos hot fudge whipped cream in a can and use my leftover cherries from a jar to make an excellent hot fudge sundae cake. I'll even explain how below. You could also make some of this stuff (the cookies or the ice cream or just the fudge) and not all of it and still be considered a well-adjusted person with well-fed friends in every way. I repeat there is no rational reason to do what I did.
But. If you want to go nuts I’d be happy to show you around. I could even whisper into your ears those nine magic words that always get us into this mess: “It’s really not as much work as it looks.” Or you could just trust me that your local soft-serve joint has nothing — and I mean nothing less than a whale’s cauldron — on this insane version. It’s the summer pie to end all summer pies; you might as well take a swan dive into it.
