Birthday cake

Last Wednesday, Max turned 6.  We had planned a big celebration for the weekend, but I wanted to celebrate on his actual day as well, so my little nephew Chazz and I put together a quick ice cream cake.



I made it in the simplest way possible: crushed Oreos mixed with melted butter and pressed into a spring-form pan.  Softened vanilla ice cream spread into the pan, crushed oreos sprinkled over, and one final layer of vanilla ice cream spread over the top.  Simple and delicious!



Not the best looking cake in the world, but I've never been very adapt at decorating.  As long as it tastes good, I feel like it was a success.  I froze it for several hours, then released it from the spring-form with a quick blast of the blow-dryer.  Simple!

On Sunday, we had the Big Birthday Party for Max with both sides of the family and a bunch of cousins, pot-luck style.  I made two lemon layer cakes, frosted with a lemony swiss-meringue-buttercream, and filled with raspberry jam and vanilla pastry cream.  The recipe is from Baking: From My Home To Yours (I know, so surprising) also found here online, and it's quickly becoming our go-to cake.



It's a lot of work, but oh-so-delicious, and just the perfect amount of fuss for an extra-special birthday cake.  Once again, I was a fail at the decorating, but it still tasted good, so I was happy.



(For more pictures of the big birthday party at my in-laws pond, you can click through to the Flickr set here.)

Have a wonderful weekend!