Not every child’s birthday is awash in parties, gangs of friends, and breathless excitement. Sometimes circumstances call for a quieter celebration, and for this, a giant birthday cupcake is the perfect solution. Remember the old Baskin-Robbins ice cream cakes? The top of this cupcake is made of ice cream, then frosted: an ice cream sundae built on a piece of chocolate cake. The only thing needed to make this cake was the cupcake pan, which I found on Amazon.
You can use a box cake mix for the cupcake base, some good ice cream for the top, and canned frosting or whipped cream to cover the ice cream, once it’s frozen. I added extra large sprinkles (aka Good and Fruity’s), and topped it with a big red candle. And voila: big, fun birthday cupcake!
If you’re wondering why someone with a food blog would resort to a cake mix, here’s the reason: parents are busy, kids don’t care what the cake is – they just care that there are candles to blow out and a treat to celebrate their special day. This is also a nice thing to do for an office buddy, or an elderly neighbor who’s having a birthday.
Ice Cream Birthday Cupcake
Ingredients
- 1 yellow box cake mix
- ½ gallon vanilla ice cream
- 2 cans frosting of your choice
- 1 large birthday candle
- Giant sprinkles
Directions
- Following directions on cake mix, make cake batter.
- Pour batter into the greased cupcake part of the cake pan, filling it ¾ full.
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until top of cake springs back when you touch it.
- Gently remove the cake from the tin and set aside to cool.
- Pour softened ice cream into the other side of the cake pan and place in freezer for several hours until ice cream is fully frozen.
- Place cake on a serving plate and frost the top of the cake only, to create a filling between the cake and the ice cream.
- Set cake aside.
- Run 5 inches of hot water into your kitchen sink or a large pot.
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer and place the bottom of the ice cream mold into the hot water in the sink for about 10 seconds, to allow the warm water to soften the ice cream so that it will slide easily out of the mold.
- Working quickly, flip the ice cream onto the top of the cake, and put the cake and ice cream back into the freezer for an hour, to allow it to refreeze.
- When the cake and ice cream are frozen together, remove from the freezer and frost the top of the cake, decorating with candy or any decorations you like (you can also write a birthday message across the top of the cake).
- Just before serving, add candle.
