Make birthdays (or any holiday) more fun for sore little gums.
Just as my son was about to turn 2, he began teething with his back molars. He could barely eat a thing -- only soft and mushy foods like applesauce and pudding. So when it came time to make Ethan's birthday cake, my husband had a great idea to keep our kid's dental health obstacle from spoiling his party. We made an easy-to-chew Elmo Ice Cream cake. Here’s how.
You’ll need:
1 ½ gallon container of vanilla/chocolate/strawberry ice cream
1 package of Oreo cookies
1 Oreo cookie ready-made piecrust
1 package of mixed food coloring
1 6-oz. package of chocolate chips
While letting the ice cream soften a bit, I put a handful of Oreo cookies (minus the filling) into a plastic bag, sealed it up and pounded away, crunching them up to almost a powder. Then, into the piecrust, I layered vanilla ice cream (keeping two small scoops aside in the freezer for later), a layer of cookie dust and then topped off with a layer of chocolate ice cream.
In a separate bowl, I mixed the strawberry ice cream (keeping one small scoop aside in the freezer for later) with red food coloring to get it to match the shade of Elmo’s fur. Next, I spread this bright-red strawberry ice cream on top of the chocolate layer.
I took out two scoops of vanilla I’d saved and placed them alongside each other near the rim of the piecrust. These became Elmo’s eyes, once I dotted them with some melted chocolates for pupils. I mixed the saved scoop of strawberry ice cream with a touch of yellow food coloring. Reshaped into an oval, it became Elmo’s orange nose. The mouth was made with another drizzling of melted chocolates.
The cake was a big hit (especially because his guests were all teething, as well)!
Extra cookie dust can easily replace the melted chocolates mentioned in the recipe. Also, depending on the temperature inside your home, it may be necessary to place the cake into the freezer at different stages of the process so the ice cream will be easier to work with and the layered effect will be more clear.
Eat up!
Tracey Rotman is freelance writer and a mom.