Ice Cakes for Winter Birthday Fun
01/30/2021
Last month during our preholiday,
subzero cold snap, the daily temperatures in Minnesota were so miserable that not even my most jovial friends could crack a smile through the numbing wind chill. With my husband’s birthday right in the middle of the worst of days, the cold weather inadvertently became the inspiration for an unusual birthday cake.
I left cake recipes aside, and instead rooted through cupboards and closets searching for rarely used Bundt and angel-food cake pans, along with mismatched tin tartlet moulds. I filled them all with tap water, put them outside to “freeze” and set the kitchen timer for 10 hours.
When the buzzer went off, I donned oven mitts and a down coat and went outside with an ice pick to test if they were “done.” Perfectly frozen, I lugged them inside to the kitchen sink, ran water over the pans for a few seconds, and smiled as the ice slid out with a thud in beautiful shapes.
I lugged the molded ice shapes back outside on a tray and, like a kid in a sandbox, scooped cupfuls of snow and spread it between the ice layers like “icing,” with the hope that this multitiered creation wasn’t going to be the ultimate ice folly.
So there I was, alone in my backyard, pondering the day, as I set a single candle on the top tier of an ice cake. Instead of the usual clamor of kids participating in the creative fun, it was the kid inside me that became the joyful and unexpected “icing on the cake” that day. Slice of ice, anyone?
Note: To make a whimsical ice cake in a warmer climate, freeze water in a bundt cake pan in your freezer. Remove ice cake from pan and set on a tray with rims to catch melting ice. Display on a buffet dessert table with fresh fruit.
Together time tip: If you live in snow country, make snow cakes and sculptures together. Choose nonstick cake and gelatin molds in interesting shapes. Head outside after a snowfall and scoop the fresh snow inside the containers, packing it down, just as you would with wet sand when building sandcastles at the beach.
Tap the bottom of each pan to release the shapes. If you wish to stack them to create a “snow cake,” spritz water between layers to freeze them in place.
Share with friends!
You might also like:
Stuffed French Toast For Family Gatherings
Make a weekend breakfast extra special with this stuffed French toast recipe featuring oranges and fresh pecans, which are abundant this time of year. The whole family can participate in the preparation the night before, from beating eggs to spooning the cream cheese mixture into pockets in the French bread. When you wake up…
Swedish Cinnamon Rolls
Throughout Sweden, there are a variety of ways to make, shape and bake these delicious cinnamon rolls. There is even a national Cinnamon Roll Day every October! I learned how to make them in friend Inger’s kitchen when I was teaching at a college in Jönköping. Inger always found a little job for my two…
Make An Apron For Kids With A Kitchen Towel
“Look, Mom, muddy hands!” This might be a familiar chorus you’ll be hearing as your kids dig into the joys of outdoor activities. Face it, kids and messes go hand in hand when it comes to being creative and having fun. Let’s start with the kitchen, often referred to as “Mess Central” in…
One-Step Lemon Bundt Cake
Dog-eared recipes deserve some review now and then, and I’m glad I rediscovered this classic from my mom’s recipe box. It’s a never-fail, fabulous one-step pound cake that is a perfect “first” cake baking experience for kids. Read the recipe together, and let them search for the dry ingredients in the pantry, measuring cups from…
Sprout Seeds Indoors In Eggshells
Kids and dirt seem to have a natural attraction for one another. Why not promote a love for a favorite activity this season by giving children a chance for some responsibility and fun by messing with dirt, sprouting seeds and tending their own little plants indoors? They’ll give your family vegetable garden a head start…
Make Seed-Starting Pots With Newspaper
It’s growing season, an ideal time for your family to poke around and play in dirt. Begin indoors! Popular plants are easily started inside during spring months to give a jump-start to your summer garden. While many serious gardeners purchase seed-starting kits, you’ll discover with this kid-friendly activity that you can save money by making…
Stunning Tissue Paper Flower Bouquet
You and your kids will be inspired to create a blooming bouquet of colorful paper flowers to celebrate the arrival of spring. In fact, these flowers can be enjoyed just about anytime and anywhere. You’ll only need basic items such as an empty cardboard egg carton, tissue paper from gift bags, some long, thick pipe…
Force Branches Into Bloom
Bring spring indoors, even if it’s just a handful of sticks, and look for new beginnings as you share your time and talents with those you love. Take a nature walk in your yard and look for young budding branches. With garden shears, clip off branches that are about 20 inches long. Good choices are…
Bake Rustic Fruit Tart
Opportunities for families to experience life’s simplest pleasures abound during summer’s final days. They take minimal planning and yield happy rewards. We enjoy impromptu evening bike rides, or a jaunt in the country to pick berries. On the return home, I choose juicy nectarines, peaches and plums at a roadside stand – a perfect combination…
Watermelon’s Last Hurrah
As summer wanes, I’m all for bringing on one last hurrah for watermelon. It’s such a convenient, “good for you” cool-down snack that quenches thirst and satisfies the sweet tooth, all in one. Refreshing with a squeeze of lime, or kicked up with a dusting of ground chili pepper and salt, it’s versatile and fun…
DONNA ERICKSON
