Happy Birthday Bug!!

As I sit here and type this, it's hard for me to believe that 6 years ago, I was siting in a hospital bed waiting for my labor to progress so I could meet Bug for the first time. Today, Bug turns 6. We celebrated with our families several weeks ago. I always have the party before the start of school since it's less stressful for me and DH is around to help with the kids while I'm cleaning.

I did have one minor "mishap" with the party. The cake completely did not turn out as I planned. Thankfully none of the mishaps with the cake effected the flavor. My mother in law dubbed it the best cake she'd ever eaten. Here's the recipe.

ICE CREAM CAKE

1 7/8 cup Cake Flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 small box of instant pudding mix

3/4 cups milk

1 1/4 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 gallon of ice cream

1 small tub of cool whip

1. Combine first 6 ingredients. Add milk and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed with a mixer. Add 2 eggs mix for another 1 minute.

2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 cake pan. Pour in the batter and spread it to the edges. The batter will be thicker than boxed cake mix.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees F. Or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cool completely. Invert on a wire rack to remove from pan. Clean out the pan and line with plastic wrap.

5. Split cake into 2 layers, or crumble into pieces like for a trifle. Line the bottom of the pan with cake pieces.

6. Top the cake layer with ice cream, then freeze for 30 min. to allow the ice cream to set. Add another layer of cake then ice cream and return to the freezer until ready to serve.

7. Just before serving, ice/cover with whipped cream. Delicious! Not bad for a complete failure hunh?

So here's what actually went wrong from the plan. First, it was supposed to be a "funfetti" cake with red sprinkles in it. The batter turned it pink. Next, the cake never rose in the center. I have no idea why. I never opened the oven or anything that should cause it to fall. Then, when I inverted the cake, the middle stuck and only the edges. That's why I crumbled it like a Trifle. I had originally planned on cutting it in two and having an ice cream layer between two cake layers like a traditional layer cake.

Here are a few pictures of the Birthday Girl.

All she really wanted was a Silvermist costume from the Tinkerbell Movie.