Andrew is THREE!... and a cake

Andrew's birthday is Oct. 22. Ever since Judah's birthday in Sept., Andrew's birthday was a main topic of conversation. "When are we going to have Andrew's birthday?" And by "birthday" it was understood to mean "birthday cake". ;-)

When asked what kind of a birthday cake he wanted, he requested an ice cream cake! I was a little surprised, because I'm not sure where he thought of that, but hey, I was happy to oblige. There are many different recipes out there, but I received inspiration from a recipe (which I can't find anymore, so I can't give proper credit) that had a chocolate brownie crust, and then mixed peanut butter and peanuts and chocolate chunks in with the ice cream to put on top of the crust.

Since I've been staying away from chocolate for Enoch's sake, I endeavored to create a nearly chocolate-less ice cream cake. I know, life is empty without chocolate, so you'll notice the little "sprinkles" on top... that's shaved chocolate bar, and only just a little bit, for flavor.

And who would've guessed that his birthday in late October would be so warm!? We had a birthday lunch since the Dad was going to be gone that evening, and I pulled out the cake a little early to thaw, but I ended up sticking it back in the freezer a couple times so it wouldn't melt!

Ice Cream Cake, with Sourdough Bar Crust (A Non-Recipe Recipe)

1. CRUST: The crust is adapted from this Sourdough Blondies recipe. (I can't duplicate the recipe here because of copyright issues, so you'll have to visit that site to get the recipe if you're interested.) Instead of making it immediately, I modified the recipe to include an overnight "soak time" with the starter, flour, and melted butter. And then I mixed it up the next morning, adding the rest of the ingredients (sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt, but not nuts) and baked it in my smallest springform pan, I think it was 8" diameter. If I was doing it over again, I might've done it in the 10" springform, as I felt the bars were too thick, and therefore, too chewy, especially when you're serving this essentially right out of the freezer. (However, as you read on, you'll discover I didn't have much ice cream on hand, so I chose the smaller size pan...)
2. ICE CREAM: I took what ice cream I had left in my freezer, which was about 3/4 of a small tub of Breyer's vanilla ice cream. (Is it the quart and a half size?) If I would've had a full tub, all the better. I softened that and added to it 1/2 c. of peanut butter. Then I spread that over the cooled crust and stuck it in the freezer.
3. TO SERVE: I took some soy-free chocolate and grated a little over the top. This is pretty rich, so don't go crazy on piece size.

 Andrew is quite a little boy. He and Judah are good playmates... when all is going well. Andrew likes to wrestle more than Judah does, so oftentimes, Andrew will initiate a wrestling match. His favorite shirt is the one he is wearing in the photo (Bass Pro Shop shirt). He is a ball of energy, and likes to pit his strength and obstinacy against me. He likes to "do things himself". His smile brightens up a room. Andrew really likes to watch me work in the kitchen, usually hoping to score a taste of whatever I'm cooking.

Here's the birthday boy!

Judah had to get in on the picture too.

Tired birthday boy.