Oreo mint-chocolate-chip ice cream cake...and a birthday shout-out

My son is officially *9*!  I'm a bit shocked just thinking about it! 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to my little guy!!

(I think he's now officially earned big guy status!)

I think a birthday is the ultimate reason for celebration and all the more so when it's a child's special day.  So it's time for another ice cream cake!  I've gotten into the habit of making some sort of ice cream cake for my son's birthday in the last few years.  They're easy to make (I keep it simple), delicious (because we're talking ice cream so you just can't go wrong), and perfect for summer - or near-summer - birthday boys and girls.

Oreo cookie crust, plenty of mint chocolate chip gelato and whipped cream frosting

I stick to basic flavors my son enjoys.  This year's ice cream cake is made with an Oreo cookie base, topped with homemade mint chocolate chip gelato, and iced with whipped cream.  It may be just a 6-inch cake but I packed a good quart of gelato/ice cream in there!  My boy likes ice cream and plenty of it!

Knowing that I'm not exactly deft at cake decorating, I was a little concerned about frosting the ice cream cake.  I used stabilized whipped cream, or whipped cream with some bloomed gelatin added, to make sure it would hold up and not separate.  I managed the stabilized whipped cream and I got through the frosting.  No one will say my homemade cakes don't look homemade!  The main thing is the birthday boy approved!  He took a look at my concoction after school and wanted to dig into it right away because "it looked so good" (yay!).  In fact, we actually did slice into this homemade birthday cake a bit early.  Since dad has to work late on the actual big day, we started the cake-eating early.

To be honest, it feels like we've been in birthday celebration mode for a while.  I think children's birthday celebrations always seem to stretch at least a week or more!  This year's celebration included an early birthday party two weekends ago with a group of buddies.  This year, my son opted for a noise-infused gathering: think bumper cars, arcade style games, capped off with pizza and ice cream cake.  Having a party outside of the house sure makes for easy clean-up!  The party venue doesn't allow you to bring any food except for a cake or cupcakes.  My son wanted the ice cream cake they serve there but I couldn't resist bringing a little something extra, even if it was totally unnecessary. I thought I'd bring mini cupcakes, and the birthday boy settled on yellow cupcakes with his favorite chocolate frosting.  I was surprised by his yellow cake selection but I suspect the cake was secondary to the frosting!  Here are some of those cupcakes...the one with the gold stars was special for the birthday boy:

Meanwhile, I think June rivals December for "busiest month of the year" status.  It's been a crazy month or so and I'm sure many of you can relate!  The school year wraps up very soon and I'm looking forward to a slower pace.