Well, good riddance 2017.
Actually, although this past year has had some hideous moments globally, it’s been a pretty fantastic year for this blog. I’ve posted pretty much consistently throughout 2017, with only a small wobble in December (you can read all about that here). And I’ve had so many more views, comments, tweets, and emails than I could have possibly hoped for. So thank you all for getting involved!
I hope you’ve all had lovely Christmases, and are all very excited and rejuvenated for a brand spanking new year. I’ve already been planning out some January recipes, but I’m definitely going to keep the pressure low and aim for just one new post each week going forward. Quality (and sanity) over quantity!
Happy Birthday!
Not only is it the last day of the year, it’s also this blog’s second birthday! I’ve been posting on here for exactly two years now, and it all started with these New Year Fortune Cookies back on 31 December 2015.
I’ve even purchased myself a Fortune Cookie charm for my Thomas Sabo charm bracelet to celebrate the occasion! It even opens and reveals a little heart inside. Adorbs.
Now, a birthday wouldn’t be a birthday without a massive slab of birthday cake, would it? Or maybe a big bowl of jelly and ice cream? Well, you don’t have to decide quite yet – instead, how about tucking into a Birthday Cake Sundae with me!
New Year’s Birthday Cake Ice Cream all round
Yep, ice cream is a bit of a weird recipe to be posting on New Year’s Eve. January is literally hours away, and everyone is going to want to be getting either a) warm or b) healthy. And this is neither of those things. But, it’s my blog’s birthday, and I do what I want.
The first ingredient for the absolute best birthday cake sundae is my homemade birthday cake ice cream. This stuff tastes like vanilla cake batter, and is filled with colourful sprinkles to add a bit of birthday excitement! If you’re not into making your own ice cream then you can always use plain vanilla instead, although it won’t be anywhere near as exciting, trust me.
We’ve made homemade ice cream on this blog before – remember the ever so chocolatey Easter Egg Ice Cream, or the zingy Lemon Curd Ice Cream? The birthday cake ice cream we’ll be making today (and tomorrow – you’ll need to start making the ice cream the day before you want to eat it) follows the same principle of making a custard and then churning it in an ice cream maker. Or you can make it by hand – see my post on how to make ice cream without a machine right here.
Yes, it’s a bit time consuming, but it’s actually pretty simple to make, and most of the ‘time’ is actually spent chilling or freezing – so you can use that time to watch nine episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine back to back. Or whatever.
And it REALLY does taste like birthday cake – so it’s totally worth it for the ultimate birthday ice cream treat!
Ultimate Birthday Cake Sundae Goals
So we’ve got mountains of creamy birthday cake batter ice cream, but birthdays need way more excitement than that. How about some raspberry jam? Because no self-respecting birthday cake would be complete without a jam filling. Let’s layer up some scoops of ice cream with some seedless raspberry jam. Spoon it in there if you are carefree, but I piped mine. It’s the food blogger in me.
We need something a bit special for the top though. Normally I wouldn’t be caught dead eating an ice cream sundae without chocolate sauce, but this isn’t the time or the place. Some more carefully piped raspberry jam seems perfect, as well as dollop of freshly whipped cream. More sprinkles? YES PLEASE. Oh, and definitely a candle.
My dream birthday cake sundae might look slightly different than yours, so by all means get the maraschino cherries out, or wafer sticks, or flakes. Whatever the birthday girl or guy loves. But I personally can’t imagine a birthday cake sundae without a stripy birthday candle.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, the glass I’m using for the sundaes are these Vintage Milkshake glasses – they were a wedding present from my brother – thanks Greg! And these are the red and white stripy straws.
2018 Awaits
Although I’m taking my foot well and truly off the gas this year blog-wise, there will be another post tomorrow. No recipe though – just a roundup of the past year, counting down your favourite posts from the past twelve months, as well as looking forward to my goals for 2018. Because nothing keeps me motivated like public accountability.
I’ll leave you with today’s recipe, as well as my wishes for a lovely New Year’s Eve, and an even better 2018.
- 115g (½ cup + 1 tablespoon) golden caster sugar (or US granulated sugar)
- 3 large egg yolks
- 300ml (1¼ cups) double or heavy cream
- 300ml (1¼ cups) whole milk
- 125g (1 cup) boxed cake mix - I used Betty Crocker's white cake mix
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons coloured sprinkles (optional)
- 4 tablespoons raspberry jam (optional)
- 5 or 6 scoops of the birthday cake batter ice cream (or vanilla ice cream)
- 4 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
- Dollop of whipped cream
- Birthday candle
- 1 tablespoon coloured sprinkles
- If you have not already done so, place the bowl of your ice cream machine in the freezer before you do anything else.
- Place the sugar and egg yolks in a small bowl, and beat together using an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. When you pull the beaters out of the mixture, it should fall back on itself in ribbons. Set aside.
- Pour the cream and the milk into a medium saucepan and heat on medium-low until almost boiling, stirring occasionally to stop a skin from forming. Remove from the heat. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture and stir together to loosen up the eggs. Then pour all of the egg and sugar mixture into the saucepan with the milk, immediately stirring together well.
- Return the saucepan to a medium-low heat and heat for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Make sure to constantly stir the mixture while cooking, as you do not want it to burn.
- Once the custard is thick enough, remove from the heat and stir in the boxed cake mix and vanilla extract. Beat together well until there are no lumps of cake mix remaining. Place the saucepan in a sink of cold water to cool down (not letting any water get into the ice cream batter). Stir occasioanlly to avoid a skin forming. Once cooled to almost room temperature, cover the surface of the batter with cling film (or plastic wrap) and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours - overnight is best. This is to ensure the batter is as cold as possible before churning.
- The next day, place the ice cream batter in the frozen ice cream maker bowl and churn as per the manufacturer's instructions. My machine takes about 25 minutes to churn this ice cream batter. About 5 minutes before the end, stir in the coloured sprinkles (if using). Once the ice cream is the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, remove from the machine and place in an ice cream container or loaf tin. Place in the freezer to firm up - this should only take a couple of hours or so. If not making an ice cream sundae like I have, you can swirl the ice cream with four tablespoons of raspberry jam before placing in the freezer if wanted.
- Fill your ice cream sundae or milkshake glass with scoops of the birthday cake batter ice cream (or vanilla ice cream), adding layers of raspberry jam between scoops. I piped the raspberry jam using a piping bag, but you can just spoon it in if wanted.
- When you reach the top, place a dollop of raspberry jam and a dollop of whipped cream on top, and then push the candle into this, right down into the ice cream. Cover the ice cream with more sprinkles, and then light the candle and serve immediately.
- If you do not have an ice cream machine, then please see my post above for details of how to make this ice cream without one.
- Homemade ice cream will not keep as well as store-bought, so do not keep for longer than a month. If the top of the ice cream crystallises, then the ice cream underneath may still be good, so don't throw it away just yet!
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Happy Birthday 🙂 My blogs just gone 2 years too. Yay for us. I’m very happy that you celebrated with exactly what you wanted it because a) it looks delicious and b) I’m in Australia, meaning it’s Summer and perfectly acceptable to eat ice cream 🙂
Aww, thanks Marie! Congratulations on making it to 2 years too ?
You’re absolutely wonderful and I am so proud of you and your super cute blog. Here’s to another fabulous year <3