Dropped Ice Cream Cake

Feeling summery with all this hot weather we've been having lately? Then this 'Dropped Ice Cream Cake' is for you! What was meant to be a four-tiered showstopper of a cake for the EAT Cambridge Pot Luck Lunch I went to a while ago turned into a two-tier cake that's just as eye-catching and show stopping, if not even better than it would have been otherwise!

It's unbelievably easy to make, too. A simple, plain sponge with light-as-air vanilla buttercream and a simple 'dropped' ice cream to top takes all of two hours (maximum)! Ingredients and method follow below, so wow your friends next time the sun is out and they think the food heaven stops with the barbecue ;)

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake:

12oz margarine, softened

12oz caster sugar

6 eggs

12oz self raising flour

1 tsp vanilla essence

For the buttercream:

250g butter

However much sifted icing sugar it takes to make it stand in stiff peaks! (I never measure icing sugar)

For the 'dropped ice cream':

1 waffle cone

1 large handful of Rice Krispies

1 large handful of Coco Pops

Hundreds and thousands

For the glacé icing:

1 heaped tablespoon of sifted icing sugar

2-3 tbsp water

Pink food colouring

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 170˚C. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in well. Mix in the vanilla essence and flour, then divide into two 8", lightly greased cake tins. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire cooling rack.

Make the buttercream. In a large bowl soften the butter. Using a whisk (this requires maximum arm effort, so use a hand/stand mixer if you'd prefer), add the icing sugar little by little and beat it in. Keep adding icing sugar until the buttercream is pale, light and fluffy.

When the cakes are cool, turn one onto its top on a cake board and spread a generous layer of buttercream onto its underside. Place the other cake on top. Spread buttercream over the top of this cake, leaving about a large tablespoon in the bowl.

Mix the Rice Krispies and Coco Pops in a small bowl. Add the remaining buttercream and mix. Using your hands, pick up the mix, mould into a rough sphere and then place on top of the cake, slightly off centre. Press the waffle cone into the top, again slightly off centre.

Make the glacé icing by mixing the icing sugar and water and adding food colouring until a pale pink colour. Add more icing sugar if too runny - it should be the consistency of a thick paste. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing all around the cone and over the Krispie/Coco 'ice cream.' Allow it to collect in places and then coax it over the edge of the cake.

Lastly, sprinkle hundreds and thousands over the top.

Have you had an ice cream yet this year? What are your favourite summer inspired cakes?