Birthdays, sushi and ice cream cake cupcakes

Life has been hectic and I have fallen behind blog posts.  I decided that instead of trying to do several posts I would combine several considering they having a theme......Birthdays!

As hard as it is for me to believe, my little princess has turned 18.  The family, minus the sickies Lisha and Marie, came over the day before her birthday for cake and ice cream.  

Each birthday I ask the kids what kind of cake they would like. We have a few favorites that are served fairly regularly but every once in a while they come up with something different.  This year Tara decided she wanted ice cream cake, but she wanted it served as cupcakes.  Now you could go to Cold Stone Creamery and buy them but why when they can be made at home.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I dived right in and thankfully they turned out great.  I learned a few things as I went....but more on that later.

On the day of her birthday we went to Kabuki Restaurant and had a wonderful dinner.  The sushi there is so fresh and the presentation is beautiful.  One of our favorites is the spicy tuna on crispy rice.  Luis and Alma (the kids father and step mother) had never been to this restaurant but seemed to love it.  It is hard to resist all the good food, we always seem to order slightly more than we can eat. Our waiter, Ted, was wonderful and handled our party of ten in a friendly and efficient manner.  Everyone had a good time enjoying each others company. 

Luis' birthday was last week and he loved Kabuki so much he asked all to join him there to celebrate.  As usual the food was amazing and the company wonderful.  As you will see there is no shortage of variety and everything looks beautiful (even if I haven't been the best photographer lately).  As usual the waiter (Ted again) was very accommodating and even stroked Luis' ego by saying he thought it was his 21st birthday when Tara loudly announced it that was the reason for our visit.  The usual green tea ice cream (delicious) was brought with a candle and most of us had a bite or two to round out the meal.

Now for the Cupcakes......

Prepare your cake batter and bake it in greased and floured jelly roll pan.  I used the Texas sheet cake recipe.  Allow it to cool completely.  Using biscuit cutters measure the size circle needed to fit in the bottom of a cupcake liner and the top edge of the cupcake liner.  Cut enough circles for a top and bottom layer for each cupcake (I got about 15 cupcakes worth from one sheet cake). 

Place rounds of cake on a tray, using wax or parchment paper to divide layers if needed, and set in freezer for about an hour. 

Now here is one of biggest things I learned while doing this: never use paper cupcake liners - only use FOIL liners!  Why?....well as we all know if you have a piece of paper and you add something liquid to it will become very soft and in the case of cupcake liners.....well they lose their shape.  Now I know this about paper but for some reason it never occurred that softened ice cream was, well, firmer liquid.  I am chalking it up to having a blond moment.  Anyway, as soon as I saw the cups losing their shape I quickly threw them in the freezer and frantically called by son.  Now what you don't know is that at this point he was on a date (of sorts) and I wasn't sure when to expect him home but, darn it, I needed to be rescued!  Thankfully he was on his way home and he stopped in at the store and picked up a package of foil cupcake liners and brought them home.  He is so patient and good to me. Exhibit "A" -

(Thankfully I was able to freeze them quickly enough and transfer them to foil liners)

Moving on,  place a one of the smaller pieces of cake in the bottom of each liner.  Soften ice cream slightly   in the microwave and place a small scoop of ice cream on top of each bottom cake round. I used cookies and cream ice cream on half the cupcakes and mint chocolate chip on the other half.

Place a top cake round on top of each and gently press down using the palm of your hand.  Place them in the freezer and freeze until hard.  I froze them overnight but about 4 hours should do.

Prepare your favorite frosting.  Buttercream or canned (I know! but does the job in a pinch) work the best and hold up well in the freezer. Fill a pastry bag with a star piping tip with frosting, or use a gallon size ziplock bag and cut a small hole in one of the corners to squeeze out frosting.  Remove cupcakes from the freezer.  Working quickly, pipe on the frosting and put them back in the freezer. 

About 5 minutes before serving remove the cupcake from the freezer to allow them to soften slightly.  Enjoy!  My family loved these! (as you can see we are a real formal bunch) I will definitely be making these again soon.