Oh Sweet Summer: Ice Cream + Happiness.

Several weeks ago I helped contributor Michele of Cakewalk Baking style & shoot an ice cream party for her son's preschool graduation. She handmade four flavors of ice cream along with most of the toppings, and it was a delight to play around with such fun food.  Shooting the ice cream before it melted proved to be quite the challenge, but sampling the treats after the shoot was of course no trouble at all.  The happy cone printables were designed by another of our contributors, Paiges of Style.  If you like them, they're available to download for free at the links below. 

 

 

photos © cake. 2011

From Michele: What's more perfect than ice cream on a hot, summer day? Nothing if you ask me (though photographing it is another story!) I put this party together for my son's graduation from preschool and I think it was my favorite yet. The grownups were just as excited as the kids to indulge and create their favorite sundae combos.

I started with four different flavors of homemade ice cream: vanilla bean, milk chocolate, mint chip & strawberry. Sauces included bittersweet hot fudge, salted caramel, and strawberry. Cherries, candied almonds & rainbow sprinkles were offered as finishing touches. For those who preferred a cone, there were traditional cake cones and chocolate dipped sugar cones. I made ice cream sandwiches and bons bons that were delicious, but very messy and began to melt right away (if the future, I would freeze the these items for a few days to extend their non-'meltyiness'). I also baked ice cream cone cupcakes and offered root beer for root beer floats. The ice cream cone cookies in pink striped bags were given as favors to the kiddos. One of my favorite aspects of the table was the oil cloth tablecloth. It both looked cute (didn't wrinkle!) and was extremely practical for doing little clean- ups throughout the party.

Party Design, Ice Cream & Treats: Cakewalk Baking

Styling Assistance & Photography: Cake.

Printables: Paiges of Style 

Free Printable Downloads:  Invitation, Carton Labels, Topping Labels, Thank You Tags