Have My Cake and Eat it Too

I love ice cream cakes and so does my family. But, let's not forget that Jayden, a Treenut allergic child, cannot partake in most things without finding out about the ingredients that makes that cake so yummy. That one ingredient can cost him his life.

It's a good friend's birthday and we wanted to buy ice cream cake. The most popular cakes we used to buy is Carvel and Friendly's. Well, just by looking at the cake, it appears to be made of vanilla ice cream, chocolate, ice cream, and some oreo cookie filling. Not a problem, right? The ingredients look okay. But, our iron-clad safety training tells us just to bypass this yummy treat...no matter the flavor. Why? Well, at the bottom of the Carvel box (in blue) mentions that it has been produced in a facility which shares equipment with other items that contain tree nuts and other allergens. So, of course, we passed on buying the Carvel. 

 We, absolutely, had to have an ice cream cake and we are down to the last hour before having to present the cake to our family friend. I was afraid that Jayden wasn't going to be able to  have a slice. 

Friendly's had an ice cream cake. It was round with celebration frosting, vanilla and chocolate ice cream and oreo center crunchies. This cake was similar to the Carvel Game Ball cake. The ingredients were on the Okay list. Reminder: this is just for tree nut allergen individual. If you suffer from soy, milk, eggs, etc., the ingredients may pose a problem for you. As for Jayden, the ingredients were okay. Once we read to the bottom of the ingredient list, we noticed that Friendly's added a disclaimer to cover them just in case someone decided to put decorated enhancements on it. Whenever, I see any disclaimer that mentions for eg; 'may contain.....', I get a little concerned. But, since I started this lifestyle, I have learned that most companies include labeling that indicate some kind of warning for legal purposes. I'm no expert as of yet, However, I am understanding it to mean that if you go and put extra party edibles on your cake and your child has a reaction, then don't come back and sue US! Am I correct to assume that? Needless to say, I purchased this Friendy's ice cream and served it BLANK!! Put candles in it and said Happy Birthday!! My Jayden did not have a reaction. Friendly's ice cream cakes are on our OK list for now. I am totally not putting aside baking a cake at home and buying vanilla ice cream in the future.