For a formal dessert, a layered ice cream cake is easy to make and impressive to serve. It is made out of supermarket ice creams and yellow cake, which can be bought in a big sheet and cut to the size of a 9 inch spring form pan. Cut the cake into 2 horizontal layers about 3/8 inch thick and place on wax paper lined cookie sheets.

Make a sugar syrup with 1/3 cup of sugar dissolved in 1/3 cup of hot water; add 1/3 cup of cold water and 3 to 4 tablespoons of rum or orange liqueur. Drizzle the syrup over the cake layers and freeze an hour or so. Meanwhile, soften 3 quarts of best quality ice cream for half an hour in your refrigerator-I use coffee, chocolate, and vanilla.

To assemble: Fit a cake layer into the pan, spread on a layer of ice cream, cover with another cake layer, and then another layer of softened ice cream, and so forth ending with ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze at -5 degrees fahrenheit for at least 6 hours.

To serve: Release the spring form sides of the pan; dislodge the frozen cake from the pan's bottom disk and set cake on a chilled platter. Decorate top with swirls of whipped cream and either chopped nuts or chopped chocolate-covered toffee. Cover and store in freezer; let soften 20 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

Surround the cake, if you wish, with a fresh strawberry puree (strawberries pureed in a blender or processor with a little lemon juice and sugar to taste) or a warm fudge sauce.