While those in the northern hemisphere are freezing their tootsies off or looking out the window at snow falling, down under it’s ice cream weather. Santa goes to the beach in shorts and he likes ice cream. I asked him.
When we were kids, the summertime excursion to the ice cream parlour was highly anticipated by all three of us. It was usually a scorching hot day (and there weren’t many of those in Maine), and there was nothing more exciting than scoffing down a big sundae. In hindsight we were lucky that the owner allowed three free toppings because my parents would have never paid for extras.
It took forever for me to decide what it was going to be and I was always last to choose. That’s the amazing thing about sundaes, the topping choices are nearly endless, and you can garnish it any way possible to cater to your taste. While the classic sundae of just ice cream, sauce, whipped cream and a cherry is a timeless classic, you can’t help but want to get creative with it.
Here are some great sundae ideas for any occasion. Oh nuts… don’t forget nuts!
For the kids – a turtle sundae
While this recipe sounds complicated, it’s so easy, you could do it with your eyes closed. Well maybe not with them closed, big cleanup ahead if you cook with your eyes closed. Children love ice cream and they love any kind of food with a face on it, so this turtley sundae will bring big smiles. Best of all, you can make the sundaes together.
All you need is your favourite flavour of ice cream – I used Chocolate Fudge Brownie, waffle bowls and candies/lollies for facial features. Just fill the waffle bowls with the ice cream and place upside down on a serving plate, then use the candy to represent the feet. Finish it off by using a small scoop of ice cream as the head and decorate it with a smiley face using licorice.
I made my own turtle shell (recipe below) and you can too if you’ve got a waffle cone maker. They are not expensive but you’ll probably keep it put away and spend ages hunting for it like I did today.
Note that photographing ice cream on a hot summer day like this can be less than successful. Kids don’t seem to mind that their new turtle friends melt.
For the health conscious – a 350 calorie banana split
Eating healthy can be hard, especially with the temptation of Ben and Jerry’s Australia ice cream staring at you through the supermarket fridge. Luckily, there are delicious dessert ideas that don’t blow your daily calorie count in the one go, one of them being a take on the classic sinful treat – a banana split.
It still has all the necessary ingredients: ice cream, sprinkles, nuts, banana and even a cherry, the only difference is you use vegan ice cream instead of a full cream dairy blend. The vegan ice cream means you reduce your saturated fat content and save on overall calories but keep all the good taste.
For the dinner party – Ice Cream Sundae Smorgasbord
Coming up with creative ideas that all your party guests will like can be tricky. While the dessert doesn’t have to be the pièce de résistance, you do want everyone to enjoy it. Have you ever served ice cream and received complaints? Me neither. I recently had a dinner party with good friends and I wanted to have a good time too, so no hard work all evening for me.
For dessert, I prepared ice cream in dishes and kept them covered in the freezer and I had every topping I could think of in bowls and everyone made their own sundae. Yeah, some people put so much on that it dribbled on the placemats but it’s easier to get out than red wine. We even had a competition for the most creative and the sloppiest. Winners didn’t have to help with dishes, so they tried hard to win.
- 1½ cups cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cups icing (powdered) sugar
- ¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1½ teaspoon corn flour (cornstarch)
- Sift everything but the cream and vanilla and set aside.
- Whip cream and vanilla until it's like mousse but no peaks.
- Add dry ingredients to the cream and make a batter. Set aside for 30 minutes. (I learned the hard way that this is important)
- Heat waffle cone maker and brush with a bit of oil if yours needs it.
- Add ¼ cup of batter in the center and close the cover and cook until browned.
- Open the cone maker and with a non-stick spatula, lift the flat turtle and place it over a small upturned bowl.
- Place one scoop of ice cream on a serving dish and place the turtle shell over it. Use Candies for feet, licorice for a tail and a small scoop of ice cream for the head. Use licorice for eyes, nose and mouth.
- Add spoon.
What’s the most creative sundae recipe you’ve ever tried? Tell us in the comments below.
This post was kindly sponsored by Ben and Jerry’s Australia. My opinions are my own.