There’s nothing like ice cream. It might be America’s favorite dessert. In any two week period you care to name, you can bet that about 40% of the country will eat some ice cream, and the average person is eating it nearly 29 times a year. Ninety percent of American households eat ice cream on a regular basis. We love this frozen treat, whether we spoon it out of a custom cup or lick it off a cone. To help you enjoy your favorite dessert even more, here are seven unique flavors and recipes to jump-start your own creativity.
Curry and Mint Ice Cream
Mint has long been a popular favorite when it comes to ice cream flavors. But the idea of combining it with curry? People in India and Pakistan have been putting these flavor together for a long time, so why not try it for yourself? It’s spicy yet fresh; light yet satisfying.
Basalmic Swirl
Ice cream used to be thought of as a dessert entirely sweet; in recent years we’ve come to appreciate what a bit of savory can contribute to the mix. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar or wine reduction sauce, sweetened a bit, combined with some caramel or some berries, is a tastebud-busting experience you won’t soon forget.
Upscale Vanilla
Vanilla is the flavor we’re most likely to be choosing at the ice cream buffet, if statistics are to be believed, yet to many it seems just so…plain. Here’s a couple of ways to use it that just might change your mind:
- Use it in strawberry shortcake. Strawberry shortcake might just be the most delicious dessert you ever put in your mouth that isn’t ice cream. How can you make it even better? Use vanilla ice cream in place of whipped cream.
- Peanut butter is always better. If you love peanut butter, you can’t go wrong with this surprisingly simple combination. Sandwich some vanilla ice cream with your favorite homemade peanut butter cookies. Bet you can’t eat just one.
- Everyone loves a banana split. You can’t go wrong with a classic, and that’s just what a banana split is. Instead of sticking a banana in a bowl, try layering ice cream, mashed banana, chocolate, and your toppings of choice in a baking pan, over a cookie crust. Freeze, put on some whipped cream and cherries, and then cut it up and serve in bar form.
Fried Ice Cream
This state fair staple is something you can whip up in your very own home. All you need is your favorite cereal, processed till it’s just crumbs and mixed with enough butter and cinnamon to make it just clump loosely. Bake it spread out on a cookie sheet until it’s crispy, then roll balls of ice cream in it.
Magic Shell Topping
Whatever ice cream desserts you fancy, wouldn’t you love a cheap alternative to that magic shell topping? It’s great the way it hardens as it touches the ice cream. It’s terrible the way it costs so much and goes so fast. All you need to do is melt a chocolate bar and mix in some extra-virgin coconut oil; enough to make it smooth. That stuff will harden in an instant when it touches the cold surface of your ice cream.
Pound Cake Grill
Pound cake is delicious. Pound cake with ice cream added is even more delicious. Pound cake slathered in butter and grilled crispy, and then topped with ice cream is the most delicious of all.
The Ultimate Sundae
The ice cream sundae is another classic it’s hard to go wrong with. While you can make a sundae with your favorite candies and toppings, why not make one with all of them at once! Take your inspiration from the movies, and that candy counter you have to walk past whenever you want to see the latest Marvel universe off-shoot. Choose your ice cream flavor and then top it with Milk Duds, Whoppers, MandM’s, and whatever else you can’t resist at the theatre. Top the whole thing with whipped cream and fudge or caramel sauce and you’ve got a winner. Just don’t forget the cherry on top.
There’s nothing like ice cream, and the possibilities for enjoying it in a dessert are nearly endless. What will you create next?
