On a hot summer’s day there is nothing better than sitting in a café eating a fancy ice cream – a Knickerbocker Glory or a Banana Split. But often they are over priced and making the equivalent at home can be much cheaper and more satisfying. Make your own ice creams and you get to design your own, choose the toppings and build up a nice little collection of smart dishes.
So first the dishes – You can of course make ice cream sundaes in your standard dessert dishes but half the fun is using fancy dishes. You can pick many up relatively cheap and so build up a nice collection for a few pounds.
These 9cm ice cream sundae dishes are only £3 from John Lewis. There is plenty room in these dishes to get everything you want in.
Drink Stuff sells these banana boats for £2.99 with a discount if you buy 12:
A great bargain are these Ravenhead Tulip Sundae dishes which Tesco sells for £6.99 for a set of four:
Once you have got the dishes the next thing to do is to pick up delights to go in them. Ice cream is the obvious first choice and you may want to buy a variety of flavours.
To make your sundaes a little bit healthier you can add fruit in at the bottom. Peaches or mixed fruit are good, just pick up a tin of fruit when you are in the supermarket.
Asda do these great ice cream wafers for 50p for a pack of 48.
Or if it is for the kids you might want to try these teddy bear wafers, £1 for 20.
Once you have scooped in some ice cream, you can add to the colour and flavour. Sainsburys sell these Sprinkles Factory Ice Cream and Dessert Sprinkles for £2.29. There is a choice of three types of sprinkles, in a container that reseals so you can keep them for next time.
Morrisons do a good range of mini marshmallows which are great for adding to your ice cream. The packet is not resealable but you may find that you want to add them to your hot chocolate afterwards.
Finally there is the sauce to be added. We like to squirt it of over the top but also add a little bit further down. Most supermarkets will stock their own varieties with strawberry, chocolate and toffee being three of the favourites.
Part of the fun of making your own ice cream sundaes is that you can make them exactly how you like them. You can overdo the sauce or cut out the marshmallows and it is a lot of fun coming up with different ideas. Children in particular love designing their own sundaes but watch out for them overdoing the toppings a bit!
If you are looking for ideas or simply prefer to stick to a recipe then there are some great recipe books on the market as well as recipes online. Here is one from the queen of naughty food herself, Nigella Lawson.
Ingredients
- 175 ml double cream
- 100 grams milk chocolate (chopped)
- 100 grams smooth peanut butter (Skippy for preference)
- 3 tablespoons golden syrup
- 4 scoops toffee ice cream (or caramel ice cream)
- 4 scoops chocolate ice cream
- 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
- 4 tablespoons salted peanuts (roughly chopped or left whole to taste)
Method
- Put all the cream, chopped chocolate, peanut butter and golden syrup into a saucepan and place on the heat to melt, stirring occasionally. In about 2 minutes you should have your sauce ready.
- Get out four sundae glasses and put a scoop of toffee or caramel ice cream in each, followed by one of chocolate and then another of vanilla.
- Pour some chocolate peanut butter fudge sauce over each sundae and sprinkle with the salted peanuts. Hand them round and wait for people to weep with gratitude.
By Jackie Cosh
