The classic ice cream cone has some competition. This summer, scoops of ice cream are landing between croissant halves, on burger buns, or for a few seconds in hot oil, and in New York, soft serve even tastes like Dirty Martini. Five creations show just how far the ice-cold dessert has moved away from vanilla and strawberry.
Croissant Instead of Ice Cream Cone
This is particularly evident in Cologne right now. In the Ehrenfeld district, Lidl is operating a pop-up ice cream parlor together with food influencer Riton Balaj, known online as Riiton: a butter croissant, three scoops of ice cream, topping of your choice, all for one euro.
The ice cream parlor of "Head of Croissant" Riiton is open for the last time this weekend, on August 8 and 9, from 12 noon to 8 p.m. each day. On the opening weekend, more than 5,000 portions were sold across the counter, according to the discount retailer.
The ice cream variation can be recreated without any effort: cut the croissant lengthwise, add scoops, top it off. The appeal comes from the contrast between buttery, flaky pastry and cold, creamy filling.
Salty Potatoes and Sweet Ice Cream
Hot meets cold, salty meets sweet. In the USA, it's no longer considered eccentric to dip fries in soft serve. Now "Ice & Fries" has also arrived in Europe. An interpretation of this is now even available ready-packaged: The manufacturer GoodPop sells the "Fudge n' Vanilla French Fry Pop," a vanilla ice cream with chocolate coating and crispy potato pieces.
But no one needs a specialty product to recreate this at home: simply dipping fresh, heavily salted fries directly into vanilla ice cream produces the same effect.
A Burger Without Patty
A burger bun doesn't necessarily have to lead to something savory. In the ice cream burger, ice cream, fruit and sweet sauces take the place of the meat patty. Whether brioche or classic burger bun, you can pack whatever you feel like between the two halves. Toasting them beforehand is recommended so the halves don't get soggy immediately.
Dirty Martini from the Ice Cream Counter
Things get decidedly more grown-up in New York. The ice cream shop "Unnecessary" on the Lower East Side specializes in soft-serve creations inspired by cocktails. According to the website, the menu includes a Dirty Martini ice cream made from vanilla ice cream with olive, fennel, juniper, dry vermouth and vodka.
For recreating at home, keep in mind: alcohol lowers the freezing point; too much of it and the mixture won't set. Otherwise, there are hardly any limits to ice cream cocktail creativity.
Hot Outside, Frozen Inside
The biggest temperature jump is delivered by fried ice cream. A deeply frozen scoop is coated with batter and very briefly deep-fried in hot oil. A warm, crispy layer forms on the outside while the ice cream inside remains frozen. This dessert can be found on restaurant menus time and again.
Anyone trying this themselves should let the scoops freeze very solid after shaping them and really only dip them in hot oil for a few moments.
