You should be melting your ice cream. Sounds crazy, I know. Most of us spent our childhood summers racing to finish our cones of vanilla soft serve or chocolate scoops before they melted down our arms…but hear me out:
Melted ice cream is one of the most versatile short-cut ingredients you can have in the kitchen. Most commercial ice cream is primarily a blend of milk, heavy cream, sugar, and flavors (such as vanilla), so when you melt it, you’re essentially left with sweetened liquid dairy. Think of it as an exceptionally flavored substitute for milk or heavy cream: anywhere you’d use either of these dairy products, melted ice cream just might be a fun and flavorful upgrade.
Here at Delish, melted ice cream first stepped into the spotlight as an ingredient in our rice pudding recipe, where it’s used to enhance the creamy base. We all loved that so much, I knew it was just a tiny window into ice cream’s vast potential in other recipes too. Here are four ways you should be using it this summer:
Make Melted Ice Cream Bread
One of those timeless shortcut recipes, ice cream bread consists of just two ingredients, self-raising flour (boxed flour that’s been mixed with small amounts of baking powder and salt) and melted ice cream. The most common ratio is 1 ½ cups self-raising flour to 2 cups melted ice cream. These two ingredients are simply stirred together, poured into a loaf pan, and baked at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean (usually about 45 minutes).
Any flavor of ice cream will work here, though I recommend using something with minimal chunks and swirls. (Mint or cherry chip would probably work, but avoid anything beyond that.) You can also add any mix-ins to the bread that you like. My favorite is chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate chips folded in.
Create The Ultimate Decadent French Toast
Hack your basic French toast batter by replacing the milk, sugar, and vanilla with an equal quantity of melted ice cream. You’ll still need to use eggs (and I highly recommend a pinch of salt as well!) but the melted ice cream functions not only as an easy shortcut, but also as an amazing flavor upgrade.
When testing this specific hack, I used my ultimate French toast recipe, which uses 3 eggs, and simply subbed in 1 cup melted ice cream for the milk, sugar, and vanilla (I skipped the cinnamon and salt for simplicity’s sake, but please feel free to add). I wouldn’t recommend going crazy with other flavors here—coffee or chocolate might work, but avoid anything with any type of mix-ins that might burn in the pan. I made it with vanilla, and trust me when I say that it was one of the most exceptional French toasts I’ve ever tasted.
Top Off Your Desserts
If you’ve ever seen Great British Baking Show, you’ve probably heard of custard, a slightly thickened sweet sauce made from milk, sugar, and eggs that’s often poured over fruit crumbles or baked puddings. It can also be put into an ice cream machine and churned to make ice cream…
You see where I’m going here. Melted ice cream, while not identical to a traditional custard, is a great way to hack it. You can use it as a sauce to pour over fruit cobblers, crisps, or pies—and it’s also great over a piece of sticky gingerbread cake.
Amp Up A Drink
Any cocktail recipe that uses heavy cream can benefit from a little melted ice cream instead. Think White Russians, Brandy Alexanders, Grasshoppers, and more. In most cases, vanilla ice cream will work best here, though you could experiment with a plain chocolate in some cases if you wanted.
If you’re not feeling the booze, melted ice cream is also a great upgrade to coffee too. A little indulgent for an everyday morning? Sure, but some mornings, we all need a little treat. Having friends over for brunch? They’ll be absolutely wowed by this hack, especially if you follow it up with your melted ice cream French toast.
