Everybody loves to eat ice cream in the hot weather, but have you ever wondered how you could make plain old ice cream more interesting? I am going to share with you 10 quick and easy ways to do just that. Providing you have the ingredients at hand, none of these ideas should take more than a few minutes to prepare.
01. Nuts - One of the easiest ways to spice up your dessert is to buy a bag of your favourite nuts or a bag of mixed nuts if you prefer. Put a little hole in the bag (but not big enough for the nuts to come out) and compress until all the air is removed, then take something hard and smash the nuts up in the bag. Simply sprinkle the broken nuts onto your ice cream and mix them in.
02. Strawberry, Coconut - Something I like to make which is really easy and the kids love, chop up some fresh strawberries and place in a mixer with some vanilla ice cream and then add a bag of coconut flakes. Mix for a few seconds but don't overdo it. This is really good inside chocolate eclairs.
03. Oooh, Saucy - Most people would use some sauces to liven up their dessert, but the usual chocolate or strawberry sauce can become a bit tedious. I like to use some sauces which are a bit different: apple sauce, lemon sauce, honey or syrup, mocha chocolate sauce, caramel sauce or rhubarb sauce.
04. Marshmallow, Chocolate & Honey - Take a bag of mini marshmallows and slowly mix them into some vanilla along with a crushed up bar of chocolate and a few drizzles of honey. Garnish with a sprig of mint. This idea is perfect if you are trying to impress party guests or even your partner.
05. Banana Splits - This is probably one of the easiest things to make but some people never do. Slice a peeled banana in half (lengthways) and place in a dish. Add a few scoops of your favourite flavour (vanilla is probably my favourite). Squirt a little squirty cream around the banana and ice cream then sprinkle a few broken nuts and drizzle a little strawberry sauce or honey over the top to finish it off.
06. Peanut Butter Jelly - One of Kathy's favourite things is peanut butter so I made this for her and she absolutely loved it. Take some vanilla ice cream and add a few spoonfulls of peanut butter and also a few spoonfulls of your favourite jelly, mix gently to combine, but not too much. Serve in a bowl with wafers and sprinkle a few chopped nuts over the top.
07. Apricot - If you are partial to apricots then this one is for you. Take a few dried apricots and chop into tiny pieces and mix into your favourite vanilla along with some apricot sauce. This is really good when your sat outside on hot, sunny days.
08. Cookies - Cookies are a really good snack, but cookie dough ice cream is much better. Either make your own chocolate chip cookie dough or use Nestle's Toll House ready made cookie dough and break it up into pieces and mix with some vanilla ice cream, delicious. You may also want to drizzle a little caramel sauce over the top too.
09. Fresh Mint - This is one of my personal favourites because I love the taste of fresh mint. Take about 6 or 7 sprigs of mint and chop very finely or use a blender (saves time) then mix into your vanilla ice cream. I like to place this back into the freezer for 30 minutes or so to allow the mint flavour to penetrate the ice cream.
10. Rum & Raisin - This is for adults only. Soak a couple of handfulls of raisins in some rum overnight then add the raisins and the remaining rum into your vanilla ice cream and mix until the ice cream turns a light brown colour (add a little more rum if needed). We recommend not driving after this one.
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