8 Delicious Ways to Share a Little Ice Cream between a Lot of Friends

I was going to call this post Leftover Ice Cream but it sounds like an oxymoron. That is what it's about though!

In my book, Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers, I explained that for my purposes the term ‘leftovers’ covers a variety of situations which are:

It is the Snippet situation to which I am referring here and these are my suggestions …

Affogato

This is a cross between a drink and a dessert. Affogato is Italian for “drowned” and in the foodie world usually refers to ice cream ‘drowned’ in coffee, in which case its full name is Affogato al Caffe.

Per person ...

1 scoop chosen ice cream
1 shot /30 ml espresso or strong coffee or whatever your choice is
1 tablespoon brandy or some other spirit or liqueur – also optional

2 amaretti or something suitable and crumbly – optional

~   Chill serving dish(es).
~   Put a scoop of chosen ice cream into each dish and return to the freezer for a few minutes.
~   Brew coffee or espresso.
~   Have ready chosen liqueur if using.
~   Crumble the crumbly thing if using.
~   Remove ice cream from freezer and swiftly and immediately pour optional liqueur and coffee over it.
~   Sprinkle with optional crumbly thing and serve.

Ice Cream Truffles

This is a good way to use up bits of leftover ice cream and impress people at the same time.

~   Have equipment and ingredients other than ice cream ready before you start.
~   Work quickly.
~   Get ice cream out of the freezer and scoop into small balls.
~   Immediately coat in something delicious and complimentary eg. cocoa, hot chocolate, crushed biscuits, ground caramel, chopped nuts, sprinkles, grated chocolate and so on.
~   Immediately refreeze till needed.

To be even more impressive serve with a little dish of chocolate sauce for dipping purposes.

 Ice Cream Filled Profiteroles

I used to have a husband that called these “poovy boirays” – no idea why, bless him. Traditionally, of course, these little choux pastry puffs are filled with cream and topped with chocolate but why not replace the cream filling with ice cream and drizzle the tops with a complimentary sauce of your choice?

Ice Cream Sandwich

~   Choose a very crisp and crumbly cookie/biscuit or one that is soft and cakey as these will both be edible from the freezer. Chewy biscuits might freeze too hard.
~   If purpose baking cookies slightly undercook to keep the texture right when frozen, and …
~   … sandwich whilst still warm with very cold ice cream which will slightly melt and soak into the cookie before setting solid in the freezer – even more goo-some!

~   Fill generously.

Here’s one I made earlier.

Ice Cream Cake

This is kind of a last minute thing.

~   Shortly before serving use a softened complimentary ice cream to fill and top a cake.
~   Pop back into the freezer for a few minutes for the ice cream to firm up.
~   Slice and serve.

Milkshakes – of course

Basic milkshake per person ...

2 scoops vanilla ice cream
250ml milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract – the real thing

~   Blend together in a liquidiser or food processor.

As I say, it is basic but of course you can do what you like with it, e.g.

~   Use different flavour ice cream.
~   Add honey, maple syrup, flavoured syrups or whatever would go well with the ice cream flavour.
~   Add fresh fruit.
~   Add fresh herbs or maybe a bit of chilli (particularly good with mango and/or lime).
~   Use less or more milk depending on how thick or runny you want it.
~   Top with whipped cream and/or chopped nuts, grated chocolate etc.
~   Add an appropriate alcohol – best if it’s a spirit, lager probably wouldn’t be that yummy!

Ice Cream Soda

Or Float, which is also known as a Spider in Australia! 

As with the other suggestions the ingredients will be dictated by the type of ice cream you are using.

~   Put a spoonful or two of your chosen sauce or syrup into a tall glass.
~   Loosen it with a splash of your chosen soda.
~   Stir in a spoonful or two of milk or cream.
~   Add a couple of scoops of your chosen ice cream.
~   Top up with more of your chosen soda; hopefully the mixture should fizz and froth delightfully.
~   Top with whipped cream and your chosen decoration be it a flake, sprinkle or a cherry on top.
~   Serve with both a straw and a long spoon.

Ice Cream Cocktails

Basically blend together complimentary liqueurs, fruits, sauces and ice cream and give it a suggestive name such as Lose Your Cherry (vanilla ice cream, cherry brandy and cream soda) or Fuzzy Navel (peach ice cream, , peach schnapps and orange juice).

This is an Ice Cream Mojito – mint ice cream, a good sloosh of golden rum topped up with soda water and garnished with a sprig of mint.

So now, if your little darlings are about to go back to school, leaving you with the responsibility of using up leftover ice cream you now have some ideas for what to do with it.

Have a look inside!

Make your Own Ice Cream!

If however you haven’t got any leftover ice cream and would like to make some I have written a book on an easy peasy no-churn method which makes deliciously smooth and luxurious ice cream.  In the book I give 100+ recipes plus every piece of information I can think of to help readers create their own gorgeous ice creams.