Ice-cream toppings that are anything but vanilla
How can I rev up a scoop of vanilla ice-cream?
Joe, Salford
Accessorising ice-cream is often most successful when there’s an element of contrast, whether that’s a tart fruit puree (blackcurrant, say) for old-school ripple vibes, a handful of something crunchy (toasted sesame seeds, nuts, crumbled cookies) or a shattered magic chocolate shell (where you mix equal parts melted chocolate and coconut oil, pour it over your ice-cream, and watch it solidify). And, happily for you, Joe, this is very much vanilla-specific.
“Among very few other contenders, my number-one dessert in the world is vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce,” says Jacob Kenedy, chef-patron of Gelupo in Soho, London. “Those two things together are nirvana.” The chocolate sauce, however, must be made the way his grandfather did: “Roughly half-and-half melted bitter chocolate and water, plus a tiny bit of sugar”. It’s also vital that the sauce is warm, not hot, so the ice-cream only “melts a little”.
The idea of pouring other things over ice-cream is worth exploring too, he says, such as with affogato (the Italian tradition of tipping a double espresso over your vanilla). Or cracking open the drinks cupboard: “You can pour brandy or whisky over it; amaro is delicious; or coffee and a spirit.” Puddles galore await.
“You can also combine fats,” adds Kenedy, throwing whipped cream into the arena – just don’t get carried away: “Add one or two things, no more,” Kennedy warns. “Either chocolate sauce and whipped cream, fruit (raspberries, strawberries, peaches, baked pears) and chocolate sauce, or fruit and toasted nuts.”
Terri Mercieca, pastry chef and founder of cult ice-cream sandwich and soft-serve purveyor Happy Endings, often feels fruity, too: “I’m a big fan of passion fruit with vanilla ice-cream.” When in this mindset, she grabs a bowl, scoops in her vanilla, along with hazelnuts, chunks of caramel or good-quality chocolate, or freeze-dried fruits, and tops with passion fruit. You could use mango instead – or, Mercieca adds, “all the good fruit you get in summer”. One such fruit is cherries, which Diana Henry, in Simple: effortless food, big flavours, cooks in butter, sugar, lemon juice and grappa, before serving warm with ice-cream. And there’s nothing, er, vanilla about that.
An emergency ice-cream sandwich fix is also mere moments away: take your favourite tub of vanilla and stick it between your favourite cookies. Job done. To build a better one, though, Mercieca has some pointers: “Turn a biscuit upside down, put a ring cutter on top and smoosh the ice-cream in there.” Remove the cutter, top with another biscuit, and eat straight away: “If you put it back in the freezer, the biscuits get too hard – that’s why we use really thin ones”. You could, of course, make your own biscuits, in which case chocolate chip or shortbread are the way to go.
Ever the maverick, Mercieca has also been known to serve her scoop scattered with (potato) chipsticks (yes, you read that right). “Especially if you get the fancy Portuguese ones,” she explains. “With caramel sauce… Winning.” And who are we to disagree?
Anna Berrill
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