It’s Not Magic, It’s Delicious!

Admittedly, it’s a novelty. But for the countless numbers of people who have tried (and enjoyed) Deep Fried Ice Cream, the question remains: How’d they do that?

Well? There are actually THREE things going on here, and all three are critical to the success of this dessert.

The first, just like Baked Alaska (another ice cream dessert that’s blasted with heat), is a bit of insulation to prevent the hot oil from instantly melting the ice cream. In the case of Deep Fried Ice Cream, it’s a DOUBLE-breaded crust, which helps to protect the frozen interior from the hot oil around it.

The second, and perhaps even more important, reason that this dessert works is that the breading HAS to be sweet and starchy. That combination means the hot oil can brown and crisp up the crust in NO time.

Lastly, you’ve GOT to make sure your breaded ice cream is VERY, VERY frozen before it is fried. That will give you the EXTRA time you need in the hot oil before the ice cream really melts.

It’s not a hard dessert to make, but you have to be sure you follow these three rules.

1. Double-bread it to give it insulation.
2. Use the right breading–one that’s sweet and starchy.
3. Make sure the ice cream is VERY frozen before you fry it.

Okay, here’s how you make this dessert.

Any ice cream will do. The most important thing here is to scoop it into a shape that will minimize the surface area in relationship to its size. That shape happens to be a BALL. So the first thing we’re going to do is pre-scoop and shape our ice cream into the size of a tennis ball, and then re-freeze the balls until they are nice and hard again.

Set up your breading station with a bowl of flour (All-purpose or bread flour will do.) and a bowl containing 2 beaten eggs with a couple of tablespoons of milk or water beaten in (no more).

This egg will act as the glue to stick the crumbs to the ice cream. Then, when the protein of the eggs cooks, it will also create one more barrier between the hot oil and the ice cream so that it won’t melt.

And now, the all important breading itself.

I like a couple of products. One is crushed corn flakes, either plain or frosted, and the other is graham cracker crumbs.

The breading itself is easy, just roll the ice cream balls in the flour, shake off the excess and then roll in the beaten egg. Then roll in the breading crumbs. Immediately place each breaded ball of ice cream back into the freezer and move on to the next one.

Repeat this breading once again on each piece to make a DOUBLE-breaded ice cream ball. Then leave them in the freezer to get VERY frozen.

When you’re ready to enjoy it, you’ll need to set up a medium-sized saucepan or pot with enough vegetable oil to completely immerse your fried ice cream in the fat.

Then, heat it to 360 F–no less.

To fry, carefully place the ice cream in the hot fat with a slotted spoon or mesh-type skimmer. Be careful NOT to drop the balls in the fat. Otherwise, you could burn yourself with the splash.

Now, unlike any other deep-fat-fried food, you’re only trying to brown this, not cook it. Therefore, you’re only frying long enough to brown and crisp the crust. That will take only about 30 seconds.This is another reason the ice cream doesn’t really melt. It’s not heated for very long.

Carefully remove the ice cream from the hot oil, tap it gently on some paper towels to absorb any excess oil, and immediately place it in a serving dish or on a plate.

The choice of toppings is completely up to you, as is the flavor of ice cream, but chocolate syrup, marshmallow cream and chopped nuts are always popular.

There you have it! Deep Fried Ice Cream!

It’s NOT a magic trick. It IS delicious!!!