If it’s not already scorching hot everyday where you are, it probably will be soon. NYC rarely hits triple digits, but the sun, concrete and humidity can somehow transform relatively mild 85 degree temperatures into a sweaty hellscape nightmare.
This doesn’t keep me from baking in the summer, but it means I try to delve into cooler territory, namely ice cream. Whether you’re looking for an ice cream cake to serve on the Fourth of July or the perfect topping for a homemade sundae any day of the year, I’ve got you covered! Here are a few of my favorites from the archives.
Hot Fudge
There is no ice cream concoction more iconic than the hot fudge sundae. While you can top it with sprinkles or nuts, or skip the cherry if you really want to, quality hot fudge is non-negotiable. For me, that mean homemade. Not too sweet and made with dark chocolate and cocoa, mine is better than anything you’ll find in stores.
Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce
Want a more non-traditional ice cream topping? Go for this rich Peanut Butter Caramel Sauce. Sticky and buttery in all the best ways, this is guaranteed to become a new favorite.
Butterscotch Sauce
The simplest recipes always require the most testing! The key to this Butterscotch Sauce is to do nothing. Put all the ingredients in a pot, turn on the heat and do nothing. Really. I promise you’ll be rewarded for your lack of effort.
Fresh Strawberry Malts
I love a malted milkshake! Chocolate is my usual preference, but this version made with fresh seasonal strawberries gives it a run for its money.
No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
This was my first ice cream post and it’s still my favorite. A combination of two of my favorites, mint chocolate chip and chocolate chip cookie dough, it’s smooth and minty with bite-sized pieces of edible mint chocolate chip cookie dough. I’ve made lots of no-churn ice creams since, but this one is still my favorite.
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake
And speaking of mint chocolate chip…sandwich a quart and a half of it between two thin rounds of chocolate cake, then top it with some whipped cream, homemade magic shell and mint baking chips. And then slice it and serve it to all your friends, or keep it all to yourself. Either way.
Have you made these or any of my other ice cream recipes? Let me know in the comments or on social media!
As far as I’m concerned, hot fudge is a perfect food. It’s the thing that takes sundaes, banana splits, 
It might surprise you to learn that hot fudge is incredibly easy to make. I grew up thinking of it as a shop-only item, along with 
Hot fudge is a ten minute, one-pot operation, and requires just seven ingredients that you probably have on hand. I mean, how can you argue with smooth, sticky, shiny, sweet hot fudge where you know the amount and quality of every ingredient? It’ll take you less time, cash and energy to whip up a batch than it will to get to the store and back. I mean, that’s half the reason I do all this baking and cooking: because I can do it all from the comfort of my own kitchen in my most-mismatched pajamas.
Also, because homemade almost always beats store-bought in terms of flavor, quality, and price. That goes double for this hot fudge, which gets its richness from both chopped dark chocolate and cocoa, has less sugar than anything you can purchase, and costs me a whopping $4 for 1 1/3 cups. And it’s delicious. And it doesn’t require putting on real pants or going outside. Yesssss.
Most hot fudge recipes I’ve seen are sweetened with sugar in addition to light corn syrup and chocolate, but I couldn’t determine a flavor-related or structural reason that it needed to be there, so I nixed it and nothing terrible happened. In fact, the resulting sauce is as rich and fudgy as any I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a lot), and I don’t find it to be lacking sweetness at all. If you’d like a sweeter hot fudge, or maybe know something I don’t,* feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of sugar when you whisk together the light corn syrup and cocoa.
This hot fudge pours and puddles and takes nicely to the sundae treatment. And just in case you think it can’t get much better than that, you should know that it stays good for weeks in the refrigerator and reheats like a dream, so you can have hot fudge sundaes any day of the week all summer long.
I recommend you start with today.
e2 bakes brooklyn 