Deep fried ice cream is a wonderful oxymoronic recipe. A hot, crispy, chewy crust surrounding the creamy cold treat is just delightful. The method in this fried ice cream recipe is the way Thai people do it, which happens to be the easiest and most genius way I've ever seen.
I discovered this technique when I worked as a server at a Thai restaurant where it was a very popular dessert, and when I saw how they made it I was shocked how easy it was!
Ingredients
There are only 2 ingredients for the fried ice cream itself is very simple, so to help jazz it up I've also included a delicious pineapple caramel sauce that goes very well with it.
- Ice creamany flavour will work, you can also mix ingredients in such as cookie bits to make it more interesting.
- Soft, white sandwich bread, square shaped and not too thick. Asian bakeries usually sell the perfect bread for this.
Pineapple Coconut Caramel Sauce
- Canned pineapple
- Palm sugar or granulated sugar
- Coconut milk
- Butter
- A dash of cinnamon for serving (optional)
Other Toppings/Sauce Suggestions:
Honestly, the fried ice cream is great as is, maybe with a little whipped cream on top. But you can turn it into an ice cream sundae with some of these ideas:
- Nutella or chocolate sauce, crushed nuts & sautéed bananas
- Chunky strawberry sauce or another fruit sauce
- Condensed milk with Ovaltine or Milo powder for an Asian style sundae!
How to Make Fried Ice Cream
Here are the steps, but if it's your first time I highly suggest watching the video tutorial for the technique as it is much easier to understand once you see it visually.
- Scoop out ice cream into balls and place on a plate; freeze for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
- Trim crust off of the bread, making sure you trim off enough that there aren’t any denser part of bread left on (see video). Roll the bread out with a rolling pin to flatten slightly. You may need to roll out the edges more to get them to flatten.
- Have a 12-inch sheet of plastic wrap ready on the counter. Place a piece of bread on the plastic and then put the ice cream on the bread. Use your hand to bring the corners of the bread up around the ice cream.
- Place the other piece of bread on top, matching corners of the top piece with “valleys” of the bottom piece. Press bread around the ice cream, making sure there are no uncovered areas (it won’t stay wrapped at this point, don’t worry).
- Wrap the whole thing in the plastic wrap tightly, bringing corners of the plastic up and twisting the wrap to secure bread onto ice cream. You want this tight! Freeze for at least 6 hours.
To fry the ice cream:
- Add enough frying oil to a small pot so that it will keep the ice cream ball submerged. Heat the oil to 375°F (190°C). If you're not using a deep fryer, I recommend using a thermometer because it's crucial that the oil is hot enough. Oil that's too cold will result in oil bread, and if it takes too long to brown and the ice cream will melt.
- Fry the wrapped ice cream until golden brown, this should take about 30 seconds, and no more than 40 seconds. Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.
To make the pineapple caramel sauce:
- Heat palm sugar over medium heat in a small pot until melted and caramelized into a dark amber colour, stirring frequently to even out the colour.
- Add the coconut milk (it will bubble aggressively) and pineapple juice. Keep cooking until the sugar dissolves and sauce has reduced into a thin caramel sauce consistency.
- Add the pineapple pieces and cook for 2-3 more minutes in the sauce, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Let cool before serving.
How Does Deep Fried Ice Cream Work?
How can ice cream be deep fried without melting? There are many ways to do deep fried ice cream, but the principles are all the same. You wrap or coat a scoop of ice cream in a crust of some sort, then you freeze the whole thing until it is as cold as it can possibly be. You then fry the ice cream in high heat for a very short time so the crust will brown and crisp before the ice cream has a chance to melt. Et voila!
So there are 3 keys to the success of deep fried ice cream:
- The crust has to be something that browns very quickly.
- The oil has to be hot enough to quickly brown the crust.
- The ice cream has to be very cold.
If you got these 3 things, you will be able to have cold and creamy ice cream surrounded by a crispy, browned crust!
Other Methods of Deep Frying Ice Cream
A quick search through the internet will reveal a few other ways to make deep fried ice cream. Many people will do the egg-breadcrumb or egg-cornflakes crust, and I've also seen a recipe that use pound cake as the crust.
This bread method, however, is the easiest of them all, and it's easy enough that you can get kids to participate in as well. (But don't let them do the frying unattended!!)
*Extra Goodies for Patreon Members: In this episode's bonus content I share a quick recipe that turns the leftover bread crusts from this recipe into yummy little sweet treats! Also, I'll share an idea for another snack my mom used to make using plain sandwich bread. Click here to find out more about becoming a Patreon member!
Can I use different flavor of ice cream?
Yes, all flavours of ice cream will work for this, and you can even change it up by folding in ingredients such as cookie bits, chopped chocolate, or sprinkles right into the ice cream before you freeze the scoop.
Can I make this recipe in advance?
Obviously you need to fry the ice cream right before serving, but you can wrap the ice cream in the bread in advance and have them ready to go in the freezer, in a freezer bag, for up to 3 months.
Tips for Perfect Fried Ice Cream
- Use bread that is square shaped, not one with a rounded top, because it will make wrapping much easier.
- Trim off enough of the crust so that the denser part close to the crust is removed. You want to end up with bread that has the same density throughout.
- Sticky with bread that is soft and fluffy and not too thick (even whole wheat is fine), usually ones from Asian bakeries will be perfect for this.
- When scooping the ice cream, try your best to keep it round.
What to do with the leftover frying oil
You might feel uneasy with the amount of oil needed to fry the ice cream, BUT you can reused it all! Each scoop of ice cream only takes 30 seconds to fry, with no debris left in the oil, so your oil will end up in great, almost-new condition.
Once you're done frying, let it cool, then keep it in an airtight container in a cool dark place and reuse for cooking or frying anything else.
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Fried Ice Cream Recipe
Prep Time:
5 min
freezing time:
6 hours
Cook Time:
5 min
Total Time:
6 hours 10 minutes
Yield:
1 serving
Description
The easiest recipe for fried ice cream you will find. It takes 2 ingredients, but the result is indulgent and satisfying. Try serving it with the pineapple caramel sauce to jazz it up!
Instructions
- Scoop out ice cream into balls and place on a plate; freeze for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
- Tip: If you want to fold other ingredients into the ice cream, such as chopped chocolate or cookie bits, scoop ice cream into a pre-frozen ceramic bowl, then quickly stir in mix-in ingredient and reshape into a ball. Freeze for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
- Trim crust off of the bread, making sure you trim off enough that there aren’t any denser part of bread left on (see video). Roll bread out with a rolling pin to flatten slightly. You may need to roll out the edges more to get them to flatten.
- To wrap ice cream: Have a 12-inch sheet of plastic wrap ready on a work surface. Place the firmed ice cream on top of a piece of bread and bring the edges up around ice cream.
- Place the other piece of bread on top, matching corners of the top piece with “valleys” of the bottom piece. Press bread around the ice cream, making sure there are no uncovered areas (it won’t stay wrapped at this point, don’t worry).
- Wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap tightly, bringing corners up and twisting the wrap to secure bread onto ice cream. You want this tight! Freeze for at least 6 hours. Note: You may be able to get away with less time, but I have never tried frying ice cream that has been frozen for less than 6 hours, so I don’t know what the true “minimum” is. This will also depend on how cold your freezer is.
- While ice cream freezes, prep sauce and toppings.
To make the pineapple caramel sauce:
- Heat palm sugar over medium heat in a small pot or a saute pan until melted, stirring frequently. Once melted, keep heating and stirring until it caramelizes into a dark amber colour.
- Add coconut milk (it will bubble aggressively) and pineapple juice. Keep cooking until the sugar dissolves and sauce has reduced into a thin caramel sauce consistency.
- Add the pineapple pieces and cook for 2-3 more minutes in the sauce, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.
- Let cool before serving. It will thicken a bit more once cooled.
To fry the ice cream:
- Add enough oil to a small pot so that it will keep the whole ice cream ball submerged.
- Heat the oil to 375°F. It is important that you are sure the oil is hot enough. If the oil is too cold the bread won't brown fast enough and the ice cream might melt. Too-cold oil would also result in an oily crust. I recommend using a deep fry thermometer.
- Fry the ice cream just until golden brown, this should take about 30 seconds only, and no more than 40 seconds.
- Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.
Notes
- Any flavour ice cream will work for this. Also, you can mix in other ingredients to create more interesting flavour combinations, for example: red bean paste in matcha ice cream, cookie pieces in vanilla ice cream, or cheese cake pieces in strawberry ice cream.
- Choose bread that is not too thick (see thickness in video) and make sure it is a square shape. I find bread from Asian bakeries work best for this as they tend to be square shaped and has the right thickness. Avoid bread with a "mushroom top" shape, as the irregular shape will make it harder to wrap.
