I’m guilty. Guilty of indulging our kids in crazy, unhealthy treats. When Brandan conjured up the idea of fried ice cream for his turn in the kitchen, I caved. My justification? We honestly have very little “junk” food in our house. The kids rarely have soft drinks, candy, or chips – and continually are re-introduced to vegetables in the hopes that one day, they’ll actually start eating them. So how much will a bit of fried ice cream hurt? That, and I’d never experienced fried ice cream, so I was curious to try it.
I was surprised at how easy it really was. Sure, there were several steps, but each one could be completed in a manner of minutes, and we could go back to our activities in between, while waiting for ice cream balls to freeze. It also was relatively easy to convert to gluten-free – I only had to grab some gluten-free corn flakes (I used Nature’s Path Honey’d Corn Flakes), check the ingredients in the ice cream, and we were good to go. (Those corn flakes aren’t half-bad, either. I’m not big on boxed cereals, but these reminded me how much I used to like corn flakes.)
Everyone enjoyed the ice cream quite a lot. The kids commented that the corn flake crust reminded them of an ice cream cone. While I likely won’t make this again anytime soon, (I hate frying – we buy all that oil, only to later stare at the fryer full of oil that I’ll just throw away. Yes, I realize I could strain it and re-use it, but I don’t fry often, so it’s just not really practical.) it was a fun experiment, and quite tasty!
Fried Ice Cream, adapted from Emeril Lagasse
1 quart vanilla ice cream (make sure it’s gluten-free; I used Blue Bell Vanilla Bean)
1-2 c crushed gluten-free corn flakes
2 large eggs
2 T sugar
Vegetable oil for frying
Chocolate sauce, optional
Whipped cream, optional
With an ice cream scoop, form 4 large balls of ice cream. Place on a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet (I used a Silpat) and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for 2 hours.
Place crushed cornflakes in a shallow bowl. Roll the ice cream balls in cornflakes and freeze again for 30 minutes.
In a bowl, beat the eggs together with the sugar. Dip the coated ice cream balls in the egg mixture, and then roll in the cornflakes, coating completely. Freeze for 1 hour.
Heat the oil in a large pot or fryer to 400 degrees. One at a time, lower the balls into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place in a dessert bowl. Top with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and serve immediately.
Serves 4.
Yes, I realize I’ve promised you stories about our vacation – I still plan to really soon! But for now, I’ll give you a sneak peek of a photo:
Happy Easter from our family!