Cool Semi-Homemade Summer Treats – Just in Time for Memorial Day!

Can you tell the difference between these two?

Both have rich vanilla ice cream. Both use a yummy sugar cone. Both have a delicious hard chocolate shell. Both are coated in crunchy peanuts.

Price for the one on the right is $8.73 for 16 at Sam’s.

Price for the one on the left…pennies on the dollar.

Why? The one on the left is homemade! This month’s edition of Food Network’s Magazine features a selection of semi-homemade ice cream truck style recipes. These types of treats can add up…quickly…especially if you purchase them in singles from the ice cream truck, convenience store, or concession stand. Making my own, even a semi-homemade version, will take the crunch out of my wallet this summer.

Start with store bought ice cream, sherbet, or frozen yogurt (or if your really adventurous, make you own). Allow it to soften slightly to make scooping and molding easier. Place a malted milk ball in the bottom of each chilled cone. This helps prevent drippage during consumption! Using store boughtor homemade hard shell chocolate syrup, coat the inside of chilled sugar cones. Allow chocolate to set. Scoop ice cream into each cone. Dip the top in the hard shell syrup and roll in chopped nuts. Place cones in chilled glasses on a baking sheet inside the freezer to allow ice cream to harden, approximately 2 hours. Once ice cream has completely set, place cones in a freezer bag for an ice cream truck style treat anytime!

The Food Network Magazine’s version of the Ice Cream Sundae Cones recipe includes a make it yourself hard shell chocolate sauce I’d like to try for even more savings on our frozen treats.

I also liked their idea about making marbled orange cream popsicles. They used orange sherbet but any flavor will work, vanilla ice cream,  basic cookie cutters, parchment paper and popsicle sticks. I have a popsicle mold that will make this process much easier. Allow the ice cream to soften, then place alternate small scoops of ice cream/sherbet flavors into your mold. After several scoops, use a spoon or spatula to press the ice cream mixture down into the mold/cookie cutter. Add more alternating scoops of ice cream and press down again until the mold is full and smooth. With a popsicle mold, simply add the stick or top and pop back into the freezer till firm.

The cookie cutter method is a bit different and a bit more involved but produces a variety of shapes that’s certain to be a hit at your Memorial Day party. Cover the cookie cutter filled with ice cream with plastic wrap and freeze for an hour. Then remove the cookie cutter, insert your popsicle stick, smooth the ice cream if necessary then place on a secondary chilled baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pop it back into the freezer until completely frozen. I’ll stick with my ice cream molds since they wolf them down faster than I can make them!

Here are some links to other ice cream recipe ideas:

• Strawberry Shortcake Parfait Pops (Food Network)
• Mini Mud Pie Towers (IceCream.com)
• Sushi Surprise (IceCream.com & YES, it’s an ice cream treat presented Sushi style!)
• Ice Cream Truffles (IceCream.com)
• Chocolate Ice Crispy Pie Sundae (Hershey’s Kitchen)
• Ice Cream Taco’s (Hershey’s Kitchen)

I plan to experiment with pureed fruit, fruit juices along some of these tempting ideas. What is your favorite frozen treat?

Jenn is a SAHM with three kids of her own plus two step kids with her fabulous husband. She writes about her transition from 30 years of big city life in Tennessee to small town living in Northwestern Minnesota. Find recipes, home keeping tips, craft ideas, family strategies, plus giveaways and product reviews that help keep her budget in balance.