How to Elevate Your Ice Cream Cones
One could convincingly argue that ice cream is the perfect accompaniment to summer. And while it’s undoubtedly delicious in all sorts of forms and flavors, it can also be taken up a notch via a deliciously embellished vessel. Recently, we spent some time in the kitchen getting creative with add-ons for our ice cream cones, and the results did not disappoint. Here, we share our process—plus ingredient ideas—for elevating the sweet summer treat.
Pick your add-ons. When it comes to deciding what to add to your cones, there are a couple of key factors to consider. First, of course, is flavor. In addition to choosing something that suits your tastes, think about what will pair well with your ice cream. Second, keep in mind you’re your pick will need to easily adhere to chocolate—crumbly, chopped, or shredded ingredients will work best. For the cones featured above, we combined dark chocolate with coconut flakes, milk chocolate with walnuts, white chocolate with chocolate wafer cookies, and white chocolate with pistachios. In addition to crushed cookies, chopped nuts, and shredded coconut, you could also incorporate sprinkles, smashed candy, or crumbled cereal—get creative and have fun!
Gather your ingredients. Feel free to experiment to find the right ratio of chocolate-to-topping (this is, after all, an inexact science), but in general, for approximately 12 embellished cones, you’ll want to use approximately 3 cups each topping (chopped or crumbled) and around 11 ounces of chocolate.
Embellish away. To create your elevated cones, prepare your topping ingredients (chop nuts, crumble cookies, etc.), and place them in separate bowls. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. When the chocolate is ready, prep your cones. Dip each cone in chocolate (you can use a spoon to distribute the chocolate evenly around the top), then gently shake the cone until most of the chocolate drips off and you are left with an even layer. Either by hand or using a spoon, sprinkle the topping on the freshly dipped cone, the set on baking sheet to dry or place in the freezer so to harden quickly.
