Sundae best
Tasty desserts on banana split day
BANANA SPLIT
Peel a ripe banana and carefully slice it lengthways.
Place in a dish and arrange three scoops of ice cream down the middle.
Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry are traditional, but choose your favourites.
Smother in whipped cream, drizzle on hot or cold chocolate sauce and top with toasted almonds and a cherry.
KNICKERBOCKER GLORY
Place a cherry at the bottom of a long glass, then add some tinned fruit cocktail, followed by a scoop of ice cream and ready-made strawberry or raspberry sauce.
Add another scoop of ice cream and more sauce, then finally a big dollop of cream. Sprinkle hundreds and thousands over it then top with a cherry (ideally with the stalk). Stick a wafer or a chocolate flake in the
sundae before serving.
LEMON MERINGUE SUNDAE
Put a dollop of lemon curd into the bottom of a glass.
Crumble on half a readybought meringue nest and then a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Add a couple of crumbled up ginger biscuits then a dollop or squirt of whipped cream.
Drizzle with a little more lemon curd (warm it up in a pan if it’s too thick) and sprinkle on the remaining meringue crumbs.
PEACH MELBA
This one was invented by French chef Auguste Escoffier at London’s Savoy Hotel in 1892, in honour of Australian soprano Nellie Melba.
Pop an individual sponge cake in a bowl and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Drain a tin of peach halves and put half on top of the sponge. Heat some raspberry jam gently in a pan until runny, then drizzle over the top of the peach.
CHOCOLATE BROWNIE SUNDAE
Buy or make some gooey brownies.
Break one into pieces and place in a glass. Add one scoop of vanilla ice cream and one of chocolate – or it also works well with coffee-flavour ice cream.
Crumble on a little more brownie then pour on some hot chocolate or fudge sauce.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE SUNDAE
Wash, hull and quarter some fresh strawberries. Put a scoop of ice cream in a glass, and add some ready-bought strawberry or raspberry sauce.
Crumble up one shortbread biscuit and add, then repeat the process. Finish with a squirt of cream and a drizzle of sauce. (A splash of strawberry liqueur can be added to the fruit for adults).
FIZZY POP FLOATS
You can make these with cola or any pop. I love to use old-school limeade or cherryade.
Pour the pop into a tall glass, but no more than half-full. Gently add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which will make it fizz up. Then just top up with pop if there’s room. Stick in a straw and enjoy.
(Adults, try adding ice cream to a rum or Kahlua and cola… Yum!)
GET SAUCY!
Here’s how to knock up some quick and easy sauces:
■ CHOCOLATE
Serves 4
50g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids) 25g butter
125ml double cream 1 tbsp caster sugar Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until smooth. Heat the other ingredients in a small saucepan until evenly combined. Remove from the heat and stir through the melted chocolate. Serve warm over your sundae.
■ STRAWBERRY
Serves 5
10 large strawberries 2 tbsp sugar
1tsp vanilla extract Place all ingredients in a blender for a few seconds. Add more sugar if needed – or a squeeze of lemon juice if you like it sharper. Also good with a tablespoon of rum.
■ CARAMEL
Serves 8
250g caster sugar 140ml of double cream 50g butter
Place sugar in a heavy-based frying pan, stir in 4 tbsp water, then place over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bubble for five mins to turn into caramel. Remove from the heat, then carefully stir in the cream and butter. Leave the sauce to cool, then pour into a squeezy bottle.