Here are eight ice cream hacks you need to try this summer.
1. Prevent freezer burn by adding parchment paper
Don’t you just hate it when your vanilla ice cream gets covered in that nasty layer of ice crystals? Fret not, for there is a simple way to get rid of the freezer burn – let the frozen treat sit on the countertop for a couple of minutes. That’s it. That’s the hack. Unless you want to prevent the ice from forming in the first place, in which case you’re going to need a sheet of parchment paper and cover the inside of the ice cream container. The paper will not let the moisture evaporate and, therefore, no more frozen crystals.
2. Use melted ice cream as custard
In case you are the type of person who would rather throw away a melted ice cream rather than slurp it up or add it to your coffee instead of creamer, know that there’s something very wrong with you and that you can utilize the melted vanilla ice cream as crème anglaise aka custard sauce. Just grab a spoon and pour it over a freshly baked pudding. Now that’s finger-lickin’ good.
3. Olive oil and salt
Yes, that’s correct. We’re about to sell you on eating your ice cream with salt and olive oil, and you will love it! Get yourself a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle some olive oil on it, and then add a dash of salt. This food hack will change your life! Salt brings up the sweetness, while olive oil, well, I don’t know what it does, but it’s something magical.
4. Soft ice cream
No one likes waiting for the frozen-solid ice cream to become soft again. That’s wasting precious time that could have been used for actually eating your favorite summer dessert. This lifehack is quite simple: just toss the ice cream into a plastic bag, preferably with a zip-lock, and try to squeeze out as much air as you can. The bagged ice cream also prevents freezer burn, so that’s a double whammy.
5. Clean your Nutella jars with ice cream
While this trick also works with peanut jars, we can’t condone such a poor choice of flavor. It turns out ice cream is sticky enough to pick up all the chocolate goodness you couldn’t scrape out with a spoon. Now, all we need is a lifehack that will pick up the ice cream residue that you also couldn’t scrape out.
6. Do not scoop hard ice cream
Remember all those times when you got the ice cream from the freezer, and it was so hard, you couldn’t even stick a spoon in it? You should have used a knife to cut it, duh!
7. Air-fried ice cream
Ever heard of deep-fried ice cream? Well, get ready to toss all that oil away because if you have an air fryer at home, you can make yourself a delicious ice cream snack that’s still bad for you. For your plan to succeed, you’ll want a rock-hard ball of ice cream rolled in crushed cookie crumbs or whatever else you got laying around and dip it in the batter. Freeze that thing for an hour, and repeat the dipping procedure again. Leave the batter-dipped ice cream balls in the freezer for a few hours, and then stick them in the air fryer for no more than 4 minutes. Voila! Now you have a crunchy snack with delicious ice cream filling.
8. Frozen yogurt popsicle hack
Cones and regular sticks are so last year when it comes to ice cream eating utensils. To be honest, so is ice cream. That’s why you want to stuff your fridge with the new delicious snack – frozen yogurt! Stick a spoon in the cup and put it in the freezer for an hour. Boom! There’s your summer heat deterrent.
