How to Make a Photo-Worthy Ice Cream Sundae
If I asked you to imagine a hot fudge ice cream sundae, I'm willing to bet the image pops into your head would be remarkably similar to the one in mine. This, my friends, is the power of food styling.
Recently, one of our own food stylists (a.k.a. food magicians), Rishon Hanners, showed us the secrets behind the styling of an iconic, picturesque hot fudge sundae—and wow. Her method, while yielding flawless results, involved dry ice and mashed potatoes—probably not something you wanna try at home.
She did show us a few super practical tips and tricks for making an exceptionally eye-catching dish of ice cream, though.
For instance…
Yeah, you want your top scoop to look amazing. But don’t forget about what’s inside the sundae dish.
Swirl some hot fudge around the inside of a glass dish before adding ice cream—it’ll make your sundae look a little more decadent and intriguing from the outside.
Rishon filled her dish with mashed potatoes to make a picture perfect sundae, but uh, we’re … not going to do that. Plain ol’ packed ice cream is fine.
You’ve got to nail that scoop skirt.
What’s a scoop skirt, you ask? It’s the extra ice cream that encircles your perfectly round scoop at the bottom—kind of like the brim of a hat.
If you’ve ever seen an ad featuring an ice cream sundae or cone, you probably know what I’m talking about. To get a really nice skirt, you want to start with a heaping scoop of ice cream. Press the excess ice cream around the edges of the scoop before placing it on top of your sundae dish.
More color = a more exciting sundae.
Sprinkles! Cherries! These are the things that make a good sundae an Insta-worthy sundae (and, not to mention, more fun to eat).
You don’t have to go crazy (unless you want to), but a pop of color will make your finished product so much more aesthetically pleasing.
A store-bought tub of vanilla ice cream will work just fine here—but if you want to go above and beyond, check out our favorite ice cream recipes. Just make sure to tag us.
