Choice of:

• Four-Hour “Yupi-Cart” Ice Cream Cart Rental with 50 Assorted Flavor Pops
• Four-Hour Ice Cream Social with 50 Assorted Flavor Pops

Fried Ice Cream: Hot, Cold, and Creamy

A seemingly counterintuitive specialty on the dessert menu is fried ice cream. Learn how it’s made with Groupon’s investigation.

It sounds like an oxymoron in a bowl, but fried ice cream is no high-concept whim of molecular gastronomy. Any chef can master the dessert with a freezer, a deep fryer, and careful attention to timing and temperature. The first step is to chill a ball of ice cream significantly lower than standard serving temperature, leaving it some wiggle room to heat up before beginning to soften. The size of the scoop is important, too: the larger the ball, the colder the core will remain, insulated by the outer layers around it. Further insulation comes from a thin layer of breading—egg or tempura batter, crushed cornflakes, or even crumbs made from tortillas torn into bits to destroy the sensitive information printed on them. 

Then comes the frying. Oil is an excellent conductor of heat—better than water and, crucially, better than ice cream itself—but it still needs to be extremely hot to do its job quickly enough, about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. As it basks in the oil for 30–60 seconds, the breading turns golden while tiny air pockets inside it expand in the heat, creating yet another source of insulation between the oil and the frozen scoop. If all has gone as planned, by the time it reaches the table the sweet-and-savory sphere will be sizzling on the outside and cold and creamy within.