Ice Cream Dessert Tacos in two flavors

It’s that time of year when the weather keeps teasing us. One day it’s sunny and my family and I are rocking our sandals and short sleeves. The next day we’re in wellies and fleece lined raincoats!

It’s not just our wardrobes that reflect our anticipation for warmer days. Our taste buds have definitely left behind comfort puddings and spiced desserts! We are ready for light fruity cakes and … this is the big one ice cream!!

Ice cream is, hands down, the ultimate summer treat!

There are so many ways to serve ice cream. In a cone or bowl, with or without sauces, nuts or sprinkles whatever you want! Ice cream is also great in a sandwich or in taco shells.

That's right an ice cream taco! In the USA you can an ice cream taco right next to your ice cream sandwiches and other ice cream treats!

I thought I would have a go making them at home since I cannot recall ever seeing one here in the UK. 

It’s basically a very sweet pancake lined with melted chocolate and ice cream. Yum!

The next thing I had to decide is what flavor of ice cream I wanted to fill my taco shells with. I decided on Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Cherry & Amaretto Dairy Ice Cream and Toffee & Honeycomb Dairy Ice Cream.

The Cherry & Amaretto tacos I didn't add any sprinkles or anything, but you could easily add small dark chocolate chips, you can never have too much chocolate!

The Toffee & Honeycomb tacos I added some honey comb pieces to the top for fun! You could line these tacos with a homemade toffee instead of the dark chocolate for a different twist!

The taco shells are the only tricky part of these and if you can make pancakes you can make these!

Ice Cream Dessert Tacos

2 large eggs

100g granulated sugar

57g unsalted butter, melted

2-4 tbsp double cream

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract

50g plain flour

¼ tsp salt

100 ml vegetable or sunflower oil, more or less

150g dark chocolate, melted

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Dairy Ice Cream(s)

Sprinkles or Honeycomb pieces

Gently beat the eggs and sugar together until frothy; add the melted butter, 2 tbsp of the double cream, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt and beat until smooth.

The batter needs to be just right. Not to thick, but not too thin. If it isn't pourable then add an extra tablespoon of double cream until you get a desirable consistency. I used 4 tbsp in total, but just judge it as you whisk it.

Heat a nonstick pan over a medium heat. Very lightly coat the bottom of the pan with the oil, drain off an excess. Keep the oil near by because you may need to oil the pan as you go on.

Place a heaped dessertspoon of the batter in the middle of the pan and gently swirl it around so it spreads out to be about a 12cm circle. Once the edges start to come away from the pan slightly check to see if it’s browned properly then, the tricky part! Flipping it! Flip it over and fry for a few more minutes until browned.

Place the taco shell over a wooden spoon handle or a Scottish porridge stirring stick like I did to cool while you get on with the next taco shell. Once the next shell is ready to rest on the wooden spoon move the other to a cooling rack with half a tooth pick propping up the shell in a U shape. Repeat until all the shells are made.

While they are cooling melt your dark chocolate, if you do it in the microwave be sure to do it in 10-20 second bursts so you don’t seize it up! Otherwise use the bain-marie method.

Coat the inside of each shell with the melted chocolate, leave to harden on the cooling rack I re-used the toothpicks to keep a couple of them from sticking together.

Then fill with the chosen ice cream and toppings! Enjoy right away or wrap in greaseproof paper and place in a freezer storage box to freeze for another day.

It took me a few tries to get the shells right, so I ended up with 7 tacos but the batter could have made a possible 10. So, I would say allow for a couple of them to tear or not flip properly! I finished frying them up anyway and munched on them while I got on with it.

I was also thinking that instead of cooling the shells on a wooden spoon they could be gently pressed into a muffin tin to make ice cream bowls. I will be trying that next, after I practice my flipping skills! The picture below illustrates a failed flip. 

notes: this post was written in association with Sainsbury’s, please visit one of their locations for the full range of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Dairy Ice Creams! All opinions are my own for further information please see my contact/policy page above. The recipe was adapted from CakeSpy presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life by Jessie Oleson. This post is full filling day 12 of the Blog Every Day in May challenge #BEDM.