Recipe Roundup | Ice Cream Cones & Cups, Biscuits & Baskets, Wafers & Waffles

I knew when I set May’s #BSFIC theme as Cones & Cups, Biscuits & Baskets, Wafers & Waffles (or indeed, any other edible containers for ice cream) that it was quite a challenge. Lots of choice on what to make, lots of scope for creativity but also lots of potential for things to go wrong.

So I was super impressed with all the entries, below, which I’m sure you’ll agree showcase a fabulous range of ideas!

I started things off early with my own post for which I recreated the BSFIC cartoon badge I drew back when I set the first challenge. I used my new review Lakeland Waffle Cone Maker (with lots of help from Pete) to make the cones, made a simple but really delicious basil ice cream to serve in them and melted some dark chocolate to create the drizzle on top.

Showing great ingenuity in the face of no waffle maker, Gary from Big Spud made Waffles on a George Foreman Grill. He paired them with some Ben & Jerry’s Winter Berry Brownie for a fruity chocolatey hit. Great proof that you don’t need to fill your kitchen with gadgets to be creative in the kitchen, a lesson I’ve not yet truly accepted!

Julia from Food Blog London initially thought about making stroopwafels (keep your eyes open for an upcoming post of mine, Julia!) but decided in the end to combine the new challenge with the recent Baked Alaska theme. Her Waffle, Blueberry Sorbet and Meringue dessert may not have looked as pretty as she hoped, but it did look pretty darn tasty! I like the idea of using a waffle instead of a cake as the base for a baked alaska, and the sorbet sounds so refreshing.

Now if you want to talk about thinking outside the box, blue sky thinking, pushing the envelope or, as us normal people call it, originality then look no further than Hannah of Corner Cottage Bakery’s Strawberry Jelly Ice Cream Bowls. And of course, she didn’t use the ready made cubes of jelly like yours truly would have – she made beautiful delicately pink jelly from real strawberries and served it with vanilla ice cream. A totally grown up twist on a childhood classic.

Julia from Something Missing had an ice cream crisis recently. She ran out of ice cream! Now that just won’t do… so a root around her store cupboard revealed just the ingredients to make a tasty Frappuccino ice cream using Ferrero Rocher, coffee and a condensed milk base. For her edible Hazelnut Chocolate Bowls, she used Nutella and ground hazelnuts for a gluten-free bake. I love the pretty shape of the bowls!

Asbestos fingered Jennie from All The Things I Eat made cute little cones, using a David Lebovitz recipe. These she then turned into nifty Cornettos by filling with vanilla condensed milk ice cream and coating with chocolate and chopped toasted hazelnuts. It’s hard not to sing like a Gondolier at these beauties!

After throwing down the gauntlet to me to try making ice cream cones out of crushed popcorn, Gill from Pigling Bland decided to make Brandy Snap Baskets with Banana Ice Cream. She added a little desiccated coconut to a Mary Berry recipe for the brandy baskets and combined frozen bananas and condensed milk to make a base ice cream to which she added vanilla and chocolate.

Foodycat’s Alicia shocked herself silly when she realised, after much Googling, that her idea was indeed so original she couldn’t find any evidence of anyone having done the same before. Having often thought of a new idea myself, only to discover that many others have had just the same inspiration before me, I know well how rare this actually is! Keen to represent the flavours of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Alicia made Raspberry Choux Profiteroles filled with Peanut Butter Ice Cream. I’ve never encountered flavoured choux pastry before and love the idea!

With such wide-ranging and creative entries, I really struggled to pick a winner, and turned to Pete to help me make the final pick. Between us, we selected Hannah from Corner Cottage Bakery to win the prize – a Waffle Cone Maker, kindly provided by Lakeland. We loved her clever take on ice cream cups; and such a pretty and summery post too.