The Aluminum Foil Hack For Mess-Free Ice Cream Experiences
Just as peanut butter goes with jelly and wine goes with cheese, ice cream and waffle cones just seem to fit together. Who doesn't enjoy an ice-cold scoop of ice cream, followed by the sugar-coated coat that's covered in sweet sticky ice cream residue? It's pretty much two treats in one! There's even a wide variety of ways you can make that waffle cone taste even better.
But as anyone who's ever enjoyed an ice cream cone before can tell you, the absolute second that scoop of ice cream hits your cone, you better start eating it, or else risk getting your hands, face, and pretty much anything you're wearing covered in melting ice cream. There are many suggestions on how to keep your ice cream from melting in your hand. TODAY, for example, suggests filling the interior of the cone with miniature marshmallows to help absorb any melting ice cream from dripping out, while Modernist Pantry recommends adding an additive by the name of "Polysorbate 80" that can help the ice cream maintain its shape for just a little longer. The truth, however, is that you can't stop your ice cream from melting — ice cream melts, that's what it's supposed to do.
Instead of focusing on trying to keep your ice cream from melting, maybe there's a way you can prevent it from making a mess, even when it does melt.
Wrap the base of the cone in aluminum foil
When you think of ice cream, you're probably not thinking of aluminum foil– unless, of course, it's a Klondike bar wrapped in its silvery packaging. But tinfoil can actually help to keep ice cream on your cone, rather than staining your hands or your clothes. But what exactly makes something like aluminum foil, the stuff you wrap your leftovers in, so good for serving alongside ice cream cones?
According to Reader's Digest, this trick simply requires you to wrap a piece of tin foil around the base of an ice cream cone before serving it. The foil will "catch" any wayward drips of ice cream, similar to how wrapping a napkin or a paper towel around the cone helps to absorb ice cream as it melts.
Another added bonus, Everyday Koala explains, is that aluminum foil won't "stick" to the cone. Unlike napkins, which could get sticky from the ice cream and become stuck to the cone, thus leaving pieces of paper across the surface of the cone, tinfoil is nonstick and can easily be disposed of without a problem.
While tinfoil is perfect for ensuring a mess-free ice cream treat, you can actually use foil to "bake" another ice cream cone-based confection — one that's a combination of s'mores and ice cream.
What are campfire cones?
Ice cream cones and heat aren't exactly two things that you would think go well together, considering that a cone full of ice cream over a roaring campfire will make a mess that not even tinfoil could clean up. But these so-called "campfire cones" are less of ice cream and more of a combination of s'mores and candy stuffed into a waffle cone.
According to POPSUGAR., campfire cones require only a few basic ingredients — ice cream cones, aluminum foil, and your choice of s'mores toppings like graham cracker squares, chocolate chips, and miniature marshmallows. Stuff the cone with the s'mores toppings and then lay it on a square of foil, wrapping the cone within the foil and leaving a pocket of air before the top of the cone. Place the foil-wrapped cones in the oven for five minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the chocolate and marshmallow in the cones have fully melted.
Center Cut Cook also tells us that campfire cones are incredibly versatile, and can be made using either your oven, your grill, or, as the name suggests, a campfire. You could also add or omit your own choice of toppings, such as peanut butter, sliced strawberries, or other types of candies.