Pina Colada Fried Ice Cream with Honey Rum Drizzle

July is National Ice Cream Month, and I just couldn’t let it slip away without sharing with you one of my favorite ways to eat this frozen treat.

I’m sure you remember the faux fried ice cream I posted back in March as a protest on winter. It’s an easy make-ahead dessert that mimics the flavors of fried ice cream by combining cool creamy ice cream with a crunchy honeyed corn flake topping. All the flavor but without the melting, messy-ness, or scary oil splatters.

This dessert is the same thing…except better. Because this time, it got a tropical makeover.

Pina Coladas are definitely my favorite alcoholic beverage. I love pineapple and coconut together, and I also love alcoholic beverages that don’t really taste much like alcohol. Soooooo…Pina Colada for the win!

Why I never thought to combine these flavors in an ice cream is a mystery. It might be partly because the Mr. has a strange tastebud numbing reaction to pineapple, which means I don’t often cook or bake with it. But really, this just means when I cut open a pineapple, it’s all mine. Totally not complaining.

This combo turned out even better than I expected. The pineapple adds a wonderful fruity flavor and bursts of tartness to the ice cream and the toasted coconut is a welcome addition to the traditional corn flake topping.

And then there’s the drizzle. Aren’t drizzles just the bet? I mean what are pancakes without the drizzle of maple syrup? What are cinnamon rolls without a drizzle of cream cheese frosting?

I mean, the drizzle makes the dessert. And in this case, it makes it wonderful. And boozy.

It only takes a couple of tablespoons of rum to liven up the honey and bring back memories of sitting pool side with frosty beverage in hand.

That’s the life.

This dessert is also GLUTEN FREE! (The people rejoice). Nature’s Path makes great gluten free cornflakes that provides the perfect crunchy topping for this dessert.

Truly, this is a dessert that can be enjoyed by all. (Except the Mr…cause of that weird tongue thing….well, you can’t win em all!)

Pssstt…when I was photographing these I was totally wishing I had a little toothpick umbrella to stick in the top. Can you just pretend there’s one there for me? K thanks.

Pina Colada Fried Ice Cream with Honey Rum Drizzle

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Pineapple studded ice cream topped with a golden, crunchy coconut topping and honey rum drizzle. All of the flavor of traditional fried ice cream without the mess! Note: to make this gluten free, use Nature's Path gluten free cornflakes.

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Ingredients

• 2 quarts (8 cups) vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 8 oz. container whipped topping, thawed
• 1 fresh pineapple or 2 15 oz. cans pineapple, cut into small pieces
• 1 stick butter
• 6 heaping cups cornflakes, crushed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 heaping cup coconut
• About a half cup of honey
• 2 Tablespoons coconut rum

Instructions

**Before you prepare this dish, you'll want to decide if you want to make the entire dish ahead of time and serve it straight from the freezer, or if you want the topping to be warm, like traditional fried ice cream. It's delicious both ways, it just depends on what you prefer. If you want the topping to be warm, you'll have to wait to make the topping until just before serving. Otherwise, you can make the entire dish ahead of time and simply freeze until ready to serve.

For the ice cream base, combine the softened ice cream, whipped topping, and pineapple chunks in a large bowl. Use a stand mixer, hand beater, or blender to combine. Spread ice cream mixture evenly in a 9 x 13 inch pan and place in the freezer.

For the topping: In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add cornflakes, sugar, and coconut and fry for 5-8 minutes or until coconut and cornflakes and browned in places. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the honey: Stir together the honey and rum until well combined.

If you're freezing this ahead of time, layer the cornflake mixture and honey on the ice cream as soon as it's cool then freeze for 2 hours or overnight.

If you want the topping to be warm, wait to prepare the cornflake topping until 30 minutes before you're ready to serve, then pull the pan from the freezer, top with the warm cornflakes and honey, cut into squares, and serve immediately.

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 Recipe by Neighborfood