Food52 Ice Cream and Friends: 60 Recipes and Riffs [A Cookbook]

A fun collection of 60 recipes, riffs, toppings, and serving ideas for ice creams of all styles.

Ice cream is more fun with friends, but also with cones, sprinkles, candied nuts, hot honey—you get where we’re going. So the editors of Food52 brought together sixty well-tested recipes for frozen desserts of all styles and a billion (give or take a few) ideas for toppings and add-ons. There are surprising flavors—think cinnamon roll ice cream, coffee frozen custard, and grilled watermelon cremolada—and spins on enduring favorites, such as spiced fudgesicles, cherry-mint snow cones, and even a chocolate-hazelnut baked Alaska. There are Saltine and waffle sandwiches, boozy floats, and something called “spoom.” There are tricks for making ice cream without a maker and spiffing up the store-bought stuff, and Hail Marys for when things go wrong (like when—whoops!—all the ice cream melts). But don’t be nervous: even if you’ve never made ice cream before, you’re in good hands with this no-fuss, all-fun book. Consider it your permission to play (and eat a ton of really good ice cream).

The home and kitchen destination Food52.com was founded in 2009 by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, two authors, editors, and opinionated home cooks who formerly worked for the New York Times. Since then, Food52 has created a suite of cookbooks, a cooking and home shop, a podcast, and a cooking hotline—and has won many a James Beard and IACP award doing it.