Some Classic Ice Cream Desserts

Appears in
The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine

By French Culinary Institute

Published 2021

  • About
Ice cream may be served alone, with sauce or fruit, with meringues or in molds, or as a component of other desserts.
Following are some of the classic desserts that contain ice cream:
  • Goblets (coupes): Coupes de glace are different types of ice creams, sorbets, or fresh fruits (coupe de fruits) served frozen in the large coupe glasses from which they take their name. They usually also include other ingredients such as fruit or chocolate sauce, chopped toasted nuts, crème anglaise, and so forth. In America, a coupe might be called a sundae. Auguste Escoffier made this category of dessert famous with his many memorable classics, often named after well-known women, such as peach Melba (coupe pêche Melba), a poached peach with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce named after Dame Nellie Melba, an opera star, and coupe poire belle Hélène, a poached pear with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, named after the heroine of an Offenbach operetta.
  • Baked Alaska (omelette Norvégienne): One or more sorbets encased in génoise and baked Italian meringue.
  • Ice cream–filled meringues (vacherins glacés): Shells or rings of meringue, filled with sorbets and ice creams and then decorated with piped crème Chantilly; may be garnished with smaller decorations of candied flowers or fruits and nuts.
  • Ice cream–filled cream puffs with chocolate sauce (Profiteroles glacées au chocolat): Cream puffs filled with ice cream and kept frozen until served accompanied by hot chocolate sauce.