Behold the most glorious summer treat (which probably represents my daily calorie intake, but no matter, it’s worth it), the knickerbocker glory sundae! It’s an epic sundae composed of layers of ice cream, fruit, whipped cream, meringue or nuts that can mainly be found in Great Britain’s ice cream parlors.
My Knickerbocker glory sundae is composed of scoops of raspberry and almond ice creams, honeycomb candy and raspberry whipped cream, all drizzled with a copious amount of homemade raspberry sauce. Yummy! Who wouldn’t want a spoon (or twenty) of that? The sharpness of the raspberry is contrasted with the sweet almond ice cream, and the crunchy pieces of honeycomb ensure you’ll get a surprising texture all throughout your knickerbocker glory sundae. And who doesn’t like their sundae topped with whipped cream for added smoothness and creaminess? This is a real treat that I’m very excited to share with you all.
HARRY POTTER INSPIRATION
I never heard about knickerbocker glory sundae before reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in English. However, sundaes always bring me back to my childhood summers spent in France when I would systematically order a Dame Blanche for dessert when my parents would treat us to dinner in a restaurant. Dame Blanche is a sundae composed of vanilla ice cream, a ton of whipped cream, and warm chocolate fudge. Every kid’s dream, right? Now that I’m older and my palate got a bit more refined and accepted other flavors than vanilla and chocolate, I don’t see why I shouldn’t continue my tradition of summer sundaes, as long as they are few and far between. And I’m glad Harry got his own happy summery knickerbocker glory sundae memory too, even if the day didn’t end very well for him, but that’s a story for another day.
THE INSIDE SCOOP
➝ What’s a knickerbocker glory sundae? It’s an epic sundae composed of layers of ice cream, fruit, whipped cream, meringue or nuts that can mainly be found in Great Britain’s ice cream parlors. Popularized in the 30s it doesn’t have an original recipe and can be found in plenty of different flavors. But a knickerbocker glory sundae is always served in a tall glass with a long spoon and comprises lots of layers and is topped with whipped ream and some decoration (a wafer, a single cherry,…).
➝ How to make a good sundae? I like to put my knickerbocker glory sundae glass in the freezer beforehand to make sure my ice cream will melt as slowly as possible after being served. Put sauce at the bottom of your glass to make sure that your last bites of ice cream are also coated in sauce. Add a crunchy topping (nuts, candies, cereals,…) so you’ll get a nice contrast of texture between the creamy ice cream and the crispy or chewy topping. A lot of people enjoy slices of fruit, the most traditional choices being strawberry and banana, but you can add whatever you want/have. Be crazy and imaginative! Don’t be afraid of mixing your favorite flavors and toppings and you’ll always end up with a delicious knickerbocker glory sundae.
HONEYCOMB WITH ICE CREAM, H*CK YEAH!
When I decided to tackle this Harry Potter (and classic British) recipe I knew I wanted one of the flavors to be raspberry. Fruits are one of the main components of a knickerbocker glory sundae, and raspberry is my favorite fruit to use in desserts. I love how the sharpness of raspberries contrasts with anything sweet, it’s a promised explosion of flavor. However, I didn’t want to fall into the common trap of pairing vanilla with raspberry so I googled ‘What goes well with raspberries?’ and along came my answer: almond and honey!
A perfect pairing in concept and as proof I knew that ballı bademli (honey and almond) was a very popular flavor of ice cream in Turkey but I knew I wouldn’t find it in France. Turkey was really the only place where I saw this type of ice cream so I resigned myself to use a simple almond ice cream and to add honeycomb candy to get the honey taste. Plus the crunchy honeycomb offers a great texture throughout the knickerbocker glory sundae. All in all, it’s a great mix of flavors and textures that work surprisingly well together. I use this honeycomb recipe and I halve the ingredients. When I don’t add honeycomb to my almond ice cream, I add pieces of almond brittle, which my husband absolutely adores. Maybe I’ll post this recipe later on.
Looking for other Harry Potter recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
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Knickerbocker glory sundae
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 56 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: British
Description
Behold the most glorious summer treat, the Knickerbocker glory sundae! My Knickerbocker glory is composed of layers and layers of raspberry and almond ice creams, crushed honeycomb candy and whipped cream, all drizzled with a copious amount of homemade raspberry sauce. Yum!
Ingredients
For the raspberry sauce:
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50g caster sugar (¼ cup)
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30ml water (2 tbsp)
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pinch of citric acid (or cream of tartar) *
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250g raspberries (I use frozen ones, thawed overnight in the fridge) (2 cups)
For the whipped cream:
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100ml heavy cream (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp)
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2 tbsp caster sugar
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2 tbsp mascarpone, heaped
For each knickerbocker glory sundae:
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3 scoops of raspberry ice cream
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3 scoops of almond ice cream (or vanilla)
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honeycomb candy (I used this recipe and I halved the ingredients)
Instructions
- Put your cream in the fridge.
- Keep your knickerbocker glory (sundae or milkshake) glasses and the bowl in which you will whip the cream in the freezer, while you prepare the rest.
- Cut the honeycomb into bite-size pieces.
First, make the raspberry sauce:
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Blend the raspberries in a food processor. Put the sugar in a heavy-based pan and shake the pan slightly to level it.
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Pour the water on top of the sugar and add the acid citric. Stir only once to make sure the citric acid is combined then do not touch the pan. Place the tip of your candy thermometer in the pan. Cook over medium heat until the temperature reaches 115°C (240°F), for about 6 min. Take off the heat and quickly mix in the blended raspberries.
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Set a mesh strainer on top of a medium-size bowl. Scrap the raspberries through the strainer into the bowl, pressing hard with a spatula until there are only seeds left in the mesh strainer. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom of the mesh strainer, there always is raspberry sauce clinging to it.
Then, make the raspberry whipped cream:
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Take out the bowl from the freezer and the cream from the fridge. With a hand mixer, whip the cream on medium speed until you reach the soft peaks stage.
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Add the caster sugar, mascarpone and 1 tbsp of the raspberry sauce. Increase the speed and mix until everything is incorporated and the cream thickens. Lift up the beaters of your hand mixer, the peaks should be stiff and stand straight up.
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Taste and adjust according to preferred sweetness. You can add more raspberry sauce if you desire a more vivid color.
Fınally, prepare the knickerbocker glory sundaes:
- Take out the glasses. For one knickerbocker glory sundae: put 1 tsp of raspberry sauce at the bottom of the glass, add 1 scoop of raspberry ice cream, 1 scoop of almond ice cream, a little syrup, sprinkle with some honeycomb, then repeat the same layers until you run out of ice cream.
- Spoon big dollops of the whipped cream on top of the ice cream, pour 1 tsp of raspberry sauce on top of the whipped cream and run a toothpick in circles to create a marble effect. Sprinkle with some more honeycomb and voila.
- Repeat to fill the other knickerbocker glory sundae glasses. Serve with leftover raspberry sauce and honeycomb on the side. Devour quickly.
Notes
You can keep any leftover raspberry sauce for up to 3 days in the fridge properly covered with plastic wrap.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 1500
Keywords: ice cream sundae, raspberry sundae, classic british desserts, summer puddings
*I usually use this raspberry sauce recipe because I can spoon the leftover inside my ice creams. In a container with a tight-fitting lid, I alternate layers of churned ice cream and raspberry sauce and create swirls. The invert sugar (sugar that has been melted with citric acid and has reached the temperature of 115°C (240°F)) ensures the smoothness of the sauce and prevents the creation of ice crystals while being frozen. If you don’t have citric acid or cream of tartar you don’t have to make invert sugar specifically for your knickerbocker glory sundae. Since you won’t need to put the raspberry sauce in the freezer anyway you could make the following raspberry sauce recipe.
In a pan mash the raspberries with 150g of sugar and 3 tbsp of lemon juice with a silicone spatula. Cook over medium heat until it has the consistency of runny jam, stirring occasionally. It will take about 12 min. Set a mesh strainer on top of a medium-size bowl. Scrap the raspberries through the strainer into the bowl, pressing hard with a spatula until there are only seeds left in the mesh strainer. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to build your ultimate knickerbocker glory sundae.
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