SUNDAES: Today’s Sophisticated Confections Echo The Sweet Decadence of Yesteryear

Returning to the nostalgic scene of the ‘50s means going back to an old-fashioned craving--the immortal ice cream sundae. The most common vision is that of a colossal hot fudge sundae, still the running favorite in ice cream parlors and now a popular ending to diner menus all over town. The bountiful topping of gooey chocolate sauce, whooshed with whipped cream and dotted with chopped nuts leads the lineup, but delicious new guises are popping up.

The latest scoop in sundaes is anything goes--the sky’s the limit--according to the International Ice Cream Assn., which has pronounced this Sunday as National Ice Cream Day.

On this day, the association estimates that more than 4 million gallons of ice cream will be consumed. A record of about 905 million gallons, just over 15 quarts per capita annual consumption, was reached in 1986, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Toppings for sundaes are wild, running anywhere from healthier granola and fresh fruit to chow mein crunchies and sinful truffles. Ice creams have become more sophisticated as manufacturers compete closely, producing new exotic flavors and richer textures.

“I want that cholesterol,” says David Andrews, lead salesman and cooking demonstrator at Williams-Sonoma in Beverly Hills. “The richer the ice cream, the better the consistency.” Andrews prefers to make ice cream at home rather than going out. “My ice cream tends to be so intense that adding a fudge sauce is just like gilding a lily. I’d rather top it with crushed fresh fruit,” he said.

With all the public attention on dieting, it may seem ironic that the ice cream business continues to flourish. Now in her sixth year, business has never been as good for Robin Rose, a Los Angeles premium ice cream entrepreneur who currently owns eight shops in California and one newly added branch in Japan. “I see the most beautiful people eating the most sundaes,” Rose said. “What they do is burn it off by bicycling down the beach.”

“We don’t go for big sundaes,” Rose explained, while serving a taste of raspberry truffle ice cream, which she considers a yuppie favorite. “The market has changed from lots of scoops with gooey stuff to smaller servings but with fabulous quality ice cream.”

Another exquisite sundae discovery at her busy shop at the Rodeo Collection in Beverly Hills was the combination of light sorbets such as strawberry or raspberry liqueur ice with a luscious smooth fudge topping. “The general move is towards light sundaes using fruit sorbets or creamy ice cream with fresh fruit topping,” she said.

Dieters can share the experience of families that crowd Ed Debevic’s Short Orders Deluxe in Beverly Hills, not just for the fun of the ‘50s and its rock and roll table jukebox machine music but to lose guilt in eating the world’s smallest ice cream sundae. “We serve about 500 of these a day,” said Dave Mazzorama, “and at a cheap 35 cents a cup, it’s a break-even proposition.”

Other frozen delights served at the diner are a brownie sundae, apple cobbler and pecan pie a la mode and, of course, for the more indulgent there’s the large hot fudge sundae oozing with cream and fudge.

If you’re a fresh fruit lover and have ever had old-time sundae favorites like “The Slow Boat to China,” which is a concoction of pineapple sorbet, vanilla ice cream, oranges and candied ginger, or “The Berry Thing,” a layering of all sorts of berries with ice cream, you may want to indulge in Richard Irving’s colorful fruit sundae creation. A native Californian, the young owner of the sentimental Ivy at the Shore in Santa Monica believes in serving “real plain healthy food” and everything made from scratch.

“The banana split sundae is a fun item for us,” Irving said. “It’s made with all kinds of berries and fresh fruits, which cost more for us than what it sells for, which is $6. We don’t make money out of the ice cream, which is made of real rich cream and expensive Tahitian vanilla bean.”

The Ivy’s offering consists of scoops of Tahitian vanilla and crunchy praline ice creams placed over banana slices. They’re served in a pretty leaf-shaped plate that comes in either rose pink or green, and surrounded with heaps of blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, blueberries and strawberries. The butterscotch and fudge sauce toppings as well as the freshly roasted almonds and whipped cream are generous, individually served in white ramekins.

If you want to get away from the traditional sundae look, Bistango’s in Beverly Hills offers “Coupe Bistango.” It’s loaded with scoops of vanilla, caramel and coffee ice cream with preserved oranges, prunes and raisins, laced with whipped cream and a generous splash of Cointreau. Another unusual but refreshing treat is its “Coupe Hollywood,” which features lime, cassis, pear and green peppercorn sorbets.

Aside from fresh fruits, the craze for sundae toppings has centered on nut, candy, chocolate and cookie treats. The traditional sprinkling of chopped peanuts has been replaced by the more upscale nuts such as roasted hazelnuts, pine nuts, macadamias and pistachios. Jelly beans are still fun, but there’s also chopped up chocolate bars (any favorite will do), espresso beans and cookies. Ben and Jerry, a luscious ice cream originally from Vermont that won fame for its Heath Bar Crunch and Oreo Mint Ice Cream is now in California supermarkets. Along with its arrival is Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield’s new “Ice Cream and Dessert Cookbook” (Workman: $7.95), which provides a lot of tips and homemade formulas and also the story of the authors’ ice cream ventures. Greenfield says, “People are going for more chunky and crunchy kinds of ice cream ingredients; there are more unusual combinations in sundaes, which is the same way in cooking.”

When making some of our ice creams for this feature, one good tip we learned from Greenfield was to add a little sugar to fresh fruit. “Cut-up fruit needs some sugaring for a few hours; sugar penetrates the fruit and softens it so that you don’t have a rock-hard fruit after freezing. Lemon juice also brings out the flavor. We’ve also eliminated salt in our mixtures,” Greenfield said. In looking for a good hot fudge sauce recipe, we discovered Cohen’s and Greenfield’s recipe from their book.

Sometimes fudge sauce can get thick. Robin Rose had the solution for this problem. “When this happens, it’s a good idea to thin it down with a little coffee. The flavors of chocolate and coffee mingle nicely,” Rose suggested.

We also borrowed her Rose Petal ice cream concept, which was a big hit during our tasting session. Crystallized rose petals are folded into rose water- and vanilla-flavored ice cream to create some pink marbling effect. Great over vanilla ice cream was Rose’s unusually good warm caramel topping in which you can use any fresh fruits available. The recipe came from Susan Janson, Robin Rose operations manager. “If I were to die tomorrow and had a chance to make a wish, I would wish for this absolutely delicious warm fruit sundae topping over vanilla ice cream,” Rose said.

BASIC VANILLA ICE CREAM

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups half and half

2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat together eggs and sugar. Add whipping cream and half and half. Place in saucepan over very low heat. Bring to simmer, stirring constantly. Add vanilla. Cool, then freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.

Variations:

Fruit Ice Cream: Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over 1/2 cup chopped plums, peaches, nectarine, berries or other fruit. Allow to stand several hours and drain. Fold into soft ice cream and freeze until hard.

Crunchy Praline Ice Cream: Caramelize 1/2 cup sugar in skillet. Add 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Pour into oiled pan. Allow to harden, then chop coarsely or as desired. Fold into soft ice cream and freeze until hard.

ESPRESSO ICE CREAM SUNDAE

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons espresso powder

1 tablespoon boiling water

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

8 (1-ounce) Butterfinger or Heath bars, chopped

Homemade or bottled hot fudge sauce

Whipped cream

Chopped walnuts

Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water. Add mixture to Basic Vanilla Ice Cream mixture. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions. Fold in half of Butterfinger bars. Serve 1 to 2 scoops of ice cream in cone or glass, topped with fudge sauce, whipped cream, remaining Butterfinger bars and walnuts. Makes about 8 servings.

MACADAMIA-MANGO MANIAC SUNDAE

Mango Maniac Sauce

1 quart French vanilla or other favorite flavor ice cream

Sliced mangoes

Macadamia Nut-Caramel Topping

Spoon Mango Maniac Sauce on individual serving plates. Scoop ice cream on top of sauce. Surround ice cream with mango slices. Spoon Macadamia Nut-Caramel Topping over ice cream. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Mango Maniac Sauce

2 mangoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup milk

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar

Combine mangoes, milk, whipping cream and sugar in blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Makes about 3 cups.

Macadamia Nut-Caramel

Topping

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup milk

2/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Mix sugar with water in large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until caramel colored, about 6 minutes. Do not stir. Add milk (mixture will bubble up quite high). Remove from heat and stir in nuts. Cool slightly. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

SUSIE’S WONDERFUL SUNDAE TOPPING

(Susan Janson of Robin

Rose Ice Cream)

1/2 pound lightly salted butter

1/2 pound light brown sugar

1/2 pound dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3 3/4 cups orange juice

2 (20-ounce) cans sliced cling peaches in syrup

2 pounds hulled fresh or frozen strawberries

2 (16-ounce) packages frozen fruit medley

6 bananas, cut up

1/2 cup cornstarch

3 tablespoons vanilla

French vanilla or other flavor ice cream or sorbet

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add light and dark brown sugars and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, until mixture bubbles. Add 2 1/2 cups orange juice, peaches, strawberries, fruit medley and bananas. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to medium.

Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1 1/4 cups orange juice. Drain fruit solids from mixture and add cornstarch mixture to liquids. Bring to second boil. Add vanilla. Serve over French vanilla ice cream or other flavors. Makes about 2 quarts sauce.

Note : For serving, mound scoops of several ice cream or sorbet flavors on well-chilled round platter. Surround with cut-up seasonal fruits or canned fruit. Spoon Susie’s Wonderful Sundae Topping over mixture. Serve immediately.

BEN AND JERRY’S HOT CHERRY FUDGE SUNDAE

2 scoops French vanilla ice cream

1 scoop mocha ice cream

1/4 cup Hot Burgundy Cherries

1/4 cup Hot Fudge Sauce

Whipped cream

Alternate placing scoops of vanilla and mocha ice cream in dessert bowl. Top with Hot Burgundy Cherries and Hot Fudge Sauce. Garnish with 1 dollop whipped cream.

Hot Burgundy Cherries

1 (16-ounce) dark sweet pitted cherries in juice or light syrup

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Drain liquid from cherries into small saucepan. Add lemon juice and heat over low heat until hot. Stir cornstarch and water together in small bowl. Stir into hot cherry juice and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add cherries and lemon zest. Cook, stirring frequently, until cherries are heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 1 pint.

Hot Fudge Sauce

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup whipping cream

Melt chocolate and butter in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring frequently. Add cocoa and whisk until dissolved. Using slotted spoon, gradually stir in sugar. Mixture should be consistency of wet sand. Cook, stirring occasionally, over simmering water 20 minutes.

Gradually stir in milk and cream and keep stirring until completely blended. Continue cooking and stirring (replenish water in double boiler, if needed), 1 hour. Makes about 3 cups.

Variations: Add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for different hot fudge flavors.

ROSE PETAL ICE CREAM SUNDAE

1 cup raspberries

1/4 cup orange, kirsch or raspberry liqueur

1 tablespoon rose water

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 drops red food color

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

2 tablespoons crystallized rose petals

Cantaloupe shell, optional

Prepared chocolate truffle cake or brownies, optional

Rose leaves or mint leaves

Steep raspberries in orange liqueur overnight. Mix rose water, vanilla and red food color into Basic Vanilla Ice Cream mixture. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Fold in rose petals. Freeze until hard. Scoop ice cream into cantaloupe shells or onto chocolate truffle cake or brownies and top with raspberries steeped in liqueur. Garnish with rose leaves or mint leaves. Makes 8 servings.

IVY AT THE SHORE BANANA SPLIT SUNDAE

1 banana, split

Praline ice cream

Vanilla ice cream, preferably made with Tahitian vanilla

Chopped pineapple

Raspberries

Blueberries

Chopped strawberries

Blackberries

Mint leaves

Whipped cream

Butterscotch sauce

Chocolate fudge sauce

Toasted whole or coarsely chopped almonds

Place banana in oval serving dish. Top with total of 3 scoops praline and vanilla ice cream. Surround ice creams with pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. Garnish with mint leaves. Serve with whipped cream, butterscotch sauce, fudge sauce and almonds placed in separate small cups. Makes 1 to 2 servings.

ISLAND MACAPUNO CUSTARD SUNDAE

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup bottled macapuno (shredded sport coconut preserve)

Favorite recipe caramel custard

Strawberries

Freeze Basic Vanilla Ice Cream according to manufacturer’s directions. Fold in 1/2 cup macapuno. Freeze until hard. Top scoops of ice cream with thin slivers of custard and spoon on more macapuno. Garnish with strawberries. Or serve over fresh fruit or cake slices, if desired. Makes about 8 servings.

Note: Macapuno is available in Filipino and Chinese markets.