I am lactose intolerant. This probably explains my unhealthy obsession with ice-cream.
My favourite dessert is nothing fancier or more sophisticated than a
simple Ice-cream Sundae. Nothing satisfies my sweet palate more than
vanilla ice-cream with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, crushed nuts,
caramelised banana, wafer biscuit and the all-important cherry on top!
Despite
evidence to the contrary (what is with this crazy Melbourne weather?!),
warmer months are just around the corner down here in Oz and I've got
ice-cream on the brain! So I came up with a design concept for an
old-fashioned Ice-cream Parlour "Make your own Sundaes " buffet with
all the accoutrements. Read on for more pics, ideas and freebies to help
you with your own ice-cream parlour buffet for your party, kids party
or even wedding.
I absolutely love the idea of Make your own Sundaes for a party because it adds an element of creativity and fun to your event and is so easy to do. Guests have the thrill of customising their sundaes with a whole variety of colourful sugary toppings.
Here are the elements I've used in my Ice-Cream Parlour buffet concept:
ICE-CREAM AND WHIPPED CREAM
I've used a metal tub with ice to contain the ice-cream and whipped cream. Having someone serve these items may be quicker, easier and may avoid some added mess! I imagine in a wedding or large party context, having some form of refrigeration would be preferable but for a simpler, smaller party I'm sure a tub with ice would be sufficient.
OLD FASHIONED ICE-CREAM SUNDAE DISHES
At Wheel and Barrow I found these really beautiful old-fashioned pink hued ice-cream sundae dishes- Rather than use these for the sundaes themselves I've actually decided to use these for some of the toppings. I've limited the topping colour palette in these to white and pink to keep the aesthetic soft and light. I've used coconut covered Apricot Balls, Mints and mini Marshmallows.
WOODEN BOX CANDY DISPENSER WITH SCOOPS
I found this wooden box at The Works- Bed, Bath and Table. It was initially a very dark colour so I re-painted it white. I've used it to display some of the candy toppings. I've partially lined the interior with pink paper- partly for aesthetic purposes and partly to protect the food from the paint ( just to be on the safe side!) Candy within the box includes Rainbow Sprinkles, Milk bottles, Fruit Tingles and Shaved Coconut. I've deliberately used a soft, pastel colour scheme for the candy to tie in with the rest of the table. I've used metal scoops from The Works- Bed, Bath and Table for serving.
I also made little labels for the box. If you wish to make similar labels you need to download the Jane Austen free font from Dafont.
MARASCHINO CHERRIES
Got
these from a deli at Prahran Market. How awesome are Maraschino
Cherries? A must for every Sundae! They look gorgeous altogether with
their stems standing up.
SAUCE TOPPINGS
Cottees have a limited edition Coconut Ice sauce which is a beautiful soft pink and fits perfectly with the colour scheme in my concept. Chocolate sauce is an absolute must! I've put them in little clear glass jugs but if you can find some really nice old-fashioned dispensers that would work exceptionally well! Other great topping ideas are Caramel, Strawberry, Passionfruit, Butterscotch, Hot Fudge (if you have the means to keep it warm). The more the merrier!
COOKIE JAR
Inside the big old-fashioned cookie jar, also found at Wheel and Barrow, I put crushed peanuts and almond flakes- would be great to put another metal scoop into this.
WAFERS IN STRAW DISPENSER
Yet another Wheel and Barrow purchase (I love this place!)- a straw dispenser is used to dispense Vanilla Wafers.
MERINGUES
I adore meringues! These were bought from Let Them Eat Cake. Some of their novelty cakes are so beautiful! Admittedly, sometimes I just go there to stare at them. I got the pink and the white ones and ended up incorporating them both. For the white meringues I placed them on a long rectanglular flat white dish which I lined with this beautiful pink padded paper found at Eckersleys.
OTHER TOPPING IDEAS
Chocolate buds, chocolate frogs, brownies, jelly beans, strawberries, fruit salad... any other ideas?
LABELS
I got these cute metal stands (below) from Chef's Hat and made these labels to accompany the toppings.
Note: These templates are editable. The editable font used is Ecuyer DAX, which I downloaded from Dafont. It is entirely an uppercase font so if you type without caps lock on, the font will be slightly smaller. Type in your own titles and print out onto white card.
PAPER CUPS
I looked everywhere for those short ice-cream paper cups you get in commercial ice-cream parlours but couldn't find them- other than for wholesale! Grr... So I ended up getting these standard 9 oz paper cups at Spotlight and I covered them with my own designs- an argyle pattern and a striped pattern.
These are available for free download below.
Each cup printout will use a fair bit of ink so I can't imagine using these for a large party. However, these would probably be ideal for smaller groups- especially kids parties. Alternatively, you may wish instead to use some elegant old-fashioned sundae dishes, like the ones I've used for the white candy toppings.
Note: Print onto plain white paper. Wrap around cup and stick with glue or double sided tape. I've used a 9oz cup that looks to be a fairly standard size.
MINI POPCORN CUP FOR SPOONS
I found some cute little pastel yellow and pink ice-cream plastic spoons at Spotlight. Little wooden paddles are also very cute and would work well. I've stored them inside this cute mini popcorn container which can be downloaded below.
Note: I've used a cast coated card , in pink and cream, which is fairly thick and has a beautiful gloss. I used the Lustralux brand found at Papyrus Design. This paper is not printable so firstly print out onto plain white paper, cut out the template with scalpel and trace around the edges onto the card. Use a scalpel to cut out. You will need a scallop edge scissors to cut along the top of the cup. I've used the Christine Re Chloe Scissors purchased from Rock, Paper, Scissors.
PADDLE STICK TOPPINGS LABELS
I got these jumbo paddle sticks from Riot Art and Craft and attached circular labels on them. These look great inside the old-fashioned sundae dishes.
Note: These templates are editable. The editable font used is Ecuyer DAX, which I downloaded from Dafont. It is entirely an uppercase font so if you type without caps lock on, the font will be slightly smaller. Type in your own titles and print out. Cut around the edge with scissors or circle cutter and stick onto jumbo paddle stick with glue or double sided tape.
MORE GREAT IDEAS
With
more time, money and resources I would have loved to have a canopy over
the top of the buffet with the familiar pink and white ice-cream
parlour awnings. This would have completed the buffet perfectly.
Sigh....
Bon appetit!
Just DARLING! 
Y
Everything looks so fancy and fun. It is going to be a great party. i scream for icecream.
rejecting an rsvp
- supermeof3
on Apr. 15, 2012 at 9:58 PM