42 ice cream topping recipes

Homemade hot fudge sauce with unsweetened and semi-sweet chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla. A thick, glossy ice cream topping ready in 20 minutes.

From-scratch banana cream pie with tea-infused pastry cream, a flaky pate brisee crust, and billowy whipped cream. A bakery-level banana pie that's worth every minute of the effort.

Rich chocolate sauce made from unsweetened chocolate, heavy cream, and dry sherry, boiled to a thick, glossy pour. An elegant ice cream topping that stores in the fridge.

Fresh bananas and Bartlett pears drizzled with melted vanilla ice cream as a ready-made custard sauce, topped with chopped pecans. No cooking, no custard-making. The ice cream is the sauce.

Lady Godiva is a blended dessert cocktail with creme de cacao, Kahlua, vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries, and half-and-half. Boozy milkshake-style drink topped with whipped cream.

A Swiss showstopper: fresh plums caramelized in red wine, kirsch, and honey with pine nuts and pistachios, topped with homemade cinnamon ice cream. Serve warm or cold.

Diner-style crumb top apple pie with six apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest, and a buttery streusel topping baked golden. Serve warm with cheddar or ice cream.

A colonial-era chocolate pie with vanilla cake batter baked under a rich unsweetened chocolate sauce and topped with chopped nuts. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Spicy apple crisp layers cinnamon-scented sliced apples under a buttery oat-and-brown-sugar streusel topping that bakes crunchy and golden. Fall comfort dessert served warm with vanilla ice cream or cold cream.

Baked whole apples glazed in cinnamon-citrus syrup, opened like flower petals, and topped with vanilla ice cream and homemade chocolate liqueur sauce.

Red and golden raspberries marinated in a honeyed raspberry puree. A simple, elegant fruit dessert or topping for ice cream and angel food cake.

Light angel food cake topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh blueberries macerated in Grand Marnier for an effortless summer dessert in 10 minutes.

Blackberry cream nut tart with a flaky shortening crust, white chocolate cream cheese filling, boysenberry-glazed blackberries, and a walnut lattice topping.

Gingered rhubarb crisp with crystallized ginger folded into tart rhubarb under a buttery crumb topping. Baked until bubbling and golden, served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Unusual baked apple and banana casserole with buttery crumble topping that works as a warm fruit side dish or easy dessert with vanilla ice cream.

Coconut-rolled vanilla ice cream balls floating in hot cocoa spiked with cream of coconut and optional dark rum. Topped with chocolate sauce and a cherry. A showstopper hot chocolate dessert for 8.