Chocolate Cherry Floats

Lets talk about ice cream floats. Did you know they're pretty much the perfect dessert? You can make them with a myriad of ingredients that can be found at just about any corner store, they come together in a snap yet look decadent as heck, and they're just so delicious. So, so darn delicious.

There's the ever-popular root beer float, the chocolatey brown cow, the tasty Coke float, there are vegan variations, and even Butterbeer copycats. I love all variations of the ice cream + soda combination. For a while as a kid I loved to get classic ice cream sodas at a local place, where you chose any type of ice cream you liked, and they topped it with with a fruit or chocolate syrup, and plain soda water. 

I really liked, at this ice cream shop, to get a rich chocolatey ice cream, and a fruity syrup, like strawberry or cherry. The deep, decadent chocolate ice cream would melt into the fruity, crisp soda in a really phenomenal way. And the fruit syrup would turn the soda foam a really gorgeous shocking hue. 

This float is my homage to that childhood treat. You can use absolutely any type of chocolate ice cream you like, I went with a classic- Haagen Dazs Chocolate, but I think a really rich dark chocolate would be lovely- or even a dark chocolate sorbet. Similarly, use any cherry soda you like. You could even use cherry cola, though it will produce a browner foam. I used Stewarts Cherries 'N' Cream soda, which was delightful. 

This recipe is super simple- you only have to cook the hot fudge, and you could do that in a microwave if you really wanted (just run it in short increments at 70% power, mixing often). It's very short cook time makes it an excellent choice for a summer dessert. You could even make the hot fudge ahead of time and just zap it a moment to rewarm it before serving, bringing your prep time down even lower! I hope you enjoy this delicious little treat as much as I did!

Chocolate Cherry Floats

(Makes 4 floats)

Float

1 Pint Chocolate Ice Cream
2 12.5oz Bottles Cherry Soda

Hot Fudge 
1/2 C Butter
1 14oz Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 C Chocolate Chips

First, make the hot fudge. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Stir in the chocolate chips, and when mostly melted, mix in the sweetened condensed milk. Stir for a bit until glossy and smooth. Set aside.

Put 1 Scoop ice cream in each cup, pour 1/2 a bottle of soda over top (tilt your cup and pour slowly to avoid fizzing over), top with another scoop of ice cream and drizzle with hot fudge. Enjoy!