The Boozy Use For Melted Ice Cream You'll Wish You Tried Sooner

The table is set, the food is ready, and guests are about to arrive — and you suddenly realize the ice cream you bought never made it into the freezer. What was meant to be dessert is now a meltdown — but don't panic. That tub of melted ice cream can be repurposed for an entirely different use: the creamiest, most decadent cocktails.

Melted ice cream brings rich flavors and a thick, creamy texture, making it a game-changing cocktail ingredient. It'll add sweetness and body to everything from boozy milkshakes to reimagined classics. Here's a simple rule of thumb to get you started: Whenever a cocktail recipe calls for heavy cream, try swapping in some melted ice cream instead. After all, melted vanilla ice cream is basically a crème anglaise — a combination of heavy cream, vanilla, and egg yolks. In fact, using ice cream in place of heavy cream often makes cocktails even more indulgent and decadently flavorful.

Take the classic White Russian, for example. Traditionally made with vodka, coffee liqueur, and heavy cream, it gets a rich, velvety lift when you use vanilla ice cream instead of the cream. The same idea works across other creamy classics. Swap the vodka for brandy, and your White Russian becomes a Brandy Alexander. Bourbon, chocolate, and melted vanilla ice cream will make a tasty play on a boozy shake. And because your ice cream's already melted, you won't even need to use a blender!

While vanilla is the closest substitute for heavy cream, that doesn't mean you can't experiment with other melted ice cream flavors in your cocktails. One option is to lean into a popular cocktail's flavor profile. For example, melted mint chocolate chip ice cream blends seamlessly into a retro Grasshopper, which is traditionally made with crème de menthe and chocolate liqueur. The second option is to draw inspiration from well-loved flavor pairings. Chocolate and coffee, for example, are a perfect match; chocolate ice cream adds a rich, indulgent punch to any coffee-based cocktail.

There are a couple of points to keep in mind before you start experimenting. First, make sure your ice cream hasn't been sitting out of the refrigerator for too long. Since most commercial ice creams contain milk and eggs, they're prone to bacterial growth when left at room temperature, especially at anything over 40 F. You should also always use high-quality ice cream. Low-quality ice cream brands commonly use stabilizers and fillers, which can taste unpleasant in melted form and turn an exciting shortcut into a disappointing mess.