Mango Split

Well, it's a little ironic that I'm just making this ice cream treat now since the weather has turned so chilly and we had a scorching hot summer where I made hardly any icy desserts. But I digress. I was a little excited to have this tonight but then I got nervous about it. Not about making it, but about if I would like it or not. I wanted to like it but I was afraid I wouldn't. So I put it off for a bit. Then I couldn't wait any more...so I asked Husband if he wanted one. He asked me the ingredients, which I listed to him, and he said - No thanks. So my heart sunk a little deeper. I became worried about the taste. Then when I pulled out my vanilla ice cream I was more worried still. I don't usually scoop my ice cream. I prefer my ice cream on a stick. Actually the best ice cream of all is a Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia on a stick. I can snarf those down in the blink of an eye. But this vanilla bean ice cream has been lurking around my freezer for months on end and when I opened it up there was a thick layer of freezer burn over most of it. But I figured I had enough to salvage one scoop (which was all I needed).

So I toast my coconut and make the rum/lime/sugar sauce. Then I scoop the mango sorbet, salvage some vanilla and add the toppings. At this point I was terribly concerned. I don't hard ice cream that's gone soft. You know how some people let their ice cream sit the bowl and stew and melt? I can't handle that. It makes bile creep up my throat. To me eating melted ice cream is the equivalent to eating vomit. It's the grossest. My vanilla was not only freezer burnt but also soft. Not a good sign. But I braced myself and prepared to take one for the team.

I ended up being pleasantly surprised. What makes this really good is that the syrup hardens on the cool ice cream and gives balance to the softness of the mango pieces. Don't get me wrong this is no Cherry Garcia, but speaking as a non-sundae fan this one's pretty darn good. (Must be the booze!)