Ice Cream Dreams

Cool and creamy and so much in demand these days in our household.  Ice Cream!!!!!!  In all sorts of flavors!   This week's tablescape celebrates the hot weather we experienced this summer and the many trips to the ice cream parlor/manufacturer, Cedar Crest. The simple pleasure of enjoying rich and luscious ice cream this season is serious enough to design an entire tablescape around it.

Two sets of placemats were used.  One for placement of the dinnerware, which is the rectangular yellow placemat and the others are the bright pink round placemats as "polka dots" randomly placed throughout the table for a whimsical look.

The multiple colors in the plaid table runner, the popsicle string lights with pom-poms and the candy gum balls in the sundae dishes has me thinking of the various flavors of ice cream.......strawberry, mint, banana, blue moon, and orange sherbet etc.  

Of course, my inspiration for all of these lovely colors (and flavors) came from this ceramic hot fudge and topping bar.  It caught my eye several years ago while out browsing with my sister during our Sister Day, a day usually once a month devoted to having lunch, shopping and relaxing at a coffee shop.  

The center bowl which holds the melted chocolate fudge sits on a teal colored ceramic stand with a wheel of selected toppings and is open on one side of the bright yellow bottom stem.  It holds a tea light to keep the hot fudge warm and smooth.  The little topping cups are designed with pastel polka dots and trimmed in dark brown.  They hang in each hole of the teal colored ceramic wheel and allows guests a selection of various toppings for their ice cream.  It is so whimsical and fun.

I used chocolate chips for the purpose of taking photos and later will make my homemade hot fudge sauce that will remain hot while serving dessert.  

Two scoops of tasty vanilla ice cream fit perfectly in these playful ice cream cone dishes.  Since I love vanilla the most, a pinch of colorful sprinkles is enough for me.  My second favorite flavor of ice cream is butter pecan.  It was mother's favorite too.  So hard to pick when there are some times thirty-one flavors or more, right?  I have also enjoyed peanut butter chocolate and German chocolate cake.  Who can just pick one!!!!  

Which flavor ice cream is your favorite?  Before the summer ends, create your own hot fudge and topping bar and make some great ice cream combinations and memories.  There are so many other toppings I could have added to the table other than just colorful sprinkles, such as nuts, mini marshmallows, fresh or dried fruit, granola, candy, mini cookies and whipped cream with maraschino cherries.

However, instead of added more topping selections, I decided to finally make use of an ice cream cone shaped baking pan for cakes that I found a few years back.  For the sake of saving time, I used one and a half boxes of Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix to make the cake and used a vanilla frosting recipe but split it into three portions:  vanilla, chocolate with added cocoa powder and strawberry with just added red food coloring.  Crushed graham crackers made up the cone of the cake since the graham crackers are similar in color to a cone.  And, of course, I couldn't forget the added sprinkles of color and a pink candy gum ball to top it off.  

  Let your imagination go as you celebrate your ice cream dream.