The Viral Ice Cream Trick That Changed My Summer
High summer is high time for ice cream. Lazy days and warm temps were made for the summer dessert. And while the ice cream itself often gets all of the glory, let's not overlook the cone. Most of the time you have the option of a wafer cone, a sugar cone or a waffle cone, but one of the season's hottest food trends — the ice-crone — gives you a fun new option.
The ice-crone, which is soft serve in a croissant cone, is a viral international hit that's racked up more than 23 million views on TikTok. But thanks to Lily Ghodrati (@LilyGbakes), a recipe developer, food blogger and content creator, you can now DIY your ice cream croissants. She posted a video on her account detailing how to make the sweet, buttery delights, which involves only a few ingredients.
If you have a pint of ice cream in the freezer and some toppings, you’re already more than halfway to ice-crones! Then all you have to do is pick up a croissant (even the day-old crescent-shaped pastries work) and you’ll be in sweet business in no time.
Read on for how to make ice-crones and our honest review of this viral dessert hack.
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What Are Ice-Crones?
Ice-crone is a mashup of “ice cream” and “croissant” = ice-crone. It’s essentially a croissant replacement for a sugar cone. Although this hack has been seen at restaurants around the world, including Panadería Rosetta in Mexico City, L'Atelier in Barcelona and the OG British Patagonia in London, it hasn’t caught on fully in the U.S. yet.
The only place I could find summer's hottest snack was at The Flora Bakehouse in Seattle, where their salted butter crunch soft serve is available in their croissant cones on the weekends.
Luckily, it’s super easy to make this trendy food at home, so grab your ice-crone ingredients and get ready to make dessert magic happen.
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DIY Ice-Crone Ingredients
To master TikTok's ice-crones, you'll need the following:
Ice cream (the flavor of your choice)
Melted chocolate, fudge or caramel
Your favorite toppings (fruit, nuts, whipped cream)
A croissant (day-old is fine)
You’re also going to need a bit of aluminum foil and some juice glasses, or another glass that you can use to hold the croissant upright.
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
Related: ‘I Tried the Candied Croissant Trend and Will Never Go Back to Boring Breakfast Sandwiches’
How to Make Ice-Crones (TikTok Recipe)
Cut off the top third of your croissant and gently scoop out the middle, being careful not to break the outside of the croissant.
Take a small ball of aluminum foil and stuff it inside the croissant, which will help it keep its shape in the oven. Bake at 350° until slightly toasted, about 7 minutes. Cool slightly.
While the croissant cools, melt some chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave and set aside.
Remove the foil from the croissant. Dip the cut end into the melted chocolate. Stand the croissant up in a juice glass, then transfer it to the freezer for a few minutes to help the chocolate set.
Remove the croissant from the freezer. Spoon some fruit into the bottom of the cone, then top with ice cream and toppings. Serve immediately.
My Honest Thoughts About the Ice-Crone Hack
I was skeptical about how good this could actually be. I was afraid that the ice-cone might be all gimmick and no substance. However, I now firmly believe that all ice cream should be eaten in a sawed-off, chocolate-dipped croissant from now on. It was better than the best waffle cone you’ve ever had (sorry, Jeni’s). This was a brilliant, elegant hack that combined two of the best things in the world: croissants and ice cream.
Users on TikTok cannot wait to get their hands on this one, saying things like “I need one immediately” and “This video makes it hard to stick to my diet!!” with one creator rebutting “?? I would say sorry, but it’s totally worth it! ??”
Agreed. But be aware that ice-crones make an absolute mess. Eating a croissant is always messy — you find flakes in your hair and on your clothes for hours and the evidence of your buttery breakfast is usually smeared deliciously all over everything you touch afterwards.
Because the croissant is toasted, the mess is heightened, but it's still worth it! The delicate, flaky, buttery pieces of dough combine with the sweet, creamy ice cream for the most delicious summer combo. Pro tip: Use a heavy hand when you dip the ends of the croissant in the melted chocolate because it’ll create a crackly chocolate shell around the perimeter of your sliced croissant. Yeah. It's as good as it sounds.
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
The ice cream I decided to use was Trader Joe’s Horchata, which is a sweet cinnamon and rice ice cream with horchata-flavored cookie pieces. It was slightly melty and thoroughly indulgent in the croissant cone. I warmed up some caramel in the microwave to drizzle over the top but hot fudge would have been also delicious.
There were a surprising number of haters in the comments of this one (with most saying a croissant is too delicate for this), but it’s clear that they haven’t actually made this. Ghodrati doesn't offer an actual recipe, but the way I made it worked. The croissant firmed up a bit by being toasted and even more so after a quick chill in the freezer. And it held up in my hand for the general length of time it takes to eat a regular ice cream cone.
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Tips for making the Ice Crone even better
Freeze the ice-crone. It didn’t say to do this in the video, but I actually froze the croissant for about 10 minutes in the freezer after dipping it in the chocolate to let the whole thing firm up. That really helped to stabilize the cone so that I could scoop my ice cream into it with ease. Plus, the melted chocolate hardened, which was absolutely delicious when I bit into it.
Take it easy. Be extra careful in scooping out the inside of the croissant before toasting. The correct technique is a combo of smushing the insides and scooping a little out. You want enough room for the ice cream but not so much scooped out that you have melted ice cream leaking out of the bottom of the croissant.
Experiment with different croissants. I used Trader Joe's croissants, which are much larger and rounder than the traditional ones I’m used to getting at bakeries.
Add a croissant hat. Don't forget the end of the croissant! At L'Atelier in Barcelona, they top the cone with the end piece of the croissant, creating a cute little hat for your ice cream dream.
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