Big Ice Cream Taco

This big ice cream taco is the perfect dessert for April Fools' Day or Cinco de Mayo. Your guests will be wondering "how did they do that?" 

This giant ice cream taco dessert will feed a dinner party full of friends and family. It's like a giant ice cream sandwich... Except it looks like a taco! 

Filled with chocolate ice cream, decorated with chocolate flavored cereal, and garnished with coconut, chopped cherries, and sliced dried apricots, this dessert completely resembles a giant taco. 

Ingredients in this Big Ice Cream Taco:

Chocolate Ice Cream: I used chocolate chocolate chip ice cream but plain chocolate ice cream will work too. 

Cocoa Pebbles Cereal: It's a chocolate rice cereal, kind of like Cocoa Krispies, but chunkier and more irregular. It's the one with the Flinstones on the box. 

Coconut Flakes and Green and Yellow Food Coloring: For making the "lettuce." You can use either sweetened or unsweetened. 

Dried Apricots: To make the "cheese."

Maraschino Cherries: To make the "tomatoes."

Package of Sugar Cookie Mix (17.5 ounces): To make the taco shell. You'll also need whatever ingredients that are called for on the package. Mine required a stick of butter and a large egg. 

Stone Ground Corn Meal: To add to the cookie mix to make it look more like a taco shell. I used grits because that's what I had in my pantry. 

To Put Together the Ice Cream Taco:

First, prepare the cookie "taco shell." Mix the cookie mix along with the corn meal and shape it into a 12 inch circle on a piece of parchment. Trim the edges and then cut the round in half, including the parchment. 

Bake the halves on half or quarter sheet pans, one at a time, laying one flat and curving the straight edge of the other one against the side of the pan. 

Next, prep the toppings. For the "lettuce," place the coconut into a sandwich bag along with a few drops of green and yellow food coloring and a splash of water. Seal the bag and shake and "moosh" everything around until the coconut is light green. 

Cut a few of the apricots into strips to make it look like grated cheese. 

Cut a few maraschino cherries into quarters and assemble your topping ingredients together. 

Let the ice cream soften a little and then layer it on top of the flat half of the taco shell. Sprinkle the curved side with the cereal to cover about half of the ice cream and immediately place the pan in the freezer to let the ice cream harden back up. 

After that, layer the coconut, apricots, and cherries over the ice cream and top it with the other half of the "taco shell." 

Finally, place the taco back into the freezer for at least two hours. 

Equipment You May Need:

For baking the cookie shell, you can use half sheet or quarter sheet pans. I used quarter sheet pans because the smaller size is easier for transferring the assembled "taco" to the freezer (plus they're great for baking in a toaster oven). You can always transfer the assembled taco to a smaller platter after baking. The cookie is not at all fragile. 

You'll also need parchment paper. I like the pre-cut sheets because they lay flat in the baking sheet. 

Finally, for squishing the ice cream onto the bottom shell, I used sandwich bags on my hands. 

How to Serve this Big Ice Cream Taco:

You could try slicing it into servings with a large serrated knife, but it's easier to just break off pieces of the cookie and then top it with scoops of the ice cream and serve. It's delicious that way. You could even serve it with extra toppings and a dollop of whipped cream. 

One of these "tacos" will serve 10 to 12 people generously. 

For today's Sunday Funday, we are celebrating April Fools' Day! Trick your family and friends with these disguised dishes!

• April Fools Calzone Donut by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• April Fools' Day Chicken Nuggets & French Fries by Sneha's Recipe
• Big Ice Cream Taco by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Grogu's Frog Egg Dessert by Palatable Pastime
• Hot Beef Sundae by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• My Ideal Birthday "Cake" by Food Lust People Love
• Potted Plant Cremeux by Culinary Cam

Big Ice Cream Taco

Yield: 10 to 12

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 45 MinCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 4 HourTotal time: 5 H & 15 M

This big ice cream taco is the perfect dessert for April Fools' Day or Cinco de Mayo. Your guests will be wondering "how did they do that?"

Ingredients

• 1 (17.5 ounce) package of sugar cookie mix plus ingredients listed on the package
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground yellow corn meal or corn grits
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 3 drops green food coloring and 1 drop yellow food coloring
• 1 1/2 quart package of chocolate ice cream, slightly softened
• 1/2 cup Cocoa Pebbles cereal
• 6 to 8 dried apricots (orange in color, such as Mediterranean), sliced into thin strips
• 4 to 6 red maraschino cherries, cut into quarters

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix the sugar cookie mixture according to the package instructions along with the corn meal. Roll the dough out into a 12-inch round, trimming the edges as needed for a smooth edge. Use a knife or bench scraper to cut the disk in half into two semicircles. Use kitchen shears to cut the parchment in half along the same cut.
3. Transfer one of the halves to a baking sheet and bake, flat, for about 15 to 18 minutes, until slightly golden on the edges. Cool on the baking sheet.
4. Transfer the other half of the circle to another baking sheet and press the straight edge up the rim of the pan so that it is curved (see photo above). Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. While the cookie is still warm, use a dowel or the handle of a wooden spoon to re-shape the curved side. Let cool on the baking sheet.
5. To prepare the "letuce," place the coconut into a resealable sandwich bag. Add the food coloring and a splash (about a tablespoon) of water. Seal the bag and shake and massage the ingredients to color the coconut. Set aside.
6. Place the straight edged cookie half on a clean piece of parchment on a baking sheet and press the ice cream evenly over the cookie. Sprinkle the cereal over the curved half of the ice cream (the part that will show) and press it in so that it sticks. Place it in the freezer to let the ice cream harden.
7. Sprinkle the coconut, apricots, and cherries over the cereal and top everything with the curved edge cookie, lining it up along the straight side, to look like a taco. Freeze in the freezer for at least two hours.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

668

Fat (grams)

18 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

10 g

Carbs (grams)

123 g

Fiber (grams)

3 g

Net carbs

120 g

Sugar (grams)

80 g

Protein (grams)

7 g

Cholesterol (grams)

40 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2024/03/big-ice-cream-taco.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

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Recipe adapted from Food Network Magazine, May 2016.