This recipe for a red white and blueberry sundae is a watermelon loaded with three types of ice cream, homemade strawberry and blueberry sauces, marshmallow topping and the whole thing is finished off with whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate covered strawberries. It’s the perfect show stopper for the 4th of July!
Here it is. The 4th of July dessert that you didn’t even know you needed. A red white and blueberry sundae. Served in a WATERMELON.
When my husband was growing up his local grocery store would put out a red white and blueberry ice cream every year around the 4th of July. To this day, he still checks the freezer case in our grocery stores in hopes that his red white and blueberry ice cream will somehow re-appear even though it’s been years and years since it was last made. I created my own version of the ice cream, in sundae form. For more cool summertime sweets, be sure to visit my list of 25 Refreshing Popsicle Recipes!
For this red white and blueberry sundae I started with vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream and blueberry frozen yogurt. I topped the ice cream with homemade strawberry and blueberry sauces, marshmallow sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles and white chocolate covered strawberries.
The sundae is great as it is, but what really takes it over the top is the presentation in a bowl made out of a watermelon! The beauty of this dessert is that you can buy whatever size watermelon you want and scale the recipe up or down accordingly. I used a medium sized watermelon, about 10 inches long. I cut it lengthwise about 2/3 of the way down to make a shallow bowl and then just hollowed it enough so that there was a lip to hold in all the ice cream and toppings, you don’t want to hollow it all the way down to the rind. The ice cream flavors soak into the watermelon which makes for some very flavorful fruit at the bottom of your sundae.
There is one thing that I cannot stress enough: make sure your watermelon bowl is frozen completely solid before you add your ice cream! The watermelon will let off juice after you cut into it and if you don’t freeze everything solid, the liquid will mix with the ice cream and make everything watery.
You can either serve this sundae with an big spoon on the side for guests to serve themselves, or if you’ve got a small group of close friends or family, just throw in a bunch of spoons and let everyone dig in. No one can resist a delicious ice cream treat whether it’s this sundae or a festive blueberry milkshake!
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Red White and Blueberry Sundae
Ingredients
- 1 watermelon , your choice of size
- 1 carton vanilla ice cream (quart size or larger)
- 1 carton strawberry ice cream (quart size or larger)
- 1 carton blueberry ice cream or frozen yogurt (pint size or larger)
- 1 jar marshmallow sauce
- 1 can whipped cream
- 1/2 cup red , white and blue sprinkles, divided use
- 1 cup white candy melts
- 6-8 whole strawberries
- For the strawberry sauce:
- 3 cups of fresh strawberries , finely diced
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- For the blueberry sauce:
- 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- For the strawberry sauce
- Combine the strawberries, sugar, vanilla and lemon in a pot. Place the pot over high heat, boil for 5 minutes or until strawberries have started to break down. Mix together the cornstarch with 2 teaspoons cold water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the strawberries and boil for 1 additional minute until sauce thickens slightly; cool.
- For the blueberry sauce:
- Combine the blueberries, sugar and vanilla in a pot. Place the pot over high heat, boil for 5 minutes or until blueberries have started to break down. Mix together the cornstarch with 1 teaspoon cold water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the blueberries and boil for 1 additional minute until sauce thickens slightly; cool.
- For the strawberries:
- Melt the candy melts in the microwave according to package instructions. Dip each strawberry into the candy melts and coat in sprinkles. Place on a piece of parchment, let dry until completely hard.
- For the watermelon:
- Cut lengthwise across the watermelon approximately 1/2 to 2/3 of the way down the watermelon. Cut a very thin slice off the bottom of the watermelon so that it will sit flat. Using a spoon, carve out some of the watermelon flesh, about 1-2 inches deep. Drain off excess juice. Freeze until completely solid (time will depend on the size of your melon).
- Pile up scoops of vanilla, strawberry and blueberry ice cream in the watermelon bowl (amount will vary depending on the size of your watermelon).
- Top the ice cream with the strawberry, blueberry and marshmallow sauces. Add whipped cream, sprinkles and white chocolate covered strawberries on top. Serve.
Loaded up the watermelon for the grandchildren and they loved it! Of course I also had my own spoon!
This is so crazy. I love this idea! I made a version of this for a BBQ. I used marshmallow fluff to save a step. It was a total hit!
OHmygosh this completely reminds me of a sundae I once had at an ice cream shop for a bday party….it was HUGE and we all got a spoon and dug in! Love it….and inside a watermelon is perfect!
Wow, I love this sundae!! It looks amazing!
I just saw your recipe was featured on Buzzfeed! Congrats! 🙂
Thanks Neli, I am so excited to be on BuzzFeed 🙂
This is the cutest, most festive thing ever! I cannot get over that it’s served in a watermelon–genius!
Thanks Michelle, hope you have a great 4th of July!