No Job Is Too Big For An Air Fryer, Even Fried Ice Cream

The air fryer might be the best modern-day kitchen appliance on the market. It essentially gives you the crispy coating and perfect crunch of a deep fryer without the need to soak your food in high-fat, greasy oil. And depending on its coating, you can put just about anything into an air fryer — even fried ice cream, as long as it's not coated in liquid batter.

Fried ice cream might not sound possible, but it's actually a pretty popular dessert. Commonly served at Mexican restaurants, it's the result of flash-frying ice cream to give it a crispy, hearty exterior without melting the ice cream inside. And while you might see it on stalls at your local fair as well as listed on Mexican restaurant dessert menus, it's quite easy to make at home, too, as long as you know what to do. And don't worry about breaking out the deep fryer; you can fry it just as easily in the air fryer.

There are two main rules for making fried ice cream in your air fryer: Don't use liquid batter, and don't overcook it. The problem with liquid batter stems from the holes in the air fryer's basket. If you add something with liquid batter, it won't fry quickly enough to prevent that liquid from dripping off the food and creating a mess. For fried ice cream, rolling the ice cream in cornflakes is an easy way to give it a full coating. For an even sweeter twist, roll it in Frosted Flakes; the sugar will start to caramelize during the frying process, sweetening the treat even more.

Be careful how long you fry the ice cream, though. It just needs a small amount of time for that crispy coating to form — don't cook it for more than about two minutes and no higher than 400 degrees Fahrenheit or you risk melting the ice cream and ruining your dessert. Also make sure the ice cream is completely frozen. Let the coated ice cream balls spend enough time in the freezer to ensure they're solid before frying them.

Corn flakes or sugar-coated flakes are a great option for coating, but there are other ways to get a sweet, delicious coating on this fried dessert. Graham crackers can easily be ground up in a food processor (or even smashed with a rolling pin if you don't have a food processor). Teddy Grahams are another good choice. And they come in different flavors, so you can mix and match.

If you're worried about the ice cream melting out of the coating, you can instead wrap the ice cream in a thin pastry, then brush it in a light egg wash (or other alternative). Make sure the pastry is at room temperature, too, as it might not get golden brown in the frying time. And when making your bread crumbs, make them as fine as possible to ensure they coat every inch of the ice cream; larger crumbs could leave gaps and allow the ice cream to melt out.