I follow the Satellite Sisters podcast – which if you are looking for a fun way to connect with other women who feel like friends – please listen to their show. Recently, as they were sharing their plans for celebrating the 4th, they talked about a longtime family tradition of filling a watermelon with ice cream. I don’t have anything else going on so I thought I would give it whirl.
First, I took a small roundish watermelon, washed the rind, and cut it in half lengthwise starting at the stem. I scooped out all the watermelon down to the rind and saved it for another day (I love watermelon in the summer!). You won’t need the other half so just save it too, or give it to a neighbor.
We also cut off just a little of the end so the roundness of the watermelon half would make it level. I set the watermelon down inside a small dish and froze the watermelon for several hours.
I let Miss Bee select the flavors of ice cream to represent the colors of the watermelon – pints of mint chocolate chip, vanilla, and strawberry. All Bluebell ice cream, of course. Three pints easily filled the watermelon. It kind of reminded me of Neopolitan ice cream. Mother served it all the time and I remember what a treat it was to have her slice it right from the carton and put on a dessert plate after dinner. It was so pretty!
I forgot to take a photo of spooning the ice cream into the hollowed-out watermelon, but basically I treated it like I was icing a cake. With an off-set spatula (or the back of a big tablespoon), just spread the first layer of mint chocolate chip ice cream into the bottom of the watermelon. Spread up the sides to the top and try to make it evenly spread around the entire, inside base of the watermelon. Put the watermelon back into the freezer and let it freeze for several hours. Repeat with the vanilla, then freeze until hard. Lastly, before I put in the strawberry ice cream I sprinkled in few chocolate chips to resemble watermelon seeds, scooped in strawberry ice cream, a few more chips, then emptied the pint evenly spreading the ice cream all over the top to the edges of the watermelon rind. I took a few more chocolate chips and placed them upside down in the ice cream. We let it freeze another few hours, then we had the finished product!
I have been collected vintage blue glassware lately, and this set of hobnail glasses were perfect for serving the ice cream. You don’t always have to use bowls to serve ice cream – use your pretty glassware. This set came from The Antique Azalea (follow her on Instagram).
We tried seeing if you could slice pieces of the watermelon and serve it, but the rinds were frozen solid so we just decided to scoop out the frozen dessert. You could definitely add hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry. But, we made do with a sprig of peppermint from the garden.
We enjoyed sitting by the pool, with our feet in the water, enjoying our new ice cream treat. Happy summer y’all!
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
