How to Make Ice Cream Bow Pops
Craft a gourmet edible ice cream bow tie treat for Dad using rich ice cream, a crisp snap chocolate shell, and custom candy accents.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Silicone bow-tie mold
- ✓ Baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- ✓ Microwave-safe glass bowl
- ✓ Silicone spatula
- ✓ Piping bag
- ✓ Wooden popsicle sticks
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ 1 pint premium ice cream (Dad's favorite flavor)
- ✓ 8 oz dark or milk melting chocolate wafers
- ✓ 2 tbsp refined coconut oil
- ✓ 2 oz white chocolate chips
- ✓ Edible gold dust or decorative sprinkles
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Test melted chocolate temperature before handling to avoid minor heat burns.
- • Verify family food allergies regarding dairy, soy, or nut cross-contamination.
- • Keep raw dairy ingredients chilled at safe food temperatures before and after molding.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Temper and Pack Ice Cream into Mold
Allow the pint of ice cream to sit on the counter for 5 to 7 minutes until workable but not liquid. Spoon the softened ice cream firmly into the silicone bow-tie mold cavities, pressing with a silicone spatula to eliminate air pockets. Smooth the back surface flat against the mold rim.
- • Ice cream completely fills the cavity with no visible hollow gaps.
- • The top surface is scraped flat and level with the mold edges.
- • Letting ice cream melt entirely into liquid, causing icy crystallization later.
- • Leaving air pockets that create weak spots in the bow wings.
Deep Freeze the Ice Cream Bows
Place the filled silicone mold onto a flat baking sheet to keep it rigid. Transfer the tray directly to the coldest zone of your freezer and chill for at least 2.5 hours. The ice cream must become completely rock-hard before demolding.
- • The ice cream feels solid with zero give when lightly touched.
- • Frost forms along the rim of the silicone mold.
- • Rushing the freeze time, leading to collapsing or smearing during unmolding.
- • Freezing on an uneven surface, warping the bow shape.
Prepare Quick-Setting Chocolate Dip
Combine the dark melting chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 20-second bursts at 50% power, stirring thoroughly between intervals until fully melted and glossy. Allow the mixture to cool down to lukewarm room temperature (around 85°F/29°C) so it won't instantly melt the frozen cream.
- • Chocolate is completely fluid, lump-free, and silky.
- • The bowl feels comfortably warm, not hot, to the touch.
- • Dipping into hot chocolate, which melts the ice cream and ruins the shell.
- • Overheating chocolate in the microwave, causing it to seize into a dry paste.
Unmold and Insert Display Stick
Take the mold out of the freezer and gently peel the flexible silicone walls away from the frozen bow wings. Carefully pop the ice cream bow onto the pre-chilled parchment baking sheet. Insert a wooden popsicle stick roughly 1.5 inches into the bottom center if serving as an ice cream pop, then return to the freezer for 10 minutes to re-solidify.
- • Bow details and center knot are sharply defined.
- • The stick is seated firmly without cracking the frozen base.
- • Handling with bare warm hands too long, melting the fine ribbon edges.
- • Forcing the stick too aggressively and splitting the bow in half.
Coat the Bow in Chocolate Shell
Hold the ice cream bow by its stick over the bowl and ladle the room-temperature chocolate mixture evenly over the entire surface, or dip swiftly for 2 seconds. Lift and hold the bow upright above the bowl for 15 to 20 seconds to allow excess chocolate to drip off. The coconut oil blend will flash-freeze into a crisp matte shell almost immediately.
- • Chocolate shifts from glossy liquid to a firm, matte protective shell.
- • No white ice cream is exposed beneath the outer coating.
- • Submerging the ice cream too long in chocolate, causing interior melting.
- • Setting down the bow before the shell has fully set, causing flat spots.
Pipe Details and Present to Dad
Melt white chocolate wafers and transfer them into a small piping bag with the tip snipped fine. Pipe decorative polka dots, pinstripes, or ribbon seam lines across the hardened bow wings and center knot. Immediately add sprinkles or edible gold dust before the white chocolate sets, then present on a chilled plate.
- • Crisp, contrasting white chocolate lines accent the bow-tie contours.
- • Edible decorations adhere firmly without falling off.
- • Cutting too large an opening on the piping bag, creating thick, messy lines.
- • Letting the treat sit at room temperature instead of serving immediately or storing in the freezer.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by chefkoudy — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Silicone bow mold? Silicone muffin cups or rectangular ice cube trays
- No Piping bag? Ziploc sandwich bag with a tiny corner snip
- No Coconut oil? Vegetable oil or melted cocoa butter (1 tbsp per cup of chocolate)