Extra rich vanilla ice cream is a delicious accompaniment for these elegant, lacy almond ice cream cups.

Every fall we enjoy making homemade ice cream in a variety of interesting and delicious flavors. And thinking as photographers, we wanted to show off one of this year’s star creations with something less ordinary than a store-bought cone. So, continuing with the almond theme we seem to be on recently, we created a sweet, candy-like bowl featuring the flavor and crunchy texture of this very versatile nut.

The finished ice cream cups came out a beautiful golden brown, supremely crunchy and sturdy enough to handle multiple scoops of ice cream or mounds of fresh fruit and whipped cream. We already have plans to heap them with three flavors of ice cream, sliced bananas and toppings for tomorrow’s dinner – banana splits!

This almond lace cup is in the final stages of cooling on an upside-down ramekin. 

Almond Lace Ice Cream Cups

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• a few drops of almond extract
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• 6 tbsp all purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Have 6 teacups or small ramekins ready.
2. Melt butter in a medium pan over low heat.
3. Mix in corn syrup and brown sugar. Mix well.
4. Turn heat off and stir in almond extract, sliced almonds, and flour.
5. Pour batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread evenly.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The finished product should be golden brown.
7. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for about 45 seconds.
8. Cut the large cookie into 6 even rectangles (one slice lengthwise down the middle to create two long pieces. Cut the long pieces into thirds.
9. Lift each cookie off with an offset spatula (or other long, thin spatula) and drape the cookie on an overturned ramekin or teacup to cool and set in the shape of a bowl.
10. If the cookies are too firm to shape, you can return the cookies to the oven briefly while they are on the overturned cups in order to let them melt to the right shape. Make sure you watch them, because they will begin to melt quickly.