Flashback to my teenage summers and what you'll see are a lot of drives to the nearest ice cream spot for a vanilla cone (most of time it was a McDonald's drive-thru.) I would always see hot fudge sundaes on the menu as I ordered my usual and aspired to be a sundae person. But two things stood in my way: first, I don't like whipped cream and I have always found hot fudge to be far too sweet. (Before you ask, salted caramel is fine and good but it can be too sticky for my cavity-prone chompers.)
Once I stumbled upon pop star Dua Lipa 's hack for glowing up a scoop of ice cream, I knew I found an ice cream topping that was perfect for a savory-sweet dessert lover like me. Now each time I want a cool treat on a hot summer's day, I follow the lead of queen Dua Lipa and add a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky salt on top of ice cream .
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Why Dua Lipa Adds Olive Oil and Flaky Salt on Ice Cream
Well, first of all, Dua Lipa has taste—in song lyrics, dance moves, fashion, books and food. "I dunno, so many people that I've showed it to, I've brought to the dark side," Dua said about her ice cream additions in a 2023 interview with BBC Radio 1 .
The Training Season singer's choice of grassy, fruity olive oil may seem surprising for an ice cream topping, but the mild oil is the perfect counterpoint to ice cream's sweet richness—not to mention how it adds gloss and glisten! Adding flaky sea salt on top brings some crunch and sparkle to the party and heightens the flavors of both the ice cream and the olive oil. (Think of the salt as savory sprinkles.) Together, olive oil and flaky salt turn a basic scoop of ice cream that can be pretty one-note and heavy into something you could get at a fancy restaurant.
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How to Add Olive Oil and Flaky Salt on Ice Cream
Here's how to make Dua's recipe, if you can even call it that. Get vanilla ice cream (I'm partial to Häagen-Dazs ), dish out a scoop or as much as you want, drizzle some olive oil on it and then top with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt , such as Maldon.
You'll want to use an olive oil that you would want to dunk a piece of bread in, one that has a robust flavor profile. As for the ice cream flavor, Dua Lipa and I love vanilla but any favorite flavor of yours will suffice. Because the olive oil and salt have quite a bit of personality and flavor, you're probably best off at least starting with a pretty simple flavor, like chocolate or strawberry. Something tells us that adding olive oil and flaky salt to a scoop of Chubby Hubby might be too much of a good thing, though there's only one way to find out.
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