Scoop the Ultimate Southern Sundae

1. At Botolino Gelato Artigianale in Dallas, homemade passion fruit sauce gets a boost from Zunte mezcal.

2. On Duval Street in Key West, Florida, Mattheessen’s serves scoops of key lime ice cream.

3. Leopold’s Ice Cream in Savannah has been serving tutti-frutti, rum-flavored ice cream with candied fruit and roasted pecans, for over a century.

4. Life Raft Treats, a South Carolina ice cream company with a popular food truck in Charleston, crafts frozen “bananas” from banana pudding ice cream dipped in white chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder.

5. Old Bay Caramel from the Charmery in Baltimore includes a kick of Maryland’s favorite seasoning in sweet caramel ice cream.

6. Espresso Oreo is a best seller at Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream in Charleston, West Virginia.

7. With ingredients from the 329-acre dairy at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Howling Cow’s Campfire Delight mixes graham cracker ice cream with chocolate chunks and marshmallow whorls.

8. Creole Cream Cheese with swirls of local blueberry coulis from the New Orleans Ice Cream Co. is a crowd pleaser—and available in grocery stores around the South.

9. Candied Arkansas pecans from Loblolly Creamery in Little Rock make the perfect sundae topper.

10. Pureed bananas combine with caramel and a splash of Jim Beam in Banana Bourbon Caramel at Ice Cream Jubilee in Washington, D.C.

11. During the pandemic, when many restaurants pivoted, chef Aaron Bludorn (a James Beard Award semifinalist for Texas’s best chef) and his Houston restaurant, Bludorn, began serving dine-in and carryout ice cream treats that reimagine classic desserts such as strawberry shortcake and Baked Alaska, with ingredients piled into crisp waffle cones.

See the full list of ways to stay cool, from our June/July 2022 issue.