Spaghettieis Is The German Ice Cream Sundae You Can Easily Recreate At Home

While sweet, decadent bowls of ice cream certainly taste delicious, admittedly, they can also look pretty boring. Yeah, we said it. Indulging in the same few rounded scoops of sugar in pale hues just isn't so fun after a while. (Especially with the risk of brain freeze and a sugar crash.)

Luckily, in the modern age, there are some changes you can make your ice cream more interesting. No, we're not talking about whipping up indulgences like rolled ice cream, iconic treats like Chicago's rainbow ice cream cone, or liquid-nitrogen-infused desserts, which require complex tools. We're talking about simply swapping out your traditional ice cream by whipping up some spaghettieis at home instead with the help of just one kitchen tool.

Spaghettieis is a traditional German ice cream sundae you can easily recreate at home. While it's common to scoop ice cream into a bowl in perfect little spheres, chefs press ice cream through something called a spaetzle press for spaghettieis, which is a tool used to make German noodles. This process makes the ice cream resemble a bowl of spaghetti noodles, so it's especially fun to eat. 

Since spaetzle is a German delicacy, chefs outside of the country will have to press ice cream through a potato ricer instead for this dish, which will garner the same result. From here the ice cream is draped over a mound of whipped cream, then topped with sweet strawberry sauce and shaved white chocolate. At first glance this dish will look like a savory meal, but it's really a dreamy little ice cream treat. 

This indulgence is quite popular all across Germany, but you don't have to splurge on airfare to try it. This treat is pretty easy to whip up at home, andyou don't need a machine to make this ice cream. To start, add a stiff dollop of whipped cream to a plate. (Buy a can or make your own, the choice is up to you.) Next, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a potato ricer and squeeze the ice cream on top of the whipped cream until a pile of "spaghetti" forms. Finally, top the ice cream with your red fruit sauce of choice and some shaved white chocolate. (You can also use coconut shavings if you prefer.) Voilà.

If the deliciousness of these ingredients doesn't get you, maybe the novelty of spaghettieis will. After all, if you hand a dinner guest a bowl of spaghetti after their main course, the look of surprise on their face alone might be worth the labor of making this sweet treat.

Spaghettieis is just one of those ideas that feels like it was made by a creative genius. For all those who are curious, we have an Italian-German ice cream maker to thank for the creation of this treat. Dario Fontanella comes from a long line of ice cream makers and is the owner of Eis Fontanella in Mannheim, Germany. The idea for this ice cream came to him not behind the counter of his ice cream shop, but in 1969, while he was at a ski resort in Italy. There he tried a French dessert called Mont Blanc, which featured a stringy chestnut purée made using a potato ricer. Inspired by the unique texture of this dish, Dario debuted his own spaghettieis creation at his shop in the 1970s, and the rest is history. (For reference, eis means ice cream in German.)

While this idea was certainly creative, not everyone was on board at first. AI Dario's wife Desi Fontanella shared with Smithsonian Magazine, "In the early days of the spaghettieis, children often started to cry when he served them. Since they ordered a sundae, they were rather disappointed about getting served a pasta dish," she said. 

While the creation initially shocked customers, spaghettieis is now beloved by those all across Germany and over 30 million cups are sold every year. That's a lot of love for this ice cream treat, so why not try it?