A delightfully fresh ice cream float made with fresh, sparkling watermelon juice and creamy vanilla ice cream is just the thing you need, to hold on to summer a little bit longer!!
The world of ice cream floats were revealed to me only in my teenage years, when a dear friend made me one by pouring a cup of cola over vanilla ice cream. At first, it looked gross, then it was sort of cool and, long story short, it was one of the best things I ever tried!
Fast forward a couple of years, there was a brief spell when I was obsessed with ice cream sodas. I don’t know if you remember but they were these fizzy drinks that came in glass bottles, which tasted just like an ice cream soda float. My favorite was the blue colored one. Looking back, I do not want to know what exactly it was made of. Ice cream sodas came in all flavors and colors, were obviously not very good for you, but I didn’t care.
Fast forward a few more years and I banned anything canned, colored, bottled and remotely fizzy from our household when Boy was born.
Then it dawned on me that I could simply buy club soda and make my drinks fizzy without actually drinking soda. We are teetotalers, except for the occasional glass of fruity wine, but we love experimenting with different mocktails and cool beverages. Summer is my favorite season because I have the best excuse to whip up such drinks everyday!
When half of a watermelon sat in the refrigerator (why are they so huge anyway?!!), I knew it had to be gussied-up somehow. They were soon going to disappear from the aisles making way for all things pumpkins and squashes. Then I remembered soda floats. How about a watermelon ice cream soda float?
Summer also means that I have a constant supply of vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Who am I kidding? I have ice cream in the freezer all the time! I scooped out some juicy melon balls, added ice cream and quickly made a fresh watermelon soda.
Pour the watermelon soda over the ice cream and wait for the fizzy magic!!
Ice cream floats can be made with any kind of juice. Boy and dad discovered that grape soda floats are the best. I personally love ones with fresh orange juice. But watermelon ice cream floats were a revelation to me. It was fresh and creamy, light and dessert-worthy all at the same time.
You can use the following recipe with almost any kind of fruit juice/puree, ice cream and club soda or sparkling water. It is one of the easiest fancy beverages ever!
We still have several warm hot days left till the cold hits us, so I’ll be making this again, as a sort of last summer hurrah! Oh, how I love summer!!
Add a few sprigs of mint and go to town!
- Watermelon - 4 cups, chopped
- Watermelon balls - 1 cup
- Lemon juice - 1 tbsp, freshly squeezed
- Club soda - 2 cups
- Vanilla ice cream - 4 small scoops
- Mint leaves - to garnish
- Puree watermelon slices (not watermelon balls) along with the lemon juice. Strain with a fine mesh sieve into a jar or pitcher. You will have around 2 cups of juice. To this, add the club soda.
- To assemble a soda float, add a few melon balls to a tall glass. Top with 2 small scoops of vanilla ice cream. Pour the watermelon soda unto the top of the glass. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve with a spoon and straw immediately. Repeat for the other serving.
- This recipe is easily scaled up. Store leftover watermelon soda in the fridge for a day, but not more than that as it will lose its fizz, so it is always better to make it fresh and as needed.
2. Try this recipe with other fruits like black grapes, oranges, clementines, berries, etc.
How about that for a lovely beverage that reminds you of childhood?!!
Don’t forget to PIN & SAVE this recipe for later.
Do you like ice cream soda floats? Do you make them at home? Do try this recipe and let me know how you like it.
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I am sharing this over at Fiesta Friday, FoodieFriDIY & Saucy Saturday.
Anjana,
I sure like holding onto summer a little longer and the watermelon Soda float sure helps do that. Love the fizzy floats!
Thank you for sharing it with us at Fiesta Friday!
Thank you, Sandhya 🙂
Hi Anjana,
Such a yummy drink. I would like to know, from where did you buy the melon baller? Thank you!
Thank you, Sri. Melon ballers are available at supermarkets or big box stores like Target, Walmart, IKEA, etc.
I think this is stupendously fabulous.
Your post brought back so many memories from childhood and college days.
Thumbs up and vanilla was the favorite kind of soda float for us while kids. Then as I grew up, Kala khatta float and lime vanilla float were my favorites… Yumm
This ater melon float looks astonishing and so refreshing!!! ❤️❤️❤️
I think Thumbs Up float was the first one I had too! Thank you, Sonal 🙂
And do try this one!!