Cool off with a fun, fizzy, and popping Ice Cream Floats with Pop Rocks! It's like capturing summertime fireworks in a glass. The cherry-vanilla treat is a perfect dessert for backyard parties and cookouts.
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Nothing hits the spot quite like an ice cream float, especially on a hot summer evening! If it's been a while since you've enjoyed one of these old-fashioned treats, here's your chance to indulge—in more ways than one.
This Ice Cream Float recipe is as pretty to look at as it is delicious, thanks to the jewel-red cherry soda. And this float is extra special thanks to the addition of crackling Pop Rocks! These poppin' floats are fun for kids to help make, too.
In a nutshell... 🐿️
- What this is: Cool, fizzy cherry-vanilla floats with the fun, crackling surprise of Pop Rocks candy mixed in.
- You'll love this part: It's a nostalgic New England treat that's like summertime fireworks in a glass, and so much fun for kids to help make.
- How it's made: Stir Pop Rocks into ice cream, add to glasses of cherry soda, and add a little more candy for more popping action.
Jump to:
A celebration of two old-fashioned treats
How long has it been since you've had Pop Rocks? (It has not been that long for me... I have no self-control.) Next question: what's your favorite kind of soda float? I've always been partial to classic root beer floats, and also sherbet floating in a glass of 7-Up.
Ice cream floats are creamy, cold, and carbonated. Plus, they're such an ideal dessert because they have just enough sweetness to satisfy dessert cravings without overstuffing the gut the way sundaes often do! And yet I don't get the impression that floats are as popular as they used to be.
My favorite place to get an ice cream float as a kid was at our neighborhood Friendly's—that's the favorite New England chain of family restaurants with well-stocked ice cream counters. (The first opened in 1935 in Springfield, Massachusetts.) At least, it used to be a favorite chain; unfortunately, these days there don't seem to be that many Friendly's left.
The other old-fashioned treat in this recipe is the Pop Rocks! They were invented in the 1950s and began hitting store shelves in the '70s. They were a favorite of mine to buy at the corner store on the walk home from elementary school, and to get at snack bars at the lake, too.
That's a lot of sweet nostalgia packed into one sweet and foamy float!
Notes from fellow cooks:
"This looks like pure patriotic perfection!" —Firecracker Floatie
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FAQs
Of course! Cherry soda and vanilla ice cream with blue Pop Rocks are great for a red-white-blue theme. Ice cream floats are delicious in many combinations, like Coke or root beer with vanilla ice cream, or lemon sherbet with Sprite. Just remember to choose a Pop Rocks flavor that will complement the other ingredients.
One step to do in advance is to mix the Pop Rocks into the ice cream and hold it in the freezer. Other things to do ahead of time are chilling the sodas and glasses, and gathering straws, Pop Rocks, and long spoons. You can also scoop the ice cream ahead of time: place scoops on a small baking sheet, cover them with plastic, and hold them in the freezer.
No! 😂 And if you haven't heard this urban legend, let me fill you in. I remember (and Thrillist backs me up) that in the 1970s, a rumor ran like wildfire that the child actor who played Mikey in Life Cereal commercials had died from an exploding stomach after eating Pop Rocks and soda together.
It wasn't true—the actor John Gilchrist Jr. is still alive! However, the rumor was so widespread that the parent company General Foods had to take out newspaper ads to refute it, and even called frantic parents and school principals. Pop Rocks were briefly discontinued in the '80s as a result!
I'm sure a bunch of kids were responsible for this mess, so I just want to say this to today's youth: Kids, please don't dream up scandalous urban legends and spread rumors about beloved candies!
Yes, in Australia, an ice cream float is called a spider. According to Mouths of Mums, the drink earned that name for the web-like head of foam that forms when ice cream is added to soda, and also possibly for the way that foam creeps up the sides of the glass! (Check out my Australia-inspired goodie: Vegemite Muffins!)
Why you'll love this float
What's not to love about this simple and delicious treat? The Ice Cream Floats come together in minutes; everyone loves them and they're especially fun for kids to help assemble.
My recipe has one do-ahead step: to fold Pop Rocks into vanilla ice cream and then let it rechill. This gives the ice cream colorful swirls and hidden pockets of popping as you eat and drink the float.
More Pop Rocks are sprinkled on the floats just before eating them—and this is the most fun of all! As the candies hit the ice cream and soda, they pop and crackle, creating a little show. In fact, I was first inspired to make Pop Rocks floats as a Fourth of July treat, as a way to get some of those fireworks into a dessert.
Flavor-wise, cherry soda and vanilla ice cream are delectable together in a float, and the Pop Rocks add flavor, too. If you go with blue raspberry or tropical punch Pop Rocks, you'll have a red, white, and blue treat that's fun for Independence Day or Memorial Day. Or, choose your own favorite flavor of the candy to use in the ice cream soda recipe.
🔪 How to make the Ice Cream Floats with Pop Rocks
Ingredients:
- Chilled cherry Soda: I chose IBC Cherry Soda for its particular red hue; other cherry soda brands can be used, too.
- Vanilla Ice Cream: Use a good-quality brand such as Edy's or Friendly's, one that's creamy with lots of vanilla flavor.
- Pop Rocks: I use the Blue Raspberry flavor Pop Rocks; Tropical Punch is another blue variety. If you don't care what color they are, use any Pop Rocks flavor you want.
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Combine Pop Rocks and ice cream
Stir Pop Rocks into softened ice cream to create colorful swirls. Put the ice cream back into the freezer to firm up.
Pour soda
Pour cold cherry soda into two tall sundae glasses or other tall glasses.
Add the Pop Rocks ice cream
Add scoops of Pop Rocks-swirled ice cream to the glasses. Do this carefully as the soda will foam up quickly.
Sprinkle Pop Rocks on top
Shake Pop Rocks on the tops of both sodas; be ready for them to start popping! Add straws and enjoy the floats.
Tips:
- To create festive red, white, and blue floats, use blue Pop Rocks flavors, either Tropical Punch or Blue Raspberry.
- If you're really pressed for time, you can skip the step of swirling Pop Rocks into the ice cream; just use plain vanilla ice cream instead.
- There are lots of brands of cherry soda, with colors ranging from neon pink to garnet! Pick your favorite—my family preferred the flavor of the IBC Dark Cherry Soda.
When were ice cream floats invented?
Long before floats were big at Friendly's, they were one of the staple treats served up at old-fashioned soda fountains. Combination drugstore/scoop shops were common from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. Pharmacies had soda fountains, counters where their patrons could order and enjoy proprietary mixes of soda water with flavored syrups and cream.
According to The Nibble, credit for the ice cream float goes to Robert McCay Green, who created it in the late 1870s at his soda fountain in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The root beer float came along a little later; according to Eater, it was born in Chicago in 1893, and is credited to a gold mine owner named Frank J. Wisner.
So we have 19th-century soda fountains and pharmacists to thank for soda brands like Dr. Pepper and Coke and for ice cream floats! There aren't many soda fountains around anymore, but you can read about one that is in my post about Eats on the Road in Rhode Island.
The recipe for Ice Cream Floats with Pop Rocks is below. Here are more festive and sweet recipes to try:
💬 Did you make and devour this recipe? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Ice Cream Floats with Pop Rocks
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Ingredients
- 2 packages blue Pop Rocks: look for Tropical Fruit Punch flavor (.33 ounces each)
- 2 cups vanilla bean ice cream, softened
- 24 ounces (two 12-ounce bottles) red cherry soda (I used IBC brand), chilled
- 4 tall chilled glasses plus straws & spoons
Instructions
Prepare the ice cream:
- Open one package of Pop Rocks and pour them over the softened vanilla ice cream.
- Stir them together just until the Pop Rocks leave streaks of blue through the ice cream. You want the streaks to be bright and visible.
- Cover the ice cream with plastic wrap, pressing it to the surface of the ice cream and place it in the freezer. Freeze the ice cream for 1-2 hours until it has firmed up.
Assemble the sodas:
- Divide the cherry sodas between the four chilled glasses, half a bottle into each glass.
- Use a ¼-cup scoop and gently place two scoops of the Pop Rocks ice cream into each glass.
- Open the second envelope of Pop Rocks and sprinkle them over the top of the ice cream sodas—watch them pop!
- Place straws into each glass and serve them immediately, along with a spoon for each. Makes 4 servings.
Notes
- To create festive red, white, and blue floats, use blue Pop Rocks flavors, either Tropical Punch or Blue Raspberry.
- If you're really pressed for time, you can skip the step of swirling Pop Rocks into the ice cream; just use plain vanilla ice cream instead.
- There are lots of brands of cherry soda, with colors ranging from neon pink to garnet! Pick your favorite—my family preferred the flavor of the IBC Dark Cherry Soda.
Nutrition
Christian says
What a blast of flavor!
Nancy Mock says
Haha, blast... I get it! Can't beat a good ice cream float!
Firecracker Floatie! says
I'm looking forward to trying this drink: pure patriotic perfection!
Nancy Mock says
I know you're going to love it!