With heat waves and heat domes pushing temperatures over 100 degrees in much of the country, National Ice Cream Day could not have come at a better time.
The annual celebration of the frozen treat seems to encourage more creative promotions each year, and 2023 is no different, with a range of new products and special events on tap for this Sunday, July 16.
New York’s Serendipity 3, for example, is touting an “All About the Benjamins $100 Sundae,” featuring 12 scoops of ice cream in nine flavors, served in a 100-ounce footed goblet. The ice cream is then covered with hot fudge, peanut butter topping, mini chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, caramel sauce, maple walnut topping, crushed Oreos, and a cloud of green glittered whipped cream, and then finally topped with edible $100 bills.
The restaurant, known for its over-the-top desserts and Frrrozen Hot Chocolates, is offering the All About the Benjamins Sundae for one day only.
Other companies are using the occasion to launch new flavors to their assortments.
The Tillamook County Creamery Association, for example, is using the day to launch three new ice cream flavors—Neapolitan, Orange and Cream, and Campfire Peanut Butter Cup.
The new flavors come as Oregon-based Tillamook, known for its cheese and other dairy products, is rapidly growing its ice cream business. In March, it purchased its first ice cream manufacturing plant outside of Oregon, in Decatur, Illinois, to expand its reach in the Eastern U.S.
Sunrise, Florida-based ice cream and donut chain Yonutz, meanwhile, is launching a new menu of Smashed Ice Cream flavors. The 12 new ice cream creations feature a scoop of ice cream that is hand-smashed with various inclusions, such as marshmallows, cookie crumbles, chocolate chips, syrups, graham crackers, and others.
The chain has received accolades—including three Dessert Wars championships—for its Smashed Donuts, which feature a donut sliced in half, filled with ice cream and hot pressed, then topped with assorted treats.
Other scoop shops around the country are offering free or discounted ice cream on National Ice Cream Day.
The Museum of Ice Cream, which has locations in several U.S. cities and Singapore, is also offering free ice cream specials on Sunday.
At the New York City location, it is partnering with Friendly’s Ice Cream to offer free ice cream on Saturday and Sunday at a special event in Hudson Yards Public Square in Manhattan. The festivities include what the museum bills as the world’s largest outdoor sprinkle pool—a tub filled with multi-colored, antimicrobial biodegradable plastic “sprinkles”—that kids can play in.
“Ice cream has a magical quality that can transport us back to our happiest moments,” Maryellis Bunn, founder of the Museum of Ice Cream, said in a statement.
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