Knickerbocker Glory

When you love ice cream, as I do, you get to know all sorts of variations on a theme and here's one that no-one can fail to ignore: THE KNICKERBOCKER GLORY! There's no set recipe for a Knickerbocker Glory as far as we know. Essentially it's a British 'ice cream parlour' dessert, first made popular in the 1930s.

Served in a tall glass, it's a mixture of fresh fruit in the base with optional liquer for adults, 3 scoops of ice cream (usually vanilla and strawberry), peach melba sauce, whipped cream or squirter cream and a cherry (glace or fresh) on top. Variations can include jelly in the layers, different fruits, a different sauce or extra toppings such as flaked almonds; a wafer is also optional.

In Britain you can still enjoy a Knickerbocker Glory in many ice cream parlours and restaurants - or of course you can even make your own at home.

Photograph: "Shelagh's Knickerbocker Glory"

Ingredients to make it:
Fresh strawberry slices, black grapes, melon pieces in the base
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream and 1 scoop of strawberry ice cream
strawberry sauce poured over
squirter cream on top
fan wafer
a glace cherry to crown it off

"One of my fondest childhood memories growing up in England was to be on family holiday at the seaside (Scarborough was a favorite) and go looking for an ice cream parlour that served my father's favorite dessert: a Knickerbocker Glory. Once inside the parlour my father would place the order with great anticipation and then, whilst my mother and I enjoyed a simple ice cream cone or small sundae, we would watch him quietly relish every bit of that Knickerbocker Glory. Served in a tall glass it usually it took some time to eat, yet he never rushed and he never left any of it! Today, some 40 years later, he still loves the dessert and sees it as a special treat - a glorious tribute to the magic of ice cream!"
Shelagh Caudle - Editor ice-cream-recipes.com

The 1930s saw a significant rise in the popularity of ice cream and development of flavors - see also Ice Cream Comedy where I have a special article on Laurel and Hardy in a 1931 sketch featuring ice cream.

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