Summer means ice cream, and ice cream means ice cream sundaes—drowned in hot fudge, piled high with whipped cream and absolutely coated with rainbow sprinkles, if your childhood was anything like ours.

But we’ve since grown up (right?), and it’s time for our food choices to do the same. Guzzling straight fudge doesn’t exactly scream “adult,” so even if we haven’t quite grown out of doing so, we still have to do our best to keep up appearances.

For your next build-your-own-sundae bar, after-dinner dessert or even mid-afternoon snack (because we’re adults and we can), spoon one of these delectable toppings over your ice cream, for a fancy schmancy sundae that’s sure to impress.

Olive oil & sea salt

  • Prep Time:5 minutes
  • Cook Time:0 minutes
  • Total Time:5 minutes
  • Servings:1
  • Easy

    Ingredients

  • 1 spoonful (to taste) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 1 dash lemon zest (optional)
  • Step 1

    Drizzle olive oil.

  • Step 2

    Sprinkle sea salt (and lemon zest, if using).

  • Step 3

    Done.

Balsamic roasted strawberries

  • Prep Time:5 minutes
  • Cook Time:30 minutes
  • Total Time:35 minutes
  • Servings:2
  • Easy

    Ingredients

  • 1 cup strawberries, de-stemmed and halved
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°F and line a small baking pan with parchment paper.

  • Step 2

    In a small bowl, mix together the strawberries, sugar and balsamic vinegar.

  • Step 3

    Pour the strawberry mixture onto the baking pan and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the strawberries are soft and juicy and the syrup has thickened. Let cool for a few minutes.

  • Step 4

    Spoon warm onto vanilla ice cream. Swoon.

Salted caramel & candied peanuts

  • Prep Time:5 minutes
  • Cook Time:10 minutes
  • Total Time:15 minutes
  • Servings:4-5
  • Easy

    Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanuts
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoon water
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • Step 1

    In a medium skillet, mix together the peanuts, sugar and water. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently. The liquid will eventually bubble and thicken.

  • Step 2

    Once the sugar crystallizes and the peanuts become dry and sandy, turn the heat to low and continue to cook. Scrape the syrup up from the bottom of the pan to coat the peanuts as much as possible.

  • Step 3

    When the peanuts are golden brown but not burnt, sprinkle with sea salt and pour onto a plate or baking pan to cool completely.

  • Step 4

    Top ice cream with a healthy drizzle of salted caramel sauce and generous handful of candied peanuts.

    Recipe idea adapted from David Lebovitz.