The Golden Opulence Sundae is a

sundae A sundae () is an ice cream dessert of American origin that typically consists of one or more scoops of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup and in some cases other toppings such as: sprinkles, whipped cream, marshmallows, peanuts, maraschi ...

that is served by special order at the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

restaurant

Serendipity 3 Serendipity 3, often written Serendipity III, is a restaurant located at 225 East 60th Street, between Second and Third avenues in New York City, founded by Calvin L Holt Patch Caradine and Stephen Bruce in 1954. It also served as a boutique tha ...

. In 2007 it was listed in ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the most expensive sundae in the world at a price of US1,000. The restaurant has stated that they sell approximately one per month. It was created to celebrate the eatery's 50th – "golden" – anniversary in 2005. Owner Stephen Bruce states that a notice 48 hours in advance is needed when requesting the Sundae, since the ingredients must be flown in from different parts of the world.

Ingredients

Golden Opulence Sundae is made using three scoops of rich Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23k edible gold leaf. (Edible gold leaf is made from pure gold that is compressed or rolled into very thin sheets that are only a few

micrometers The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

thick and contain no other metals or impurities.) The chocolate syrup used is from melted Amedei Porcelana, one of the world's most expensive chocolates; and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate, which is from cocoa beans harvested by the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

on Venezuela's coast. The sundae is then adorned with "exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold covered almonds/dragets,

chocolate truffle A chocolate truffle is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre coated in chocolate, cocoa powder, coconut, or chopped and toasted nuts (typically hazelnuts or almonds), usually in a spherical, coni ...

s and

marzipan Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imit ...

cherries." Added to the dessert is a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert

caviar Caviar (also known as caviare; from fa, خاویار, khâvyâr, egg-bearing) is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread. Traditionally, the te ...

, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling golden color. It's sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

. It is finally topped off with a gilded sugar flower and sprinkled with small flakes of more edible gold. The sundae comes in a $350 Baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet which the buyer gets to keep.

Reception

The sundae was used as a gag on the US NBC television series ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...

''. It was also previously featured on

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' list of the world's most expensive desserts until being dropped in 2008 along with Serendipity 3's 25,000 Frozen Haute Chocolate.

References

{{Ice cream Sundaes Cuisine of New York City