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,

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s, maraschino cherries, or other fruits (e.g. bananas and pineapple in a

banana split A banana split is an American ice cream-based dessert consisting of a peeled banana cut in half lengthwise, and served with ice-cream and sauce between the two pieces. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with three sc ...

). According to the '' Online Etymology Dictionary'', the origin of the term ''sundae'' is obscure.

History

Among the many stories about the invention of the sundae, a frequent theme is that the ice cream sundae was a variation of the popular

ice cream soda An ice cream float or ice cream soda (also known as a spider in Australia and New Zealand), is a chilled beverage that consists of ice cream in either a soft drink or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water. When root beer and vanilla ic ...

. According to an account published by the

Evanston Public Library Evanston Public Library is both a public library facility and a city department in Evanston, Illinois, United States. History The Evanston Library Association was founded in 1870. The library itself was established in 1873 and Thomas J. Kellan ...

(Illinois), the sale of soda was prohibited on Sundays in Illinois because they were considered too "frilly". Other origin stories for the sundae focus on the novelty or inventiveness of the treat or the name of the originator and make no mention of legal pressures. The ice cream sundae soon became the weekend semi-official

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concentr ...

confection at the beginning of the 1900s and quickly gained popularity. ''The Ice Cream Trade Journal'' for 1909 listed, along with plain, or French sundae, such unique varieties as Robin Hood sundae, Cocoa Caramel sundae, Black Hawk sundae, Angel Cake sundae, Cherry Dip sundae, Cinnamon Peak sundae, Opera sundae, Fleur D'Orange sundae, Knickerbocker sundae, Tally-Ho Sundae, Bismarck and George Washington sundaes, to name a few.

Contested origins

Various localities have claimed to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae, including

Plainfield, Illinois Plainfield is a village in Will and Kendall counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 44,762 at the 2020 census. The village includes land in Will County's Plainfield and Wheatland townships, as well as Na-Au-Say and Oswego to ...

;

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Cleveland, Ohio and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. According to What's Cooking America, the biggest rivalry (referred to as the "Sundae War") to claim the invention of the ice cream sundae is between

Two Rivers, Wisconsin Two Rivers is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,712 at the 2010 census. It is the birthplace of the ice cream sundae (though other cities, such as Ithaca, New York, make the same claim). The city's adverti ...

and

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County, New York, Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca m ...

Two Rivers, Wisconsin in 1881

Wisconsin Historical Marker ice cream sundae

Two Rivers claim is based on the story of George Hallauer asking Edward C. Berners, the owner of Berners' Soda Fountain, to drizzle chocolate syrup over ice cream in 1881. Berners eventually did and wound up selling the treat for a nickel, originally only on Sundays, but later every day. According to this story, the spelling changed when a glass salesman ordered canoe-shaped dishes. When Berners died in 1939, the ''Chicago Tribune'' headlined his obituary "Man Who Made First Ice Cream Sundae Is Dead". Residents of Two Rivers have contested the claims of other cities to the right to claim the title "birthplace of the ice cream sundae". When Ithaca, New York, mayor Carolyn K. Peterson proclaimed a day to celebrate her city as the birthplace of the sundae, she received postcards from Two Rivers' citizens reiterating that town's claim.

Buffalo, New York in 1889

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

s Stoddart Bros. Drug Store advertised serving up ice cream sodas garnished with fruit syrup and whipped cream in the pages of The Buffalo Evening News and the Buffalo Courier as early as 1889.

Evanston, Illinois in 1890

Evanston was one of the first locations to pass a

blue law Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, ...

against selling ice cream sodas in 1890. "Some ingenious confectioners and drug store operators

n Evanston N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

.. obeying the law, served ice cream with the syrup of your choice without the soda

n Sundays N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Thereby complying with the law… This sodaless soda was the Sunday soda." As sales of the dessert continued on Mondays, local

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

leaders then objected to naming the dish after the Sabbath, so the spelling of the name was changed to sundae.

Ithaca, New York in 1892

Supporting

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: * Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' * Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithak ...

s claim to be "the birthplace of the ice cream sundae", researchers at The History Center in

Tompkins County, New York Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,740. The county seat is Ithaca. The name is in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, who served as Governor of New York and Vice Presi ...

, provide an account of how the sundae came to be: On Sunday, April 3, 1892, in Ithaca, John M. Scott, a Unitarian Church minister, and Chester Platt, co-owner of Platt & Colt Pharmacy, created the first historically documented sundae. Platt covered dishes of ice cream with cherry syrup and candied cherries on a whim. The men named the dish "Cherry Sunday" in honor of the day it was created. The oldest-known written evidence of a sundae is Platt & Colt's newspaper ad for a "Cherry Sunday" placed in the ''Ithaca Daily Journal'' on April 5, 1892. By May 1892, the Platt & Colt soda fountain also served "Strawberry Sundays" and later, "Chocolate Sundays". Platt & Colt's "Sundays" grew so popular that by 1894, Chester Platt attempted to trademark the term ice cream "Sunday".

Plainfield, Illinois

has also claimed to be the home of the very first ice cream sundae. A local belief is that a Plainfield druggist named Mr. Sonntag created the dish "after the urgings of patrons to serve something different." He named it the "sonntag" after himself, and since ''Sonntag'' means Sunday in German, the name was translated to Sunday, and later was spelled sundae. Charles Sonntag established himself as a pharmacist after graduating from pharmacy school in 1890. He worked for several years under the employ of two local druggists, Dr. David W. Jump and F. R. Tobias. Sonntag established his own pharmacy (as early as 1893 and no later than 1895) in a building constructed in the months following a December 1891 fire that devastated one side of the town's business district. His store advertised "Sonntag's Famous Soda" and was, likely, the first soda fountain in the Village of Plainfield.

Types

Classic ice cream sundae

The original sundae consists of

vanilla ice cream Vanilla is frequently used to flavor ice cream, especially in North America, Asia, and Europe. Vanilla ice cream, like other flavors of ice cream, was originally created by cooling a mixture made of cream, sugar, and vanilla above a container ...

topped with a flavored sauce or syrup, whipped cream, and a

maraschino cherry A maraschino cherry ( ) is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. In their modern form, the cherries are first preserved in a brine solution usual ...

. Classic sundaes are typically named after flavored syrup employed in the recipe: cherry sundae, chocolate sundae, strawberry sundae, raspberry sundae, etc. The classic sundae is traditionally served in a tulip-shaped, footed glass vase. Due to the long association between the shape of the glass and the dessert, this style of serving dish is generally now known as a sundae glass.

Banana split

This dessert consists of two halves of a banana, sliced lengthwise. The classic banana split consists of strawberry ice cream topped with chocolate syrup, chocolate ice cream topped with crushed pineapple, and vanilla ice cream topped with strawberry syrup. Each scoop is individually garnished with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

Parfait

Parfait Parfait (, also , ; meaning "perfect") is either of two types of dessert. In France, where the dish originated, parfait is made by boiling cream, egg, sugar and syrup to create a custard-like puree. The American version consists of layers ...

is a sundae served in a tall glass filled with layers of ice cream or yogurt, gelatine, and flavorings such as

syrups In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved suga ...

, whipped cream,

granola Granola is a breakfast and snack food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown. The mixture is stirred while baking to ...

, fresh fruit, and/or

liqueurs Liqueurs are alcoholic beverages that are bottled with added sugar and have added flavours that are usually derived from fruits, herbs, or nuts. Liqueurs are distinct from eaux-de-vie, fruit brandy, and flavored liquors, which contain no ad ...

Knickerbocker glory

This ice cream sundae is served in a large tall glass, consisting of layers of ice cream, jelly, fruit, and cream, topped with syrup, nuts, whipped cream, and often a cherry; it is popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Fruit

Sliced or chopped fruit that has been sugared and let to sit for an hour or more to form a sweet syrup may be substituted for the flavored sauce or syrup of the classic sundae. Fresh fruit sundaes include named variations such as the

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their