Most of you may not know this, but I was an art major in college.

At the end of every quarter, each student’s work was offered up for critique by our fellow classmates. We would have been toiling for weeks on our projects, trying to inject meaning and substance along the way, and then on the day the projects were due, each student would get to present their work.

Lots of the time, we would have had specific intentions with our finished project, whether it was to evoke a certain feeling in the viewer, or to illustrate a specific point or idea.

Then, there were the (many) times that we just came up with an idea off-the-cuff, and didn’t really have any specific meaning behind the piece at all. In those cases, we employed a little strategy which involved vehemently agreeing with whichever student-made remark sounded the most thoughtful, regarding the supposed intent behind our work.

“I think that in your use of red and orange, you sort of bring to mind an image of childhood and playfulness — “
“YES! That’s totally what I meant to say, you’re right on.”

Bullshitting like that totally worked if you were feeling less than philosophical about your own work.

Basically, these chocolate cherry sodas are like those projects I would tackle, where I enjoyed the process but felt no deep existential reason for why I created what I did. It was just fun, and the end result looked good. If you want to inject some broad, intellectual meaning to them, be my guest. Sometimes an ice cream soda is just an ice cream soda, and we can appreciate it for its simplicity alone and for its super damn deliciousness. It doesn’t have to mean anything!

So, I submit for your critique, these chocolate cherry ice cream sodas. I couldn’t decide between chocolate ice cream and cherry soda, or cherry sorbet and chocolate soda, so lucky you, you get both! [my favorite wound up being the cherry sorbet + chocolate soda combo] Pick your poison, and share the second one with some awesome person. And please don’t read too much into it, it’s getting hot as balls outside and I just felt like making myself an ice cream soda, okay?

chocolate cherry soda, two ways

(serves 2)

4 scoops chocolate ice cream OR cherry sorbet
2 – 12 oz bottles chocolate soda OR cherry soda, ice cold

1 c (250 g) heavy cream, cold
1 Tbs sugar

fresh sweet cherries, for garnish
dark chocolate, for garnish

Begin by making the whipped cream. In a medium sized bowl, pour in the cold heavy cream and the sugar. Whisk vigorously by hand for 1-2 minutes. Gradually the cream will start to thicken and with a little more whisking, you’ll have billowy soft, sturdy peaks of whipped cream. Set the bowl aside.

In two tall soda or sundae glasses, place two scoops of the ice cream of your choice (I used a store brand sweet cherry sorbet from a local grocery store, and Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Therapy). On top of the cherry sorbet, pour some chocolate soda (I used Coco Fizz), and on top of the chocolate ice cream, pour some cherry soda (I used Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda).

Dollop a hefty spoonful of whipped cream on top of the soda, and using a microplane or fine grater, grate some dark chocolate over the top. Finish with a fresh cherry. Devour without apology.

That’s it. What are you waiting for, man? Go make one of these bad boys and let it put a smile on your face — no deep thinking required.