Julia Child’s 4-Ingredient Dessert Takes Less Than 5 Minutes to Make

I have a theory about dinner parties: The easier something is to make, the more guests will love it. I could spend hours glued to the kitchen making an entrèe, but it’ll be the simple side dish that took me five minutes to make that will have people raving. Since my instinct when hosting is to go over the top, it’s a useful thing to remember.

That isn’t to say that the food shouldn’t feel special. The key is finding things you can make that won’t stress you out, but feel nicer than what your guests are used to eating. One of my favorite things I’ve ever made for a dinner party was a peach and cherry Caprese salad. All I had to do was chop up the ingredients and put them into a bowl, and yet it was the most talked-about dish of the night.

In 1990, Julia Child offered some wisdom on this topic, sharing her recommendation for a simple dinner party dessert. Julia recommends putting a scoop of store-bought ice cream into a bowl or wine glass, pouring a bit of bourbon around it, and dusting the top with instant coffee. “This is very nice, and people don’t realize how easy it is. Then just serve a cookie with it,” she told “Cosmopolitan.” 

Why I Love Julia Child’s 4-Ingredient Dessert

Though Mastering the Art of French Cooking was designed to make French cooking accessible for an American audience, some of Julia’s recipes are far from easy. (The scene in “Julie & Julia” when Amy Adams has a meltdown on the kitchen floor over one of Julia’s recipes isn’t hard to believe.) So if The French Chef, who isn’t one to shy away from fussy cooking, says something this simple is still dinner party-worthy, I believe her.

The dessert is visually stunning, and it tastes so good. The instant coffee instantly dissolves when it hits the ice cream, creating globe-like swirls. As the ice cream melts, it mixes with the bourbon, and the creaminess of the dairy mellows the alcohol. It’s a sophisticated flavor profile, with the cookie providing a crunch and tying everything together.

This dessert hardly takes more effort than just putting a plain scoop into a bowl, and yet it takes ice cream to a whole new level. 

Tips for Making Julia Child’s 4-Ingredient Dessert 

• Ice Cream: Use Häagen-Dazs or another higher-quality ice cream to keep the simple-yet-elevated vibe of this dessert. Opt for more “mature” flavors (Julia says to use vanilla or coffee), rather than something like cookies ‘n’ cream or rocky road.
• Cookies: Top the ice cream with a neutral, not-too-sweet cookie to balance out the richness of the ice cream, like a Kedem tea biscuit.
• Coffee: Finely ground instant coffee or espresso works straight out of the container, and also tastes great in chocolate baked goods.