Ginger Ale Floats for a Hot Summer Day

It's a sweltering summer day. Friends are coming for dinner. And you're stumped about dessert. Baking? It's just too hot to turn on the oven. Home-made ice cream seems like far too much trouble.

You could, of course, settle for an icy slice of watermelon. A handful of cherries. You might buy a pie. Or a pint of exotic ice cream. On the other hand, there are these fantastically refreshing floats. Surprising. Fresh. And you get bragging rights for having created your very own ginger ale.

Homemade Ginger Ale Floats

Makes 4 floats

1 fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced

1 cup organic sugar

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups seltzer (or very bubbly soad water)

1 pint high quality vanilla bean ice cream (I like Three Twins' Madagascar Vanilla, but Hagen Daas will do the trick as well -- coffee is also surprisingly pleasant if you have that instead.)

Using a spoon gently scrape back the papery skin from your ginger root and slice it thing. Place the ginger, sugar, and water in a saucepan over low heat and allow to cook until the sugar dissolves and your simple syrup begins to simmer. Add the vanilla and set aside to cool completely. Strain.

For the float, add a few tablespoons of ginger syrup to the botto of your glass (the taller the better, but you'll need the spoons to match) and pour in your soda, leaving room at the top for the float to, well, float. In goes a scoop of ice cream and watch as the whole thing gently erupts. Drink slowly - or dive in with a spoon.