Just Desserts: Divine Easter Sundaes on the East End

Easter Sunday, April 21, is a day for families to come together from far and wide to enjoy food, fellowship and fun. Check all three of those boxes with a trip to one of the East End’s sweet ice cream purveyors for some delicious ice cream sundaes—or Easter Sundaes in this case.

By enjoying an ice cream sundae on Sunday, you’ll be participating in an age-old tradition many believe originated in the late 1800s, in the small town of Evanston, Illinois. According to legend, the religious political leaders of the town decided that drinking soda, including the increasingly popular ice cream float—would furthermore be prohibited on the Sabbath. To ease townsfolk into this new Prohibitionesque paradigm, the Evanston Women’s Christian Temperance Union pushed for shops to adopt a new soda-less ice cream float, the aptly named ice cream sundae. Americans—and East Enders—have been hooked ever since.

Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe’s Peconic Swamp Thing is as grand as it sounds. The hot fudge sundae is made with homemade chocolate ice cream, brownies and a black raspberry weave, topped with nuts, whipped cream, a cherry and a sundae stick. With accolades including a mention in Michael Turback’s More Than a Month of Sundaes book featuring the 500 best sundae parlors in the country, Snowflake is definitely worth checking out. 1148 West Main Street, Riverhead. 631-727-4394, snowflakeicecream.com

From classic treats to mind-blowing concoctions, Sip’n Soda has a bevy of saccharine recipes that have been passed down for three generations. It offers a tried and true Hot Fudge Sundae with your choice of homemade ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry, all of which compliment the rich hot fudge to a tee. Then there’s the Four Queens—four scoops of any combination of flavors placed over fresh banana and topped with hot fudge, whipped cream and cherry. 40 Hampton Road, Southampton. 631-283-9752, sipnsoda.com

The Bridgehampton Candy Kitchen offers a solid selection of sundae flavors including hot fudge, butterscotch strawberry, pineapple, fresh peach and maple walnut, all topped with fluffy gobs of whipped cream, sprinkles and a maraschino cherry. If you’re looking for something a little fancier, the menu also offers a Super Double Sundae, Banana Split, Four Queens and Dish of Ice Cream. 2391 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton. 631-537-9885

Skip your morning coffee, and head to North Fork Table & Inn for a mouth-watering, energy-boosting treat created by doyenne of North Fork dining chef Claudia Fleming. Her Coffee-Toffee Ice Cream Sundae, made with the finest ingredients, comes with roasted bananas and salty peanuts to create an explosion of flavor that will ring in your taste buds all day. 57225 Main Road, Southold. 631-765-0177, northforktableandinn.com

With Peeps and chocolate bunnies everywhere you look for the holiday, the masses have marshmallow and chocolate on the brain. While one could simply buy cheap sweets, the smarter decision would be to order one or more of Nick & Toni’s Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream Sundaes. The satisfying blend of flavors birthed from chocolate cake, ice cream, hot fudge, graham crumble and marshmallows makes for a cool s’more experience adults and children will remember all summer. Available throughout season, the sundae is also a dessert option in a special Easter Sunday prix fixe brunch menu.136 North Main Street, East Hampton. 631-324-3550, nickandtonis.com

The folks at Magic Fountain are expert ice cream innovators. With over 30 year-round flavors and plenty of seasonal rarities—including cannoli, tiramisu and honey lavender—it should come as no surprise that this beloved shop’s ice cream earned the 2018 Platinum Dan’s Best of the Best distinction. Flavorful sundae offerings include the Tornado (banana ice cream topped with Reese’s Pieces, chopped Snickers, caramel and hot fudge), Heavenly Hawaiian (vanilla ice‍ cream topped with coconut, pineapple and cherries) and Lots of Stuff (rocky road‍ ice cream topped with butterscotch, hot fudge, diced almonds). 9825 Main Road, Mattituck. 631-298-4908, magicfountainlongisland.com

Bacon lovers have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to breakfast, but true connoisseurs know the dessert of their dreams lives at Bridgehampton Inn & Restaurant. The Fudge Brownie Sundae consists of molten chocolate porter beeramel poured over a rich fudge brownie and cool vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate whipped cream, chocolate shavings and, finally, candied bacon. 266 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton. 631-537-3660, bridgehamptoninn.com

Shock Ice Cream received the 2018 Platinum award for Dan’s Best of the Best Ice Cream in the Hamptons for its fun atmosphere, excellent service and selection of more than 60 ice cream flavors, but it’s pièce de résistance is the Carnival Cone, a swirl of soft serve ice cream topped with rainbow sprinkles and sitting on a large cloud of cotton candy. While not technically a sundae, this ice cream cone is too wild and too popular not to mention. Give it a try; your sweet tooth will thank you. 99A Main Street, Westhampton Beach. 631-288-2522, facebook.com/shockicecream