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Got $1,000? Why Not Try a Golden Opulence Sundae?
I know. It sounds crazy: $1,000 for an ice cream sundae? But, the sundae is The Grand Opulence Sundae from famed Serendipity of New York City and it's made up of the best of the best. According to the restaurant, they sell approximately one a month, so apparently, quite a few people have some money to indulge in such opulence.
The Golden Opulence Sundae, the "World's most expensive sundae", was created to celebrate Serendipity's 50th Anniversay last year. (If you are paying attention, the 50th anniversary is the "golden" anniversary. Get it?)
Made with "5 scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world's most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate, which is from cocoa beans harvested by the Caribbean Sea on Venezuela's coast. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert caviar, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling golden color. It's sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon to partake in the indulgenceserved with a petite mother of pearl spoon and topped with a gilded sugar flower by Ron Ben-Israel."
Wow. Now that's spectacular. Worth $1,000? Well, I'd like to find out, if only I can get out of paying my rent this month...
Visit Serendipity's website www.serendipity3.com for more information.
By Michelle Alderson | February 10, 2006 in A Food & Wine Gift Guide, Desserts & Other Sweets, Valentine's Day | Permalink
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wow. total wasteful yuppie-ism. if you're having that hard of a time finding something to do with your money, try donating some of it to others who don't have a dollar to their name for basic food and clothing...
Posted by: Ashley | February 14, 2006 2:57 PM
I just had to shake my head when reading the list of ingredients. The more I looked at it, the more it didn't seem to justify the superlativies.
Okay, Amedei is NOT the world's most expensive chocolate. Perhaps the most expensive chocolate bar, but still.
So Amedei, runs about 10 dollars a bar, depending on your supplier.
"Exclusive American Golden cavier" is whitefish roe. Oh la la at as low as $1.60 an ounce or $4 for a one ounce jar.
Chuao chocolate is exotic, to be sure, and Amedei also sells a comparably priced bar of that. I'm going to assume they're using that as well, so let's add another $9.
So we've got gold dragees, those pointless gold-covered candies often at weddings, and candied fruit. I've found about 50-60$ a pound online, and marzipan fruit and truffles, as nice as they are, won't probably run more than $8 a piece. Tahitian vanilla is expensive, probably one of the MORE expensive things they're looking at, but you can get all manner of extracts, powders, and similars for it. Still, let's be nice and assume 5 beans when into this recipe at $5 a pop.
Now we're down to the gold leaf ($30 a book which will cover 2 squre feet, and this does not look like 2 square feet), Armagnac, which even at it's most expensive is probably going to be a fraction of a $100-$200 bottle's worth, various fruit, and the most expensive things, the cup and spoons. And the sugar flower. Mr Ben-Israel's work is well sought after, but unless he's asking for more than a hundred a flower (which, for the sake of this, I am going to assume. I am assuming a fabulous $100 sugar flower), it's not going to make a big dent in the total.
Perhaps, at best, $200 dollars worth of ingredients. But of course, that's just cookery. The extra $800 is for the experience of ordering it, the ambience, the chef's skill :) That's what makes it cuisine!
Posted by: Melissa | February 14, 2006 3:44 PM
I hope for that price you get to keep the goblet and spoon!
I don't think I want to ingest any kind of metal :P.
Posted by: Christine | February 14, 2006 10:30 PM
This makes me SICK. There are millions starving around the world. Millions of children. With $1,000 you could feed several for a week. To see this BS about some stupid Sundae makes me vomit. If anybody wants a reason to know why so many hate the West and what it stands for...you have your answer here.
Posted by: Ganjagoblin | February 15, 2006 10:53 AM
Nero probably enjoyed something similar while Rome collapsed.
But hey it's more fun than facing what our theocracy is doing at Abu Ghraib.
Posted by: cheney | February 16, 2006 10:07 AM
Waste and want appear to be the two extremes in the US -- more than others, we have become a pretentious society. An edible gold leaf? For what purpose? Just so one can say that one ate something so ridiculous? The photo is very pretty, but the waste of money for something the palate might enjoy would have been better spent on a good steak and a bottle of Merlot. To each his own.
Posted by: Word Editing | February 16, 2006 10:27 AM
I'm just totally impressed by the fact that the Caribbean Sea is capable of harvesting chocolate! I wonder what the labor costs are - maybe that accounts for the price tag?
Posted by: Striver | February 17, 2006 7:35 AM
What wrong with us?
Posted by: ed marques | February 20, 2006 10:15 PM
Are you freaking crazy?
Posted by: Dave | February 21, 2006 4:49 PM
Interesting that the Serendipity3 website doesn't list this. Surely this would be something to promote, especially since it's their 50th anniversary... not evident anywhere. Why?
Does this sundae exist? Or is this an imaginary indulgence, perhaps the result of bad indigestion?
Posted by: michelle | February 22, 2006 1:49 PM
More proof of the decline of Western Civ.
Posted by: Monique | March 2, 2006 1:43 AM
What Christine said. It bears repeating.
"Nero probably enjoyed something similar while Rome collapsed....But hey it's more fun than facing what our theocracy is doing at Abu Ghraib."
Posted by: drusilla strange | March 5, 2006 5:13 PM
This has got to be a $1000 worth sundae.
Its got GOLD all over it and it has got great ice-cream!
And last a sugar made flower, a 18K gold spoon with a mother-of-pearl inlay, gold
almonds, and exotic candied fruits!
Best of all! The CRYSTAL GOBLET!
WOW!!!!!!
Posted by: Brent Henry | March 23, 2006 2:29 PM
Hey, lighten up...people don't think before indulging thierselves on anything enticing to them. (drusilla strange (bottom) proves that!)
People think, well what the heck, it 'looks' like a $1000 sundae!
And to be honest, it does look like a $1000 sundae, but that doesn't MAKE it the price that they recieved the ingredience for.
I wonder what edible gold leaf does to your organs! is that legal???
Posted by: Keir Covington | May 21, 2006 11:25 AM
NO way, I would pay $1,000.00 for a sundae.
There is other ways to spend that much money.
Posted by: Livia Jurju | June 24, 2006 2:15 PM
;) ssssick!! i would repent now before eating such a delectable for fear of the firing inferno!
Posted by: pad1 | July 2, 2006 10:32 PM
Wow, pretty dang retarded. Amazing how people can waste money.
Posted by: Derek | July 14, 2006 11:03 AM
Omg, you people are so gullible. For those that keep asking if eating gold is legal, Gold is in quite a few things that we injest. If you've ever had Cinnamon Schnapps like GoldSchlagger, there are tons of real gold flakes in it. It tastes like nothing and the schnapps is what gives you a hang-over, not the gold. Also, for those that keep saying things about starving children and what not, people like Bill Gates and Donald Trump look at $1,000 like we look at $10, if that. They can afford something like this, so let them. Who cares. It's the responsibility of our greedy capitialist governments to take care of their citizens, not the citizens who worked hard to get their money. Although, this creation does look stupid.
Posted by: Christina | August 8, 2006 7:39 AM
I just had the Golden Opulence Sundae and it was the most atrocious thing i have ever tasted. I would have rather gotten the outrageous banana split it is the bomb diggity. Oh well there goes my 1,000 dollars but it doesn't matter i'm rich beotch!!!!!!!!! in yo face serendipity
Posted by: nana poopoo i poop gold | September 9, 2006 8:18 PM
this dessert is actually real...i found it in the 2006 world book of records....pretty hard to believe!
Posted by: Kelsey | October 3, 2006 6:38 AM
I had one before and it was amazing. It tasted soooooooo good. However I probably wouldn't buy another one for it wasn't very filling. But the taste is quite unbelievable it is the most amazing taste i have ever felt in my mout before.
I am wealthy so I was able to afford it but i do believe that 1000 dollars should be used for better things.
Posted by: Daisy | October 15, 2006 2:15 PM
I am a recent amputee. I con no longer work my job and at 55 yrs old nobody seems to need me. I am poor I recieve 600 a mo. to live on from SSI I was getting 150 in food stamps but the kind people of california decided that was just too much so they cut off my food.
Rich people don't order these. They very seldom want to attract attention to thier wealth.
Wanna be and neuvo rich buy this crap. Go on a cruise where the food is included the rich guy has one shrimp on his plate. The wanna be has it piled to the sky.
If you ever want to pick out a rich person in a crowd look for the one with the expensive shoes. Wanna be's have 500 dollar ties and little horses on thier shirts but the truly wealthy go for the comfort of fine handmade footware everytime. If you buy a ferrari it comes with a handmade pair of driving shoes.
The best thing at serendipity is the frozen hot chocolate. I truly reccomend it.
Posted by: john hope | March 16, 2007 8:21 PM
pls dont buy..give your 1000 to the needy people....they need ur 1000 more than your stomach full of gold.God bless who donate and do-not-eat!
Posted by: mickey | May 9, 2007 7:49 PM
... wow
Posted by: Serenfreakity | May 21, 2007 1:51 PM
When my novel is published I promised myself I will celebrate by having a "Golden Opulence Sundae" and I will savor every bit of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: gerri | July 14, 2007 1:10 PM
Who would waste money like it was folling throuhg the sky. you probably only get one customer a month for this is because we have common sense not to waste money on some ice-cream. you could go to the grocery store and buy gold food coloring for all we know
Posted by: Claire | July 15, 2007 2:14 PM
You probably only get 1 customer a month because people aren;t stupid enough to waste money on some "special" ice-cream when you could go to the store and buy ice-cream and put gold food coloring on it...for only 15 dollars at the most.
Posted by: Claire | July 15, 2007 2:17 PM
OH WOW HOW PPL WASTE THEIR MONEY THEY HAVE MONEY TO MAKE CRUD LIKE THAT WHY DONT THEY WASTE ON POOR KIDS DIEING OF THIRST AND HUNGER BUT NOW THEY WASTE IT ON A PIECE OF CRUD ( RETARTS)
Posted by: plumfairy96 | August 10, 2007 11:36 AM
To each their own. Although I wouldn't pay for it and feel it is a waste of money.
But what a person does with money they earn is their business.
Posted by: rosemary | September 22, 2007 9:20 PM
i can probably make one of these with very cheap and very fake ingridients and it will look exactly like the photo
Posted by: art-teacher-to-be | September 24, 2007 4:35 PM
What a lame attempt to be upscale and classy. It's nothing more than VULGAR, entitled, foolish. What kind of jerk would spend $1000 on a dessert when they could help the starving, homeless or poor? I can just picture the annoying, self centered person who would spend money on this and the snooty, tastless place that serves it.
Posted by: R. Wilson | September 26, 2007 11:51 AM
It's funny how everyone is talking about children starving, and yet I doubt any of you people even do anything to help all those starving kids. People buy $700 phones, $100 million dollar houses. All made with their own money; if people want to spend $1,000 on a dessert, that's fine by me. Why does it matter? The menu at Serendipity is very reasonable. So what if they have a $1,000 sundae?
Posted by: Zana | October 5, 2007 9:29 PM
omg this is soooo expensive
my mom would kill me if i asked her to buy this for me
if i were bill gates or any superstar i would NOT buy this stupid ice cream
Posted by: sarah | December 11, 2007 8:32 PM
im gonna go buy some of these and make a golden spoon collection!!!!!!!
Posted by: bob | January 7, 2008 4:19 PM
this would be awesome if it cost less!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but it is sad that people spend money on this instead of more important things♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
so if you read this dont spend it/donate it
Posted by: gene | January 11, 2008 8:27 AM
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