Tyra Banks wants to warm Americans up this winter … with ice cream.
On Oct. 9, Smize and Dream, supermodel Tyra Banks’ Australian ice cream brand, revealed to TODAY.com it is bringing her “hot ice cream” to the U.S., which will make it the second continent to experience the confounding concoction.
“After igniting global curiosity in Sydney and sparking an international media storm, Tyra Banks and her innovative ice cream brand SMiZE & DREAM are officially bringing the world’s first Hot Mama: Hot Ice Cream to New York City this winter,” reads the press release.
“People have been hitting us up nonstop. My friends, fans, countless journalists in our SMiZE DMs — everyone wants to know when they can try it,” Banks said in the release. “ I didn’t expect this level of buzz on a global scale, so it’s been kinda wild in the best way.”
The ice cream brand is apparently “now in conversation with select venues and brands” to bring the product to department stores, fashion cafés, museums, hotels and more.
What Is ‘Hot Ice Cream’?
On Sept. 26, Banks announced the new dessert innovation on TikTok, saying that she’s been “working on making it hot for a year.”
“I am talking about hot ice cream, something that has not been done before,” Banks said the video, befuddling her fans.
“i don’t really understand what ur selling bestie,” commented one person.
“I’m confused on if it’s just warmed ice cream. Someone explain it to me,” added another.
People have their theories about how Banks’ hot ice cream is made — including one who guessed it was “flavored creme anglaise” — but the “America’s Next Top Model” host says she will not reveal her secrets.
In the release, Banks says that she’s aware of people wondering if her invention is “just melted ice cream” but that the question means she’s “onto something.”
“And to clear things up? It’s not,” she said, adding that her team tried just melting her ice cream and a “multitude of other simple techniques,” which didn’t work.
“It only worked when we got granular. And no, I won’t tell you the recipe. But I will tell you it’s damn good!” Banks said — “with a smize” — as the release noted.
How Did She Come up With It?
Banks says the product was the result of a year of “meticulous R&D,” experimenting with temperature, texture and formulation of ice cream’s bases, fats, sugars and stabilizers to create a dessert “that could be warmed without breaking down” and maintained a “‘melt-on-the-tongue’ sensation.”
“At first, we tried just heating standard ice cream bases,” Banks explained in the release. “But they turned sticky, gloopy, or too thin. The breakthrough came when we found the perfect viscosity — not too thick, not too thin — where hot ice cream still felt as dreamy as cold ice cream.”
“The result is a dessert that’s scientifically sound yet sensorially magical — something between a scoop and a sip, familiar yet futuristic,” she added.
Banks Knows We’re All Confused
“When something truly new hits, we often react with a little confusion,” Banks said, comparing her invention’s reception to the rollout of now-iconic desserts like salted caramel and bubble tea. “That’s just human nature — we want to make sense of it, compare it to what we already know. I get it.”
“First we question it, then we crave it. That’s the natural rhythm of a lot of innovation. So yes, Hot Mama makes some people tilt their heads — and that’s exactly where the magic starts,” Banks continued.
“People think ice cream can only live in one temperature — cold. But I’ve spent years studying how ice cream behaves, how it churns, how it melts, how it releases flavor — and Hot Mama flips that entire idea,” she added. “When we get the hot recipe just right, it blooms. The creaminess isn’t too heavy. The flavor sings. This isn’t melted ice cream — it’s reimagined ice cream.”
