This Ice Cream Spoon Melts Your Scoop

Tired of breaking your arm trying to get the perfect scoop of Rocky Road out of the tub? Well, your days arm-wrestling with a rock-solid tub of ice cream are over, thanks to the latest breakthrough in scooping technology. The new 15.0 % Ice Cream Spoon melts ice cream using body heat, making your scooping experience fantastically easy.

Created by architect Naoki Terada for specialty spoon company, 15.0%, the new Ice Cream Spoon relies on aluminum — a metal that easily transmits thermal heat— to put your body heat to work. The design allows the aluminum handle to capture body heat from your hand and transport it through the spoon into the scooper that makes contact with the ice cream. When warmed, the scooper slightly melts the ice cream, making for an easier scoop.

So, this is essentially a more sophisticated, high-tech version of cradling your tub of ice cream in your arms until it begins to melt before digging in with a normal spoon.

15.0% gets its company name from the Japanese government's mandate that ice cream contain at least 15 percent milk solids to be labeled as true ice cream. So far, the new line of ice cream scoops includes three models — "Vanilla" "Chocolate" and "Strawberry" — which are each sold separately.

Even though this might sound like a great alternative to hugging or even microwaving your tub — yes, some people resort to that, cough — it’ll cost you. According to Amazon, one 15.0% Ice Cream Spoon will set you back $43… and that’s before shipping. That’s a lot of money, even for a die-hard ice cream lover. After all, think of how many delicious, famous desserts you could get for $43.

If you’re willing to spend that much money on dessert, you should consider that $43 could get you:

6 Salty Pimps from Big Gay Ice Cream (at roughly $7 each)

If you’ve never been to one of Big Gay Ice Cream’s two NYC locations, you’re missing out. They have a limited menu, but what they do make, they make deliciously. Their famous “Salty Pimp” ice cream cone is made of vanilla ice cream, dulce de leche, sea salt, and chocolate dip. Though the 15.0% Ice Scream Spoon lets you enjoy ice cream from the comfort of your couch, I think this one’s worth leaving home for.

8 Cronuts from Dominque Ansel Baker (at $5 each)

Part donut, part croissant, filled with cream, topped with glaze. Need I say more? You could go twice a week for a full month at the cost of a 15.0% Ice Cream Spoon.

18 cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (at $29 per dozen)

This famous D.C. cupcake company churns out basically every flavor imaginable, from chocolate and peanut butter to vegan carrot and gluten- free strawberry lava fudge. Depending on which flavors you get, you could fund a whole birthday party’s worth of cupcakes for the same price as the 15.0% Ice Scream Spoon. Or, you know, you could hide them keep them all for yourself.

3 Pint of Jeni’s Ice cream (at $12 each)

With all that money you’re spending on a new heated ice cream scooper, you could be trying three new exotic flavors of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, which got started in Columbus, OH back in 2002. Jeni’s offers off-beat flavors like “Backyard Mint,” “Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso,” and “Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk.” If you’re not drooling already, there must be something wrong with your taste buds.

Images: Amazon, Big Gay Ice Cream, Dominique Ansel Bakery, Georgetown Cupcakes, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, 15.0%