Dezeen Magazine

Cornetto ice creams by Bompas & Parr glow in the dark

Food design studio Bompas & Parr has created luminescent ice cream so cinema-goers can see their snacks in the dark.

Glow-in-the-dark Cornettos by Bompas and Parr

Bompas & Parr designed the treats for ice cream brand Cornetto to feature the iconic waffle cone and chocolate top but with a glowing yellow filling.

"The team at Cornetto wanted to do a cinema-based snack that you can eat and still see in the cinema without disrupting the film," co-founder Sam Bompas told Dezeen.

Glow-in-the-dark Cornettos by Bompas and Parr

To make the ice cream glow, the designers impregnated it with riboflavin – or vitamin B2 – which luminesces under certain wavelengths of light.

UV light was shone into the cinema to illuminate the ice cream without impairing the view of the screen.

Riboflavin has a bitter taste, but this was masked by the amount of sugar and fat in the mint chocolate-chip ice cream.

Glow-in-the-dark Cornettos by Bompas and Parr

"This is something we've been experimenting with for a long time," Sam Bompas told Dezeen.

The team has since taken the idea further and created a series of dessert sauces that are infused with glowing luciferin enzymes from genetically modified bacteria.

Glow-in-the-dark Cornettos by Bompas and Parr

"This is something quite special," Bompas said. "Using the same enzyme that fireflies and jellyfish use to fluoresce, that we use to make a fancy sauce for the dessert."

The enzyme doesn't require UV light to glow and can be seen in food under normal light conditions.

Glow-in-the-dark Cornettos by Bompas and Parr

"There's no trickery, you just put a drop in and you see the fluorescence blossom in front of you," said Bompas. "It's totally organic and natural, if you're okay with genetically modified organisms."

These projects follow a series of glow-in-the-dark jellies that Bompas & Parr created for an exhibition at SFMoMA, made using tonic water, which contains quinine that luminesces under a UV light.

Glow-in-the-dark Cornettos by Bompas and Parr

"Since then, we've developed a whole series of techniques and ingredients to make food glow beautifully and still taste delicious," said Bompas.

The studio has previously come up with a musical spoon that you listen to through your mouth and a set of handmade bowls to match five new flavours of Heinz baked beans.