The priciest ice cream ever recorded by Guinness is Byakuya, a truffle, cheese and gold leaf creation from Cellato in Tokyo, sold at JP¥873,400 (about $6,696) in March 2023. The most expensive things served over ice cream cost more, such as Serendipity 3’s $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate and Three Twins’ $60,000 Kilimanjaro trip. This list ranks ten of the priciest frozen desserts by reported price, as of October 2026.
Most of these are stunts, and some prices come from older reports, so each entry says how solid its number is.
| Rank | Treat | Price (USD) | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strawberries Arnaud, Arnaud’s, New Orleans | $1.4 million | Reported |
| 2 | The World’s More Expensive Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae, Three Twins | $60,000 | Package |
| 3 | Frrrozen Haute Chocolate (Serendipity 3) | $25,000 | 2007 menu price |
| 4 | Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence, Sri Lanka | $14,500 | Reported |
| 5 | Byakuya, Cellato, Tokyo | $6,696 | Guinness record |
| 6 | Banana split, Three Twins | $3,333.33 | Reported |
| 7 | Golden Opulence Sundae (Serendipity 3) | $1,000 | Menu, 2023 |
| 8 | Victoria, Langham Hotel, Chicago | $1,000 | Reported |
| 9 | Mauboussin Mega Sundae, Bagatelle, New York | $1,000 | Reported |
| 10 | Black Diamond, Scoopi Cafeteria, Dubai | $817 | Menu price in 2015 |
1. Strawberries Arnaud, Arnaud’s, New Orleans: $1.4 million
Vanilla ice cream, strawberries, a spiced port wine sauce, a sprig of mint and, buried in the bowl, a 4.7 carat pink diamond ring. The restaurant has been reported to price it at $1.4 million, which tells you the bill is a jeweller’s invoice with a scoop of ice cream on top.
It is an outlier and we rank it on its reported menu price. Nobody has told us who ordered it, and we have not confirmed it is still offered.
This is a reported menu price from a published list of frozen treats, the least solid number here.
2. The World’s More Expensive Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae, Three Twins: $60,000
Neal Gottlieb, founder of Three Twins Ice Cream, hiked Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011 and made himself ice cream on the summit. Later he started selling the idea. For $60,000 (or $85,000 for two) you get first-class flights to Tanzania, a five-star stay, a guided climb, and ice cream hand-churned with glacial ice from the summit. Five figures of the price go to an African environmental non-profit. The offer has been advertised since at least 2016.
You are not paying for the ice cream. You are paying for a trip, and reports say few if any have bought it.
We took the advertised package price, which includes travel and accommodation.
3. Frrrozen Haute Chocolate (Serendipity 3): $25,000
Reportedly a chocolate sundae made from a blend of 28 cocoas, 14 of them among the most expensive in the world, with 5 grams of 23-carat edible gold. It came in a goblet lined with gold, with an 18-carat gold bracelet set with a carat of white diamonds at the base, and a gold spoon studded with diamonds that you could keep. It was a joint creation of the restaurant’s owner, Stephen Bruce, and a jeweller, Euphoria New York.
The sundae took the Guinness record for the most expensive dessert in the 2000s, and reports say it is no longer on the menu. The jewellery was the point.
Our number is the old published menu price, which we could not confirm is current.
4. Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence, Sri Lanka: $14,500
A dessert at a luxury resort in Sri Lanka that reportedly sold for $14,500, which was mostly the value of the gemstone served with it rather than the ice cream. We rank it on that reported price, with the caveat that the sundae part is the cheap part.
We have only one report for this price, so we treat it as an estimate.
5. Byakuya, Cellato, Tokyo: $6,696
The current Guinness World Record holder for the most expensive ice cream. Byakuya, from the Japanese maker Cellato, sold for JP¥873,400, about $6,696 at the time, on 25 March 2023 in Shibuya, Tokyo. It took the team more than a year and a half to get the taste right.
The cost comes from white truffles from Alba in Italy, which were priced at about 2 million yen a kilogram, plus Parmigiano Reggiano, sake lees and gold leaf. Cellato has talked about caviar next, but that product does not exist yet. Sources round the dollar price a little differently, from $6,380 to $6,696.
Guinness supplies the yen price and we use its dollar conversion.
6. Banana split, Three Twins: $3,333.33
The same company that sells the Kilimanjaro trip also sells a $3,333.33 banana split. We have only a search listing for it and no menu to check, so this is a hedged entry that shows how Three Twins prices a stunt.
This is a reported menu price, not one we confirmed on a menu.
7. Golden Opulence Sundae (Serendipity 3): $1,000
Created for the restaurant’s 50th anniversary, the sundae won a Guinness World Record in 2004 as the most expensive sundae in the world. Tahitian vanilla ice cream made with Madagascar vanilla beans, truffles, caramelised fruit, Venezuelan chocolate, a sweet caviar made from Grand Marnier and passion fruit, and layers of 23-carat gold leaf. It arrives in a crystal goblet you can take home, with an 18-carat gold spoon you must give back.
You have to order at least two days ahead because many ingredients are flown in.
We took the menu price reported in late 2023.
8. Victoria, Langham Hotel, Chicago: $1,000
Vanilla and chocolate ice cream with cognac, salted caramel, golden peanuts, butterscotch, hot fudge, whipped cream and 24-carat gold dust and leaf, with champagne on the side. The hotel’s parlour sold it for $1,000 in a report from 2016. We could not confirm the current price.
That figure comes from a 2016 report and may have changed.
9. Mauboussin Mega Sundae, Bagatelle, New York: $1,000
Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, truffles, macarons, gold leaf, gold-dusted brownies, rose champagne sorbet and chocolate vodka sauce. Finish it and you win a $590 Mauboussin ring. The $1,000 price is from a 2016 list, and we have not confirmed it is still on the menu.
A 2016 report is the only source, so treat it as dated.
10. Black Diamond, Scoopi Cafeteria, Dubai: $817
A single scoop of Madagascar vanilla ice cream with Iranian saffron, slices of Italian black truffle and 23-carat edible gold, served in a Versace bowl with a Versace spoon that the customer keeps. Launched in 2015 at Dh3,000, about $817. Later reports gave prices closer to $840. Early coverage said only two had been sold.
We used the 2015 launch price, and later coverage suggests it moved.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
We found no new Guinness record or higher-priced ice cream announced in 2025 or 2026. The latest verified record is Byakuya in March 2023, and the best-known sundaes date from the 2000s and 2010s.
What drives these prices
- The ice cream is rarely the cost. Gold leaf, truffles, gemstones, diamonds and flights make the bill, and the dairy is a rounding error.
- Guinness gives a price a headline. A record, even a niche one, pays for itself in coverage.
- Services and trips. The $60,000 sundae sells an experience on a mountain.
- Take-home pieces. Goblets, spoons and rings make the price feel like a purchase, not a dessert.
- Charity. Some stunts promise a share of the price to a cause, which makes the number easier to defend.
The habits that let people afford this
Short audio lessons on money, mindset and discipline, in the Alux app.
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What is the most expensive ice cream in the world?
By Guinness, Byakuya from Cellato in Tokyo, which sold for JP¥873,400 (about $6,696) in March 2023. Sundaes and packages have been priced higher, up to $60,000.
What is in the Byakuya ice cream?
White truffle from Alba in Italy, Parmigiano Reggiano, sake lees and gold leaf. The company says it took more than a year and a half to develop.
What is the most expensive sundae?
Serendipity 3’s Frrrozen Haute Chocolate at $25,000 (2007 menu price), though reports say it is no longer served. The Golden Opulence Sundae at $1,000 is the one still associated with the restaurant.
Can you still order the Golden Opulence Sundae?
Serendipity 3 described it as a menu mainstay in late 2023 and asks for at least two days’ notice. Check with the restaurant before you plan a trip.
Is the $60,000 Kilimanjaro sundae real?
Three Twins has advertised it since at least 2016. It includes flights, a five-star stay and a guided climb, and reports suggest few people have bought it.
How much is a scoop of Black Diamond ice cream?
It launched in Dubai in 2015 at about $817, and later reports quote about $840. We could not find a current menu price.
How we put this list together
We ranked by reported price, using menu prices, Guinness records and company announcements compiled in an internal valuation model. Prices are approximate and change over time, and several come from older reports.
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Last updated: October 2026.
