Melting moments: Top 8 ice creams to enjoy on a hot summer's day 

The perfect summer snack put to the taste test

Picture: iStock 

Plenty of home producers, good imported brands, and a variety of flavours means we are spoilt for choice when it comes to ice cream. There was such a wide selection in the shops we decided to divide our collection into two surveys of dairy in this edition and dairy free later in the summer. 

This week’s challenge was to find one that stood out over the others, but there were several. We looked for ice cream that wasn’t too sweet – some new versions of popular brands didn’t make the cut when the sweetness was overpowering – but we found plenty that fitted the bill. We expected fruit versions to be pure and natural. Chocolate needed to have high cocoa solids, and if there were cookies, we looked for lightness and no raw dough textures of the past.