Melting moments: Top 8 ice creams to enjoy on a hot summer's day
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.
We can make ice cream easily by blending fresh fruit such as strawberries or raspberries with cream and a sprinkling of caster sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Half fill empty yoghurt cartons or iced lolly moulds and freeze. A custard ice cream, using 300ml each of cream and milk warmed with 100g caster sugar and vanilla is poured on top of 3 egg yolks. Gently heat to avoid the eggs scrambling. When it has thickened you can add a flavour of your choice - banana, chocolate, coffee, pears, apricots, figs, blackcurrants. I pour into espresso cups for the freezer, ready to serve.
In Italy ‘affogato’ means drowned, and suggests a dessert of ice cream doused in strong coffee as a delicious pick me up to end a meal. This ice cream makes it a lot easier and had its own meltingly delicious blend of flavours and textures made from milk, cream, sugar, skimmed milk powder, almond praline and coffee. Adults also loved the startlingly original Charcoal Mint Affogato. Superb. Made in Crosshaven, we bought at Bradleys Cork.
10
This grown-up ice cream has a luxurious, but not heavy, taste and texture. Italian paste made from Piemonte hazelnuts has a vibrant nuttiness, and at 11.5% there is a generous amount, equalled by good quality dark chocolate pieces. There’s a hint of vanilla too. The milk and cream come from Italy and deliver a perfect creaminess. One taster wants to pass it off as her own. Tops for the majority of tasters (excluding children).
9.5
Brought home in a thermal, compostable box, the ice creams were perfectly solid after an hour’s journey. Sumptuous, syrupy cherries, nutty hazelnut and rich chocolate were good choices and loved by children and adults alike. Couldn’t fault any of the flavours. Delicious.
10
Tops with the children favouring the crunch and deep chocolate flavour of the generous 13% Oreo biscuits throughout a base of vanilla ice cream. Made in Co Cavan from Irish dairy, churned, they say, at a slower rate to make it lighter. Whatever the method, the result is smooth, light and creamy. A very good Irish product. We bought in SuperValu.
8.5
The vanilla ice cream base appealed to children and adults, though the children preferred the greater amount of Oreos in the Moo’d – there is 8% here – but the preference was marginal and they would happily have more of this any time. Delicious. Made on a farm in Knockanore Co Waterford, an excellent dairy enterprise. We bought in Quay Co-Op, Cork.
8.25
We chose peach sorbet, vanilla ice cream, honeycomb ice cream from a large range that includes blue bubblegum – we didn’t dare. All three were a hit with all tasters, the adults favouring the peach sorbet, the children the crunchy honeycomb, but all in agreement it was superb ice cream. Natural and light, not too sweet. ‘Almost healthy tasting’ was the cry. In a thermal compostable box.
10
A list of organic ingredients includes whole milk, sugar, double cream, 12% dark chocolate with 60% cocoa solids, cane sugar, cocoa butter. A dense chocolate flavour was lively and not heavy. All tasters loved it. We bought in Tesco.
8.5
All four in this range are worth trying – coffee, chocolate, salted caramel – but this lemon curd ice cream brought back memories of sitting in the shadow of Mount Etna. For everyone else it was simply delicious, fresh lemony, creamy, just right after a meal. Perfect for a sunny day.
Not surprisingly, a little bitter for the children. At 13.3%, lower fats than many samples.
8.75
