Ice cream culture is booming in the UK and there’s no better time to try new flavours than during a heatwave. Our adventure through upmarket supermarket tubs explores the best intense chocolate ice creams on offer and nostalgic favourites like rhubarb and custard and raspberry ripple, through to more innovative flavours such as pistachio & sour cherry and strawberry & sumac from Ottolenghi for Waitrose.
It has taken a long time for us to develop a year-round ice cream culture in the UK and we do, understandably, eat far more ice cream and sorbet during the summer months. But according to Grocery Trader, in-store sales grew 12.7 per cent last year, to £1.6bn, while market researchers value the overall industry at between £3.17 and £4.16bn.
I ask Jacob Kenedy, who opened Gelupo gelateria in London’s Soho in 2010, why we love ice cream so much. “There can be no food more transportative to a childhood state. It is a food that does a phase change in your mouth – we serve it solid, and it melts on your tongue – only great things do this. It is an adult-accessible candy shop: albeit sweet, there is nothing immature in enjoying it, and it is an opportunity to celebrate and explore flavour.”
Another ice cream expert, the food writer Ruby Tandoh, has spent the past few years researching London’s best frozen delights, investigating over 120 producers for her upcoming guide, Ice Cream City, published by Vittles later this month. When it comes to big-brand ice cream, she recommends vanilla Häagen-Dazs. “It’s very high cream with minimal air whipped in, and has the shortest ingredient list I’ve ever seen for a supermarket ice cream. This is not true for literally any other Häagen-Dazs flavour. But this specific one is great.”
I usually like to make my ice cream at home, but this week I set out to see if the pre-made tubs were worth the price. I only tried ice creams that I hoped would taste good for this test. Ice cold tip: good quality olive oil on vanilla or a sprinkle of sea salt on chocolate will turn your ice cream experience up to eleven.
Sainsbury’s Hackney Gelato Banana, Caramel & Pecan
£5.65/460ml
I usually find Hackney Gelato too sweet but given this flavour is banana, caramel and pecan, I go in expecting a very sweet ice cream and it delivers – over and over. The banana flavour from 30 per cent banana puree feels authentic and earned, though the ice cream itself is a bit too fluffy. I don’t feel quite so good about it after hoovering up half the tub.
2.5/5
Waitrose Rhubarb & Custard
£3.50/480ml
A retro flavour launched to accompany the recent series of Rivals, this ice cream comes with just the right level of nostalgia. It tastes like a boiled sweet or your favourite trifle, with the custard ice cream reminiscent of Bird’s instant and the rhubarb ripple sweet and a touch tangy rather than tart. Of all the ice creams I try, this is the one most suited to a children’s party. Would also be brilliant in ice cream sandwiches.
3/5
Häagen-Dazs Rum Raisin
£5.75/460ml
I love grown-up retro flavours like rum and raisin, an ice cream that’s decidedly adults only. There are a few big brand iterations but I tend to reach for Häagen-Dazs, which has plenty of boozy raisins sitting in the milky, rum-scented ice cream, which is luxuriously rich thanks to the 38 per cent cream content with a smooth, dense and scoopable texture. Serve with a nostalgic biscuit such as a brandy snap or cigar wafer.
3/5
Waitrose Yeo Valley Organic Summer Berry
£4.75/480ml
Superbly creamy ice cream bedazzled with a streak of berry purée. This is a high-end raspberry ripple that makes me want to scoop it into a cone. The quality of the West Country organic cream shines through in this tub, while the ripple is a blend of raspberry, strawberry and blackcurrant with no ultra-processed ingredients.
3.5/5
M&S Only 5 Ingredients Heather Honey
£5/500ml
A gentle honey flavour throughout a light and silky ice cream. This is an elegant choice for ice cream fans who don’t want to be hit in the face with overpowering flavours or add-ins. If you do want to amp it up a little, serve with crushed Crunchie.
3.5/5
M&S Only 8 Ingredients 85 per cent Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
£5/500ml
A great choice for chocolate lovers, sweetened with honey but rich from the high cream content. I was hoping this would be slightly more intense from 85 per cent chocolate but appreciated the balance of dark chocolate and indulgent dairy nonetheless.
4/5
Waitrose No.1 Santo Domingo Chocolate
£4.50/480ml
This one just has the edge for me out of the chocolate ice creams that I try. The chocolate flavour is spot on, neither saccharine nor bitter, while a bit of emulsifier – soya lecithin in this case – brings the mouthfeel and scoopability that are so desirable in a great tub.
4/5
Ocado Booja Booja Chocolate Salted Caramel
£5.80/500ml
If you know, you know… I can’t get enough of this stuff. An outstanding vegan and organic ice cream made with just cane sugar, cashews, cocoa powder, coconut syrup and sea salt. Vegans often have to make do with sorbet but this one tastes and scoops like a rich chocolate ice cream with the occasional hit of the salty caramel ripple. Reduced to £4.80 until 14 July.
4/5
Waitrose Ottolenghi Roasted Pistachio & Sour Cherry
£6/480ml
Trust Ottolenghi to take our love of pistachio ice cream, perhaps the fanciest widely available flavour, and transform it with a wide ripple of sultry sour cherry, a flavour not often found on these shores, and certainly not in supermarket tubs. Waitrose is also doing a chocolate and sour cherry tub, which is superb. They’re a bit OTT together, though – a scoop per tasting is enough.
4.5/5
Waitrose Ottolenghi Strawberry & Cream with Sumac
£6/480ml
Make this your go-to for the duration of Wimbledon. It’s always been hard to find a good strawberry ice cream in supermarkets so I tend to make it at home. This is a very welcome shortcut. The ice cream is beautifully smooth while the strawberry ripple takes the flavour up a notch, adding the sumac edge. I’d like more spice and recommend serving with British strawberries and a touch more of sumac’s enlivening sharpness. This is new, along with Salted Malted Chocolate and is discounted to £4.80 at the moment, so move quickly!
5/5 Winner!
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