The best ice cream brands and flavours
When it comes to summertime, keeping cool in the heat is of paramount importance, and there’s only one thing for the job: ice cream!
We’ve sussed out the best brands and flavours to try in the UK, so that you can be sure you’re spending your precious ice cream money well.
We loved Hackney Gelato’s Chocolate & Brownies ice cream: it’s ultra smooth with an intensely rich chocolate flavour, yet also refreshing. The velvety texture is interrupted by niblets of brownie, adding to the star quality of this superior tubful. Pass the spoon (only one). We can vouch for the new Sicilian lemon gelato too. Available from Ocado (£5.49 for 500ml).
Cadbury Caramilk
After launching blonde choc bar Caramilk in 2021, Cadbury have gone and swirled this golden nectar through a tub of creamy vanilla ice cream. Tuck into chunks of caramelised chocolate, ripples of caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream and an entire core made of Caramilk. Okay so it’s super sweet, but the combination of flavours is unfairly moreish. Available from Sainsbury’s (£3.50 for 480g)
Freezecake’s Pleese’s frozen cheesecakes
Are Pleese’s frozen cheesecakes the true pinnacle of frozen dairy? Incredibly decadent but cut through with the tang of cream cheese, they’re an absolute knockout and one of our favourite things we’ve eaten this summer.
Available from Waitrose (£5 for 350g)
Can you imagine being able to enjoy Italian gelato on your own sofa at home? Grom are bringing it large with their selection of real-deal gelato that you can now find at Ocado in the UK. We’ll never understand why vanilla has a reputation for being boring – one bite of this stuff and you’ll be seeing the flavour in a whole new light. The pistachio version is stuffed with actual caramelised pistachio kernels and real pistachios are pounded to a paste and mixed through the whole thing, meaning it tastes sweet and creamy with every bite. Like you’d find in a proper gelateria. PLUS the packaging is top quality and fully reusable (or recyclable too). Available from Ocado (£7 for 460ml).
Häagen Dazs honey and peach with rose
Häagen Dazs have been making ice cream since 1960, but this new flavour feels very NOW. It’s perfect for summer: tastes just like a peach yogurt, so if you’re a fan of that concentrated peach flavour then this one is for you! The rose adds a floral note which is intriguing and refreshing at once. Available from Waitrose (£3.50 for 460ml).
Crosta and Mollica, all flavours
The mascarpone and cherry flavour ice cream from Crosta and Mollica is so soft in texture as to be spoonable as soon as you take it out of the freezer, and that’s always a bonus! The flavour is sweet but subtle and refreshing after a meal. The chocolate and hazelnut is gelato how it should be: rich, creamy and incredibly moreish. Their new sorbets are just the ticket after dinner on a hot evening, as well. Pick from Sorrento Lemon or Sicilian Pomegranate – both deliver satisfying sweet-sharp balance. Served scooped into their respective fruits’ skins, these palm-sized puds have a rustic novelty about them too. £5.50 for two/150g, Waitrose Available from Waitrose (£5.75 for 450ml).
Japan Centre’s mochi ice cream
Looking for a late-summer frozen treat?
The Japan Centre in London’s West End,
a one-stop-shop for Japanese goodies, has introduced a frozen version of mochi, those sweet, squishy, chewy balls of deliciousness. The clever thing is that the sticky rice dough wrapping remains unfrozen, so you still get the essential chewiness as you bite into the ice cream filling. The mango and passion fruit flavour in particular was a goodie, but it’s also in matcha green tea and
vegan chocolate, miso & cookie dough flavours, Available from Japan Centre (£5.79 for 6 balls).
Jude’s ice cream, all flavours
We love when a brand commits to delivering tasty ice cream as well as delivering sustainable practices. Jude’s is a certified B Corp, protecting the planet by reducing their carbon intensity by 20% since 2020 and removing more CO2e from the atmosphere than they emit during the manufacturing and selling of their ice creams. Their range of flavours is extensive, with truckloads of vegan options, ice cream sticks and miniature tubs on offer. We’ve lost count of the number of accolades Jude’s ice creams have scooped up over the years too – with over 60 Great Taste Awards under their belt. Available from Tesco (£4.30 for 460ml).
We dare anyone to blind taste this vegan vanilla ice cream alongside a non-vegan counterpart and be able to tell the difference; we certainly couldn’t! If you’re looking for a simple scoop of vanilla, for topping hot puddings or brownies, then Swedish Glace has one of the best dairy-free options on the market. It’s relatively inexpensive too (around £2.50 for a large 750ml tub) and is great to have in the freezer for dessert emergencies. Available from Tesco (£2.60 for 750ml).
Recognise the name? That’s right, Oatly, the folks behind one of the best oat milks on the market, have branched out into ice cream – a natural fit! Choose from their four flavours (do us a favour and ensure the mint choc chip lands in your basket). All of them are vegan, all of them are delicious. Oat milk is great at adding a creaminess to food, so we found that the ice creams were seriously creamy in texture – almost custard-like. Available from Tesco (£4.50 for 500ml).
Yet to discover Booja Booja? Be careful… like us, you might become obsessed with this vegan chocolate brand. A box of their multi-award winning vegan truffles normally disappears quickly in the delicious. Magazine office, and so, when we discovered they were branching out into ice cream, our interested piqued. With a range of 8 flavours, including Hunky Punky Chocolate and Raspberry Ripple, have some fun trying them all out. We love having one in the freezer for a dinner party pudding. Available from Waitrose (£5.65 for 500ml).
OPPO brothers’ double salted caramel swirl
For those looking for an indulgence but watching sugar levels, OPPO’s range of low-calorie ice creams have 60% less calories and sugar than regular ice cream, without any compromise to taste. We are head-over-heels obsessed with their double salted caramel swirl tub, which is available in vegan-form too. Their tubs are all made of paper and are widely recycled too – a big tick in our book. Available from Tesco (£3.33 for 475ml).