22 Types of Ice Cream to Explore for an Extra Special Treat

Ice cream is more than just food. You can say it's more like a treat of goodness and flavors. However, which types of ice cream are best for you?

Well, there are many different kinds of ice cream with amazing and aesthetic tastes. Rolled ice cream, Gelato, Dondurma, and Popsicles are some of the tastiest ice cream varieties to enjoy. However, there are more that you may not even know about.

So, right here, we’ll let you know about all the known and unknown ice cream types that you should surely give a lick.

22 Types of Ice Cream

There are many different types of ice cream (and ice cream alternatives) with different taste sensations and flavors. So, here in this section, we'll cover all the major ice cream types and give you detailed information regarding each of them.

Sherbet

Sherbet is a frozen treat made with fruit purée and a small amount of dairy. It’s very sweet and can give an amazing taste to your tongue. The dessert is very different from ice cream because it only has 1 to 2 percent milkfat instead of the 10 percent milkfat in ice cream.

Sherbet is made with milk, cream, or even buttermilk. As a result, sherbet is only a little bit creamy and a lot lighter than ice cream.

Gelato

People love Gelato, an Italian ice cream that is entirely made of whole milk. Gelato also has less milk fat and is made in the United States. It’s made without stabilizers or eggs and is churned at a slower speed, making it dense and thick while coming with a rich and creamy taste.

The key difference between gelato and hard ice cream is that gelato is churned much more slowly which causes it to be more dense. It contains a greater ratio of milk to cream, which reduces the fat content by around 6%.

Pistachio, Strawberry, Vanilla, and Stracciatella are some of the most popular flavors of Gelato. When I've had it I've enjoyed placing some whipped cream and whatever types of cherries are on hand on top.

Rolled Ice Cream

It's also famous as stir-fried ice cream and is a sweet frozen dessert from Thailand. This ice cream is made with milk, sugar, cream, and other ingredients that are mixed together and then cooled simultaneously.

Then, this smooth and silky ice cream is spiraled into rolls and served vertically with strawberries, Oreo cookies, and more toppings on top. The varieties of ice cream usually made my smearing them out on a frozen slab and rolled with the right types of spatulas with goodies inside.

Dondurma

Dondurma is pretty dense and creamy, and it usually has whipped cream, salep, sugar, and mastic. The ice cream requires churning to make this dessert sweet and flexible. You can also stretch it like taffy. Dondurma is available in a wide range of nut and fruity flavors.

Kulfi

Kulfi types of ice cream are a dense, milk-based treat that is frozen and turned into a cone shape. The ice cream is also famous as "Indian ice cream."

This ice cream is made by slowly heating milk along with sugar, nuts, and spices while stirring. Another way to make it is to use condensed milk to make a dense and thick base for the ice cream. Mango, saffron, and rose water are some of the different flavors of kulfi that you can buy.

Jipangi

It appears like ice cream in cane-shaped puff corn. This ice cream is a new type of frozen dessert that was made in the city of Insta-Dong in South Korea. However, it’s not as old as any other kinds of ice cream mentioned here. A small amount of ice cream comes out of both ends of each J-cone.

Ice Popsicle

People also call them “Popsicles” and "Ice Pops." They are frozen treats made with either water or milk that are attached to a stick. Unlike any ice cream, an ice popsicle is frozen at rest to make a block of ice.

Moreover, ice pops come in many different fruity flavors, like lemon and pineapple. You can also get these ice cream types in flavors like apples and strawberries.

Baobing

Baobing is a shaved ice dessert that comes from China and is also very popular in Taiwan. This frozen treat is made up of many ice shavings that are topped with different kinds of toppings. Many people put mung beans and sugar water on top of their Baobing.

Soft Serve

It's made with sugar and milk, and it usually doesn't contain eggs. And if you live in the United States, soft-serve varieties of ice cream are easily available in general stores, fast food restaurants, buffets, and at carnivals.

You're likely wondering what the difference is between soft serve ice cream and hard ice cream. Soft serve is served to the customer earlier in the recipe process while air is being churned into the mixture, resulting in a fluffier and creamier texture. Where hard ice cream lands between 30% to 50% air, soft serve is always 50% air or much higher.

There are a lot of people who like strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate, but soft serve doesn't have flavors like nuts, Oreos, or chocolate chips in it like other different kinds of ice cream.

Sorbet

Sorbet is more like a frozen dessert made with frozen fruit, sweetened water, juice, or honey and can also be made into a shape. However, sorbet doesn't contain any dairy products except for milk.

It also has a melty and frozen texture that is easy to scoop into a cone. Moreover, these types of ice cream can also be an excellent treat for people who don’t take dairy or for vegans.

Mochi

These small round kinds of ice cream are made from pounded rice. Here, you’ll find crushed rice that gives it texture and sweetness, and the different ice cream fillings add different flavors to it.

This ice cream comes along with flavors like vanilla and strawberry. There are also green tea and chocolate flavors that give you a different taste blast.

Non-Dairy Ice Cream

There is no cow's milk in this ice cream type. The most famous vegan ice cream is generally made with flavorings like soy, almond, coconut, or even oat milk.

So, even if you are lactose intolerant and want a frozen treat, non-dairy ice cream can be your best choice. You can compensate by sprinkling on various types of almonds or other nuts, chocolates, syrups, and candy sprinkles.

Neapolitan Ice Cream

Neapolitan ice cream is an ice cream type entirely made up of three different kinds of ice cream flavors mixed together and molded into one.

If you want to make Neapolitan ice cream, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate are the three main ingredients. Other ice cream flavors can also be used to make this ice cream.

Philadelphia Ice Cream

Philadelphia ice cream is made without eggs. It is also known as American ice cream because it is made in the United States. It’s lighter than frozen custard or any other ice cream.

This type of ice cream is made with a lot more air than its thicker counterparts and has a fluffier texture. You can get it in many different flavors, like vanilla and chocolate and the most popular ones are vanilla and strawberry.

Italian Ice Cream

When you make granita, which is made from Sicilian ice, you don't use milk. This type of frozen dessert is dairy-free and looks a lot like sorbet in terms of its ingredients and how it is made, but is still one of the types of ice cream.

It's just that Italian ice is a little crunchier, but the texture of sorbet is a little smoother. There may be quite a few flavors to it, but chocolate is the best you can have in terms of the types of garnish you may add.

Granita

This frozen treat comes with water, sugar, and different flavors from fruit, herbs, and nuts in Sicily. Some of the flavors are also strawberry and mint since the ice cream is crystallized, so it's best to use a spoon to eat it from a cup or bowl.

French Custard Base

Many egg yolks and cream are used to make French-style custard ice cream. Custard ice cream has a very rich taste and a very smooth texture. According to the rules in the U.S., ice cream products must have at least 20% milk solids and 10% milkfat.

Moreover, many different flavorings can be added to these custard bases to give them different taste variations. These types of ice cream flavors can also include chocolate and coffee along with nuts and fruits.

Shaved Ice

Shaved ice, if at the right temperature, is a fluffy and soft textured ice cream that generally has a liquid based flavor poured over it. The slushy ice then soaks up the flavor and disperses throughout the treat.

You've probably heard of this dessert under the name of Snow Cones, though it tends to come in a cup due to the rate at which it begins to melt. The nicer versions will include traditional ice cream toppings as well.

Frozen Yogurt

We all know what yogurt is made of, including yogurt culture, milk fats and solids, and various types of sweeteners. When its temperature is decreased the consistency thickens and makes wonderful ice cream types of treat.

The flavors you enjoy in yogurt can all be found here as well as your typical ice cream flavors, though you can expect a bit more of a tangy and tart taste with a hint of sour to it.

Faloodeh

Faloodeh ice cream has a soft texture that you may find surprising upon your first experience. This is because it's made from starch noodles, typically from maize, rice, and potato.

Add in other ingredients such as pistachios, lime juice, rose water, and of course, sugar, and you get the typical faloodeh treat.

Booza Ice Cream

Booza stands alone as one of the different types of ice cream in that it has a more chewy texture. You can bend it, if at the right temperature. But it's not quite a taffy or anything like that.

It's made from orchid flour, called Sahlab, and mastic, an aromatic gum resin that comes from a Mediterranean tree, which is where it gets the chewy attributes from. These ice cream varieties are so interesting you must try them at least once.

Zuccotto

Zuccotto is made from traditional ice cream in addition to cake and alchermes, which is made up of various types of spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, sugar, and more, mixed into a neutral Italian spirit.

The result is a moist but air infused treat that has an incredibly rich taste and texture. The airy part comes from the cake which keeps the concoction physically stable and provides a filling aspect to it that is very enjoyable.

Types of Ice Cream to Melt in Your Mouth

A tasty ice cream treat can surely make your day. However, you need to know which ones are the best for you. All types of ice creams have their own flavorings, so to get different varieties of taste shuffles and experience, you can indeed give a try to the flavors mentioned above.

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