No matter the “style,” ice cream is the only food designed, formulated, manufactured, marketed and sold with the express intent of being consumed frozen.
We are most often asked how many “types” or “styles” of ice cream exist? In the simplest of terms, no matter the style, ice cream (and frozen dessert variants, thereof,) is the only food designed, formulated, manufactured, marketed, and sold with the express intent of being consumed frozen.
The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations outlines requirements and considerations related to the labeling of foods, including ice cream and frozen desserts.
Water ices and sorbets (a.k.a. “sorbetto” when presented for sale/consumption alongside gelato) can be considered sherbets without dairy ingredients. Water ices are compositions of water, sugar, corn syrup, and color/flavor. Sorbets are “upscale water ices” using fruit primarily as the source of solids.
It’s “ice” cream for heaven’s sake — the only food designed, formulated, manufactured, stored, distributed and sold with the express intent to be consumed frozen. It’s not frozen pizza, nor a pack of frozen peas, Ice cream is different.
As an ingredient in frozen desserts, milkfat is critical when delivering sensory appeal and resistance to heat shock. The actual percentage of milkfat depends on a number of factors, including regulatory considerations, nutrition fact objectives and sensory appea. Learn more from ice cream gurus, Steven Young and Bill Sipple.
While vanilla, chocolate and vanilla/chocolate-based flavors are often times the core of frozen desserts, ice cream gurus Steve Young and Bill Sipple discuss ways to help fruit-flavored ice creams, frozen yogurts, sherbets and sorbets shine with strawberry, raspberry and orange.
The reduction or elimination of lactose in ice cream and other frozen dairy desserts goes back to well before the simple declaration(s) of “low carb” in the early 2000s.