Ice cream – looking

Ice Cream

Having a tempting ice cream offering is an important aspect of many cafés and coffee shops, and can help boost revenue during challenging times.

LOOKING AHEAD

“As a nation, we have learnt many things during the pandemic and this includes spending more time doing things that bring us moments of happiness. As such, when things return to normal, there will be nothing better than enjoying the simple things in life, such as tucking into an ice cream cone from a café or coffee shop on a sunny day,” says Christina Veal, director at New Forest Ice Cream (www. newforesticecream.com).

“There is nothing we love more than coming up with unique fl avours that we know will capture the imagination of our customers and inspire their menus. We pride ourselves on developing our recipes from only the fi nest ingredients and traditional production methods to achieve the very best ice cream every time. Offering high quality, innovative new ice cream fl avours is the best way to complete any menu. Whether served as the perfect accompaniment or as a refreshingly light treat in its own right, using a quality manufacturer and including the latest trends, fl avours and serving ideas on a menu is the key to success.

“Helping to bring back memories of 1950s America and retro diners, our Malted Milkshake fl avour ice cream wowed the judges at last year’s Great Taste Awards, receiving a prestigious three-star accolade. Other popular fl avours in our range include Blackberry Clotted Cream (main picture), Honey & Fig and Choc Chip Cookie Dough.”

“Ice cream and gelato are a brilliant – and lucrative - addition to your café menu and takeaway offering. The profi t margins are high so it’s a great revenue booster, and providing your customers with the additional choice of having ice cream on the menu is a fantastic way to increase footfall,” suggests Steve Carrigan, gelato & ice cream technician for ingredients distributor Henley Bridge (www.hbingredients.co.uk).

“Figures released by ice cream machine experts Carpigiani reveal most cafés or restaurants that offer ice cream sell it to around 10% of their client base. However, this is just a basic analysis as there are also additional ways in which you can help to boost sales of ice cream, from creating your own signature desserts to adding ice cream into drinks or milkshakes.

“Whilst you can go down the route of buying in ready-made ice cream, making your own is surprisingly easy and really sets you apart from your competition, allowing you to create fl avours that will perfectly suit your customer base. For example, if your menu has a large vegan offer, then plant-based ice creams are probably the way forward. If your key demographic is the after-school crowd, choose ice cream or gelato that can be used in sandos, desserts, waffl es, sundaes or fl oats. And if you’re aiming for high end, invest in the highest quality ingredients that you can.”

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, and it starts out with a similar custard base as ice cream, but has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and eggs (or no eggs at all). It is also churned at a much slower rate, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream but with a smoother, silkier texture. Gelato has 5-7% fat whilst ice cream has a minimum of 10% fat, invariably making gelato a more appealing choice for health-conscious customers too.

The appetite for ‘soft serve’ gelato in the UK is defi nitely on the rise, feel Henley Bridge, having enjoyed huge success in Europe as well as in the US, for many years. It’s an evolution of Italian-style gelato but with a softer consistency and lighter fl avour. The whipped gelato is pumped directly out of the machine into the cone or carrier. The machines start with one fl avour but there are also two-head machines which deliver two separate fl avours (of your choice) and are a great option for venues with less space to devote to a gelato offering, suggest the company.

“There are various cost-effective solutions to obtaining your own machine and you can also buy different attachments for your soft serve machine which allow you to make soft serve spaghetti and popcorn. You can create your own bespoke recipes using your choice of ingredients – or use a pre-made mix,” adds Steve Carrigan.

“Premium soft serve can be used to create an array of stunning desserts, so don’t limit it to simply fi lling cones. Today’s consumers are obsessed with photographing their food, and Instagram is full of fantastic images of soft serve creations that you can emulate. Some serving ideas include dipped toffee cones, a fi lled brioche bun, cookie sandwich and gelato profi teroles.

“New ice cream ingredients for 2021 include natural aromatic botanicals, and spices with warm notes such as cardamom and cinnamon. Demand

Callebaut say that their No Churn Chocolate Almond Butter Ice Cream is an ideal addition to dessert menus, going hand in hand with Callebaut’s real Belgian chocolate sauce, which is quick and easy to make, and a great topping to drizzle over the top of any ice cream fl avour, they suggest (more serving ideas can be found at www.fortheloveofchoc.com).

No Churn Chocolate Almond Butter Ice Cream

Ingredients • 100g Callebaut® 823 Milk Chocolate Callets Serves 6 • 500ml double cream, cold • 1 tin (397g) condensed milk • 280g chocolate syrup • 4 tbsp almond butter

Method

• In a large bowl beat the double cream with a whisk until soft peaks form. • Add the condensed milk and chocolate syrup to the cream and fold through gently until fully combined. • Fold through the Callebaut® 823

Milk Chocolate Callets and add almond butter and swirl gently through the mix to create patterns. • Transfer the ice cream mixture into a freezer container or Tupperware, then cover and freeze for fi ve hours before serving.

for interesting and unusual fl avour combinations is also on the rise, with spices providing perfect pairings, such as rhubarb and ginger, chilli and chocolate, pear and cardamom, and cinnamon and hazelnut.”

“The trend towards creating more unique ice cream fl avours has become prominent among operators,” agrees Anna Sentance, gourmet marketing manager, Callebaut UK and Ireland. “Ice cream is a popular staple on dessert menus all year round, but with warmer weather approaching, operators should think about making ice cream offerings available across the whole day.

“Ice cream presents a huge opportunity for operators as it can be enjoyed both after meals or as a treat at any time of the day. Callebaut’s Mini Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding recipe, for example, incorporates a variety of different textures with the soft bread and butter, creamy ice cream, indulgent chocolate shavings, and Callebaut’s smooth chocolate sauce. Adding ice cream to a dessert recipe can be a great way of uplifting sales.”