Types of Ice Cream

Ice cream is a sweet, creamy cold treat that has been around for centuries. It has inspired songs, had Anne of Green Gables (the heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s famed novels) dreaming for days in anticipation of tasting it for the very first time, and is always popular at birthday parties and family gatherings. But never, have the options been so varied! Today, you can find a world of flavours and an ice cream to suit every taste...

Hard Ice Cream

Traditional or regular ice cream made with cream and/or milk, sugar, and may contain eggs, stabilizers and other flavouring ingredients such as vanilla, chocolate, fruit and many other add-ins…the options seem endless.

French Ice Cream

Traditional ice cream made with a custard base containing cream and/or milk, egg yolks or whole eggs, sugar, stabilizers and other flavourings.

Soft Ice Cream

Ice cream made with milk and/or cream, sugar, stabilizers and flavourings that is frozen at a higher temperature in a special machine that keeps the mixture smooth, creamy and soft while it’s being frozen. It is stored in the machine as a liquid ice cream mix and frozen as it’s served into a cone or bowl. This is available at restaurants and specialty ice cream shops.

Light Ice Cream

Traditional ice cream made with milk ingredients, sugar, stabilizers and other flavourings that contains at least 25% less milk fat than regular hard ice cream.

Reduced Fat Ice Cream

Made with lower fat milk ingredients, sugar, stabilizers and other flavourings. The amount of fat can vary and is declared on the label.

Fat-free Frozen Dairy Dessert

Made with modified milk ingredients, sugar or artificial or natural sweeteners and stabilizers, this ice cream contains about 0.1% fat or 0.5 g fat per serving.

No Sugar Added Ice Cream or Frozen Dairy Dessert

Similar to ice cream, generally made with milk ingredients and stabilizers as well as artificial sweeteners or natural sugar substitutes and other flavourings. These desserts are often lower in fat than regular ice cream.

Lactose-free Ice Cream

Ice cream made with added lactase enzyme and therefore contains no detectable lactose making it more easily digestible for people with lactose intolerance.

Gluten-Free Ice Cream

Since some stabilizers and other ingredients added in ice cream production may contain gluten, it is important to read the ingredients list to make sure the ice cream is gluten-free. Some brands include a “gluten-free” logo on the label.

Organic Ice Cream

Any type of ice cream made with organically produced milk and other ingredients.

Italian-style Gelato

A dense ice cream generally made with more milk than cream (making it lower in fat), egg yolks, sugar or other sweeteners and flavourings. Gelato has a more intense flavour than traditional ice cream and less air.