What is the Difference Between Ice Cream, Frozen Custard, Gelato, Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet and Sherbet? Let’s find out!
Summer is on it’s way which means: ’tis the season for frozen treats!
And, not only do I love me some frozen treats but between all the stress and sadness at my home over the past year I’ve had more than my fair share of them…on the couch, late at night, after a long day at the hospital.
But….don’t feel bad…I have no regrets about my frozen dessert consumption.
In fact, it has made me a connoisseur of sorts. 🙂
AND I’m looking forward to going into this season knowing exactly which chilly desert will hit the spot.
So with that…let’s talk about the subtle (and not so subtle) differences in our tasty treats.
ICE CREAM
Aside from being one of my favorite treats on the planet, ice cream is basically frozen milk or cream with flavoring. Ice Cream is both creamy and milky. It is made from milk, cream, sugar, and flavorings.
Commercially made ice cream is pasteurized and homogenized…this process, among other things, kills bacteria and reduces the size of the liquid fat droplets which allows those droplets to entrap air.
Without air ice cream would be too hard to eat…the air helps to give our ice cream it’s smooth texture and helps slow the melting process. In fact, air is so vital to the consistency of ice cream most commercial machines are built to pump air into the base of churning machines as the ice cream freezes.
Ice cream is delicious and here in the U.S. is easy to find.
FROZEN CUSTARD
Ahhh frozen custard. A personal favorite….it just tastes so decedent!!!
Frozen custard is made from milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and egg yolks. The addition of egg yolks give frozen custard a richer flavor and smoother texture than ice cream.
Commercially made, frozen custard is also processed in a machine that allows in as little air as possible. This reduction in air naturally makes frozen custard dense, giving it a thick, velvety feel and allows it to be served at a warmer temperature than ice cream.
GELATO
Gelato actually means “ice cream” in Italian…but it does have a few differences from American ice cream.
For instance, while both contain milk, cream, and sugar gelato uses more milk and less cream than ice cream. Gelato also tends to be denser and have a more elastic or “chewy” texture than traditional ice cream.
This could be due to how each are commercially mixed. Ice cream is churned in machinery that floods the mixture with air as it is freezing…essentially infusing the ice cream with air…giving it a lighter fluffier texture. Meanwhile, gelato is churned at not only a slower speed but in a container that allows in the least amount of air as possible making some gelatos have up to 70% less air than ice cream.
Gelato was “invented” by Sicilian fisherman and is traditionally scooped with a spade into a cone or dish and served with a wooden paddle spoon…rather than served with a scoop and sans utensils as is common with ice cream.
And…in most Italian “gelaterias” you get a scoop of two different flavors on your cone! (My favorite combination….dark chocolate and mango!)
FROZEN YOGURT
As the name implies…frozen yogurt is just that…frozen yogurt. Yogurt is made from milk that has been fermented by bacteria. The bacteria eats the natural sugars in the milk and leaves behind lactic acid which gives yogurt its distinctive tart and tangy flavor.
Because of the tangy nature of frozen yogurt it is usually paired with fresh fruits and toppings.
Fun Fact: Frozen Yogurt wasn’t commercially made until the 1970’s and didn’t become popular until the 1980’s when it went from being scooped like ice cream to soft serve.
SORBET
Next up we have Sorbet.
Sorbet is a frozen treat that is made with fruit but without dairy or eggs. This treat is usually icy and refreshing but is not silky or rich in texture like ice creams or custards.
Often sorbets have booze added to them to spice them up a bit.
Sorbets make a perfect, refreshing treat on a hot summer day. My favorite is homemade watermelon sorbet…which is EASY to make and that we have a recipe for HERE.
SHERBET
And finally we have sherbet. Unlike ice cream, sherbet has a base of fruit puree and then is made more creamy with the addition of milk, cream, or butterfat.
Because it has dairy added it often has a creamy consistency but because the base is the fruit puree it is usually lower in calories and saturated fat than ice cream is.
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So there you have it…a tour of some of my favorite frozen treats….all of which I’m planning on enjoying through out the upcoming summer months!
Hooray for tasty treats!
-liZ
BONUS: MOCHI ICE CREAM
Recently I’ve been seeing little Mochi ice cream balls, well, everywhere. If you have been seeing them too and wondering what they are here is a quick rundown on what you can expect from those little piles of goodness:
Mochi ice cream was invented by Frances Hashimoto in the 1970’s although it was debuted to a large market audience until the 1990’s. has recently found a surge in popularity.
Mochi ice cream is a small, round confection made from Japanese Mochi (pounded sticky rice) with an ice cream filling that is dusted with either potato or corn starch to keep the individual treats from caking and sticking together.
This combination creates a frozen treat that is unique…both creamy and chewy and infused with subtle flavors. If you haven’t tried a mochi ice cream it is worth a whirl.
