Definitions of Frozen Desserts
The term frozen desserts is a general term and includes ice cream, sherbet, frozen yogurt, sorbet and related products. Frozen desserts come in many forms that are often unknown to many consumers:
Ice Cream is a frozen food made from a mixture of dairy products, such as milk, cream and non-fat milk, combined with sugar and flavourings, such as fruits, nuts and chocolate chips.
Premium Ice Cream: a common term for high quality ice cream that tends to have low overrun (air content) and higher fat content than regular ice cream, and the manufacturer uses higher quality ingredients.
Super-premium Ice Cream: a term for the highest quality ice cream that tends to have very low overrun, high total solids and high fat content, and the manufacturer uses the best quality ingredients.
Low fat Ice Cream contains less than 3g of total fat per 100g or 100ml.
Fat Free Ice Cream contains less than 0.5g of total fat per 100g or 100ml.
Frozen Custard or French Ice Cream is an ice cream characterized by the addition of eggs. It must contain at least 1.4% egg yolks. Frozen custard represents the more expensive type of ice cream, including such products as parfait.
Parfait: a frozen custard of high fat content.
Pudding: a frozen custard containing a generous amount of mixed fruits, nuts or raisins, with or without liquor.
Sherbet is made of fruits, water, sugar and some dairy products such as milk and cream, with or without additional fruit acid, and frozen to the consistency of ice cream. Sherbet contains 1 to 2% milk fat and 2 to 5% total milk solids.
Sorbet is similar to sherbet, but contains no dairy ingredients.
Frozen Yogurt consists of a mixture of dairy ingredients such as milk and non-fat milk which have been cultured, as well as ingredients for sweetening and flavouring.
Gelato is characterized by an intense flavour and is served in a semi – frozen state. Gelato contains sweeteners, milk, cream, egg yolks and flavourings.
Novelties are separately packaged single servings of a frozen dessert, such as ice cream on sticks, ice cream sandwiches and juice bars that may or may not contain dairy ingredients.
Mellorine or Imitation Ice Cream is a product similar to ice cream in which the milk fat is replaced, wholly or partially, with vegetable or animal fat.