Ice Cream
Practical Action
Product variations
There are a large number of potential product variations, including a wide range of flavours (e.g.
vanilla, chocolate or fruit flavours) and corresponding colours, and different textures that depend
on the addition of additives or differences in the method of production. Fruit pulp may also be
added during or after making ice cream, and fruit, chocolate or nut pieces can be used to
decorate ice cream. In temperate climates, ice milk was the traditional lower-fat ice cream
product, and in places where there is a demand for reduced-fat products (with fat contents as
low as 4%) this may be an additional product in a range. Another product variation is frozen
yoghurt (see Technical Brief: Soured milk and yoghurt production), which is frozen in a similar
way to ice cream (below).
Ingredients
Fats
Fats increase the richness of the ice cream flavour, produce a smooth texture, give ‘body’ to the
ice cream and produce good melting properties when the ice cream is eaten. Although dairy fats
(Table 1) are most commonly used to make ice cream, a number of vegetable fats (including
hydrogenated palm oil, coconut oil or salt-free margarine) may be cheaper and are used to
reduce the cost of ice cream.
Milk solids-not-fat
Milk solids-not-fat is included as skimmed milk powder or full-fat milk powder. They improve the
body and texture of ice cream, allow a higher overrun (below), and produce a thicker, less icy
product.
Sugars
Sweeteners improve the flavour, texture and palatability of ice cream. They contribute to a lower
freezing point, so that the ice cream has some unfrozen water. Without this the ice cream would
be too hard to eat. They also reduce the ‘fattiness’ of ice cream and help to produce a smooth
texture. Granulated or castor sugar (sucrose) is used, but other sugars (such as dextrose powder)
are also used to make the ice cream softer. Corn syrup produces a firmer and ‘chewier’ ice cream
than sugar. It is available in different dextrose equivalents1 (DE). The sweetness increases with
higher DE values. Lower DE corn syrups have a greater stabilising effect.
Stabilisers
Stabilisers are used to help bind together the complex mixture of fats, sugars, air and tiny ice
crystals that are present in ice cream and give a smooth texture. They increase the viscosity in
the unfrozen water to produce a firmer ice cream that resists melting (see ‘Product control’
below). Historically gelatine was used, but now the most widely used commercial stabiliser is
carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), which may have small amounts of vegetable gums (such as guar
gum or locust bean gum), or seaweed extract (available as sodium alginate) mixed with it to
improve its stabilising action. The vegetable gums may also be used instead of CMC. The
amounts of stabiliser used should follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Emulsifiers
Emulsifiers create a smooth texture and good melting characteristics. The traditional emulsifier
used in ice cream was egg yolk, but now mono- and di-glycerides and Polysorbate 80 are used in
most ice cream formulations.
Flavourings and colourings
Few people like unflavoured ice cream and both synthetic and natural flavours are used. The
colouring normally matches the flavour (e.g. green colour with mint flavour or orange with
mango). The flavours and colours must be ‘food grade’ and are usually available in supermarkets
in major towns and cities or from bakery ingredient suppliers. Vanilla flavour is often the most
1 DE is a measure of the reducing sugar content of the syrup calculated as % dextrose
2