It’s a truth universally acknowledged that there’s nothing lovelier than the sight of a Mr Whippy on a hot summer’s afternoon. Of course the likes of macaron ice cream sandwiches and soft serves wrapped in clouds of candy floss, have upped the ante considerably over the last couple of years, paving the way for a new season of game-changers…
From icéclairs to fish-shaped waffle cones piled high with matcha ice cream, here are my top picks for making the most of the kindness bestowed upon us by the Weather Gods above.
Ready, set… ice cream diet!
Breakfast: Black Espresso Shot
Black is the new black and ice cream for breakfast is now a distinct reality, courtesy Little Moon’s Black Espresso mochi pops (made with activated charcoal from coconut shells no less!).
For the uninitiated, Little Moons’ range of mochi desserts involve silky smooth gelato ice cream parcelled within a chewy outer layer of pounded rice flour. Find your fix at Little Moons’ pop-up at Selfridges Foodhall – but if coffee is not your cuppa tea, we hear that they have Yellow Yuzu & Elderflower and The Earl Grey of Oxford Street on offer too, alongside classic flavours such as matcha, toasted sesame, salted caramel, dulce de leche and so on…
Little Moons at Selfridges London: Mon 17th July – Sun 10th September 2017
Elevenses: Thai Ice Cream Rolls
Next, it’s on to Pan-n-Ice‘s pop-up for elevenses – situated in Selfridges Foodhall, as well as in Westfield Stratford City and Top Shop Oxford Circus.
Half the fun here is watching as the handcrafted ice cream rolls take shape – with liquid ice cream poured onto a freezing metallic plate and then mashed up with your chosen combination of ingredients. Think anything and everything from unicorn doughnuts and Oreos, to fresh British strawberries and meringue which transform into the delightful Mess That Was Eton!
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Lunch-time: Ice Cream Waffle Cones
For a more substantive lunch, I’d head to Chinatown to have my fill of fish-shaped waffle cones – or taiyaki – piled high with a matcha soft serve, at Bake on Wardour Street.
There’s also the rather enticing option of a bubble waffle – at either Bake, or across the road at the aptly titled Bubble Waffle.
Crisp-edged on the top and soft and chewy further down, each golden whopper is literally stuff of an Instagrammer’s dreams – served curled up in a cone and filled to the brim with generous wallops of gelato and all sorts of sweet trimmings and sauces from traditional mochi, condensed milk and red bean paste, to crushed Oreos, fudge and peanut butter!
Speaking of peanut butter, it would be remiss of me not to mention The Full Elvis waffle cone at Dan Doherty’s Duck & Waffle Local, in nearby St James Market…
Tea-time… more like choux time!
Gosh, tea-time already?
Choux pastries would definitely be in order, albeit frozen and filled with hand-made ice creams at Melba – the exquisite patisserie at the iconic Savoy Hotel!
Here we have our pick of five ice cream flavours (including pistachio, salted caramel and wild berry). Next comes the choice of sauce you’d like your icéclair to be dipped in (think decadently dark chocolate or raspberry drizzle!) and last but not least, the toppings which range from cookie dough and caramelised hazel nuts to rose petals and popping candy… Et voilà!
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I personally found the icéclair a tad too hard (a feature of it being frozen beforehand), but fortuitously found a suitable alternative in the form of choux buns at Chin Chin Lab’s new Dessert Club in Soho.
Boisterously buttery and mined with crumbled and candied pistachios, these mammoth-sized buns sandwich a sweet-and-savoury wallop of pistachio and olive oil ice cream. The unfathomably-smooth texture is far removed from your average ice cream too, courtesy Chin Chin’s liquid nitrogen-based sorcery!
Sweet and savoury options for dinner
As for dinner, there are always the purple corn waffle tacos at Chin Chin Club, stuffed with avocado ice cream.
While I’ve yet to try it, I can in the meanwhile recommend the blue ice cream sundae at the Cheese Bar in Camden. A flavour bomb of sweet, savoury and umami-rich dimensions, it’s lusciously laced with quince, honey and crisp shards of honeycomb!
Gelato for a final flourish
And finally, there’s nothing like a scoop (or few) of gelato to round of the day on a delectably light note.
With its convenient locations all over the city and the generous option of combining an unlimited number of flavours (in the shape of a rose no less!), Amorino remains one of my favourite go-to’s for my post dinner fix!
Of course, a foodie’s job is ever finished though, especially with my #FeedFeed continually adding more must-eats to my bucket list for the summer…
If you have any recommendations for me, do drop them in a comment below or tweet me @foodiediaries!
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Thank you for this mention, Ayushi! So many amazing desserts in London – we’re spoiled for choice!
xo Jaime
Angloyankophile
Yes we really are! If only the weather wasn’t as gloomy as it is… x
mmmm.. ice-cream all day long:)
Can’t get enough ! X