Get the flavor of the world with our listing of top frozen summer treats throughout the world. Given a few of these treats’ are growing in demand, they may now be ready at a restaurant or café near you.
Malaysia: Cendol
Cendol is a frozen delicious dessert that comprises droplets of green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.
This traditional rich iced dessert blends coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, shaved ice and jelly noodles made from rice flour. These noodles get their green hue from food colouring made from the pandan leaf, a natural plant in the country. In Malaysia, cendol can seldom have sweetened red beans added and is often served in a bowl; in Indonesia and Thailand, it may be served in a tall glass. It’s an extraordinary way to escape the summer heat.
The Philippines: Halo-Halo
Heading to the Philippines? check out the halo-halo, the most iconic desserts in the country. Halo-halo combines crushed ice, evaporated milk and a variety of other ingredients that can include flavoured beans, coconut strips, seaweed gelatin, tapioca balls, ube jam (purple potato jam), fruit slices, hammered rice and a scoop of ice cream.
Meaning “mix-mix” in Tagalog, halo-halo is so delightful that it now appears in restaurants in cities worldwide, from Spain to Toronto.
Italy: Semifreddo
Italy has great frozen treats, but most famous for gelato and granita. But there’s nothing like a semifreddo on a scorching summer day. This smooth yet fluffy dessert is made by carefully folding the ingredients of egg yolks, sugar and cream till it has a frozen-mousse texture. Cooled until it sets, it is served semi-frozen, giving the dessert its name. It appears in many flavours; we suggest chocolate, nuts, fruit or nougat.
Such a dessert’s Spanish equivalent is called semifrío. It was formed around the 19th century. However, it did not gain notoriety until the early 20th century. So Good!
India: Kulfi
This popular dairy-based frozen treat dates back to the 16th century in India – it’s now famous worldwide, so you can presumably find it near you no matter where you are.
It’s even more solid and creamier than North American or European ice cream (which means it takes longer to melt). Traditional flavours like saffron, mango, rose, cardamom, and pistachio, the most difficult part is deciding which flavour you want to have.
Is kulfi good for weight loss?
Mexico: Raspados
In Spanish, raspado is the expression used for shaved ice. The word is related to the action word raspar which translates to English as “to scrape.”
This shaved ice drink is the perfect way to cool down when temperatures rise. Raspados can be spicy or sweet, and sometimes both. Raspados are available in stores and street stalls all over Mexico and the American Southwest.
Traditional flavours include Leche (sweetened milk with cinnamon), tamarind, picosito, pistachio (lemon and chilli) and chamoyada (fruit, usually mango, with a chilli sauce called chamoy).
Germany: Spaghettieis
Another ice cream dish of course for your hot days. This dessert was created in the 1960s by Dario Fontanella. This funny dessert really does look like a mini-dish of spaghetti. To get this look and feel, vanilla ice cream is extruded through a press to look like spaghetti noodles. Then arranged on whipped cream and covered with strawberry sauce (to mimic tomato sauce) and grated almonds, coconut or white chocolate (to mimic parmesan cheese). Now you have yourself a spaghetti dessert.
Spaghettieis (German pronunciation: [ʃpaˈɡɛtiˌaɪs])
Thailand: I-Tim-Pad
“I Tim Pad” is road street food, vendors use a frozen pan to form ice cream from fresh ingredients, chopped, mixed, spread and rolled right in front of you.
Rolled ice cream? Certainly! Often called stir-fried ice cream, I-Tim-Pad began as popular street food that has since grown into a major ice-cream trend worldwide. This dessert is created and put together by pouring an ice cream base and your flavours of choice across a frozen pan, the mix soon freezes into a thin layer that can be scraped into smooth rolls served vertically in an ice-cream cup.
