Types of Frozen Desserts and the Best Equipment for Serving Them

Knowing the type of frozen dessert you'd like to offer can significantly streamline your planning process. This includes selecting the right equipment, understanding maintenance needs, and ensuring you stock the appropriate ingredients. Below, we’ve highlighted a few trendy frozen desserts you might consider adding to your menu!

1. Soft Serve Ice Cream

Soft serve ice cream is known for its smooth, airy, and creamy texture. Unlike traditional hard ice cream, soft serve is served at a slightly warmer temperature (around -4°C to -6°C or 24°F to 28°F) and contains more air, which gives it its signature light, fluffy consistency. It has always been a crowd favorite at restaurants, cafés, and fast-food outlets.

Recommended Equipment:

There are various types of soft serve machines available, each with distinct features to cater to different operational needs. Taylor offers single-flavor, twin-twist (double-flavor), countertop, floor-standing, heat-treatment, pump, and gravity-fed machines. Depending on your output requirements, some excellent entry-level machines include:

• Taylor C152 (single-flavor)

• Taylor C162 (twin-twist, double-flavor)

• Taylor C708 (heat-treatment machine for extended maintenance intervals)

2. Gelato

Gelato is an Italian frozen dessert known for its rich, dense, and intensely flavorful profile, with a higher milk-to-cream ratio. Gelato contains less air and fat than traditional ice cream, resulting in its signature velvety, creamy texture.

Fun fact: A dairy-free gelato is called a sorbet, a slightly creamier sorbet is a sherbet, and gelato made with eggs is considered frozen custard!

Recommended Equipment:

A batch freezer, such as the Taylor 104, is essential for making gelato, sorbet, and other frozen desserts. This machine churns the mixture at slower speeds than traditional ice cream machines, controlling air incorporation (known as overrun) and achieving gelato’s dense, creamy texture.
After production, gelato is typically stored in a gelato showcase and served at a slightly warmer temperature (-10°C or 14°F) to enhance flavor and maintain its silky texture.

3. Frozen Yogurt (Froyo)

Frozen yogurt, or froyo, is a tangy, creamy dessert made from yogurt and other dairy products. It’s a lighter alternative to traditional ice cream, with lower fat content and a slightly tart flavor due to the live yogurt cultures used in its production.

Recommended Equipment:

A regular soft serve machine works well for froyo, depending on your production capacity and turnover. However, avoid using heat-treatment machines for froyo, as the heat can cause the mix to split or curdle, resulting in a watery, lumpy texture that won’t freeze properly. Read more on froyo science here.

4. Slushies, Frozen Beverages, and Granita (Italian Ice)

• Slushies and Frozen Beverages are sweet, icy drinks made from flavored syrups, soda, coffee, or crushed ice/slush mix.

• Granita (Italian Ice) is a semi-frozen dessert made from water, sugar, and flavorings, with a coarse, icy texture that sets it apart from smoother slushies.

Recommended Equipment:

For slushies and granita, a machine like the Taylor 428 is a great entry-level option. It offers menu versatility, allowing you to serve shakes, smoothies, frozen cocktails, fruit juices, iced coffees, cappuccinos, and tea slushies at the desired thickness.

5. Smoothies

Smoothies are thick, blended beverages made from fruits, vegetables, and liquids (like milk, water, or juice). They often include optional ingredients such as yogurt, protein powder, or seeds. Smoothies are popular for their creamy texture, nutrient-dense content, and versatility, serving as refreshing drinks, meal replacements, or post-workout snacks.

Recommended Equipment:

Smoothies, shakes, or even açaí bowls can be made using:

• Stand Mixers/Blenders (manual option)

• Smoothie Machines, such as the Taylor 430, equipped with Automatic Consistency Control, which maintains superior product quality through precise viscosity adjustments.

The choice between a manual blender and a smoothie machine depends on your production volume, manpower availability, and operational requirements.

Conclusion:

By choosing the right equipment for each type of frozen dessert, restaurants can elevate their dessert offerings, cater to diverse customer preferences, and enhance overall satisfaction. With careful planning, your frozen dessert menu could become a standout feature of your establishment!

Read other articles