Summer Trend: Custard, Ice Cream, and Frozen Yogurt

Americans love their frozen desserts, and summer weather is peak time for frozen dessert sales! Soft-serve ice cream, custard, and frozen yogurt are best-sellers, but these three treats have many differences between them despite their similar goodness. With $25 billion spent annually on these treats alone, there’s certainly a market for frozen desserts. Knowing how to capitalize on the differences to make the most of your frozen dessert menu can allow you to benefit from specialized dessert menus while bringing in the maximum profit from satisfied customers!

Ice Cream

Accounting for a whopping 87% of frozen dessert sales, traditional ice cream is a must-have for your restaurant dessert menu. The USDA requires any food labeled ice cream to have at least 20% milk solids and 10% milk fat by weight. Gourmet or premium brands of ice cream get their more decadent textures by increasing the milk fat to 14-18%! Sweeteners account for roughly 15% of the makeup, and different flavorings and types of sweeteners can help you create your own unique ice cream.

Custard

Ice cream and custard are only differentiated in the commercial world by the addition of egg yolk for a smoother, thicker texture. Only 1.4% of egg yolk by weight legally needs to be added for a genuine custard, but many vendors add more than the legal requirement. Lecithin in the egg yolk is what gives custard their richer, creamier textures! If you choose to add more air to the mixture (also known as overrun), the resulting texture is more like a mousse and can be used in different gourmet desserts! Because of it’s susceptibility to defrosting due to its more sensitive makeup, custards are not able to be mass-produced and sold in grocers, making it a desired option at restaurants.

Frozen Yogurt

As the second highest in sales for frozen desserts, claiming about 4% of sales, frozen yogurt is the conglomerate of an ice cream base with yogurt cultures. As a result, frozen yogurt reaps the flavor and texture benefits of both a sweet, cold ice cream and tangy, smooth yogurt! Also, because there is less fattiness than ice cream, frozen yogurt has less overrun (or added air), resulting in that distinguishing creamy texture. The added bonus of using live cultures is that they help promote a healthy digestive tract.

How do I bring these all to my restaurant?

So how do you make the decision on which one of these to serve at your restaurant? Thankfully, there’s one machine that can do it all - all you need to do is create an innovative menu! The Spaceman Soft Serve Machines are perfect for creating custard, ice cream, AND frozen yogurt, making it an easy choice if you plan to serve any of these frozen desserts. When you can cut out the addition of extra pieces of equipment, you save money and space in your kitchen. You may even consider putting these machines in a customer-accessible area and having a toppings bar for a customizable frozen dessert experience. Get creative!

JENIFER AQUINO

Sales Consultant

CKitchen.com

E Friedman Associates Inc

T: 800-555-0666 x 1975

D: 516-882-1975

jenifer@ckitchen.com