Frozen Custard Vs. Ice Cream Vs. Gelato

According to the USDA, around 1.53 billion gallons of frozen desserts were produced in United States in 2011.

The number itself speaks out loud as to how much we all love to devour frozen delicacies. It's not always children who like to eat them, but adults too can be seen satisfying their appetite for sweet food with a variety of frozen desserts such as ice cream, gelato, and frozen custard.

These frozen desserts provide the necessary relief during hot summer afternoons.

Ice cream, gelato, and frozen custard look similar at first glance, come in variety of flavors, and are very delicious too. However, they all are considered as equally unhealthy and fatty as well.

If so, which among the three is the better option if we have to choose one?

Let us find out what is the difference between ice cream, frozen custard, and gelato, hopefully coming up with a precise answer as we go ahead.

The origin of ice cream can date as far back as 200 BCE, when frozen milk and rice mixture was prevalent as a dessert in China. Ice cream was introduced in Europe around 1533. In the United States, it is said that ice cream was introduced by Quaker colonists.

The history of gelato goes back to the time when desserts were made with ice from mountain-top in Sicily, Rome, and Egypt. However, the popularity of gelato only increased in 1920-30s in Italy. It was in the Italian city of Varese where the first gelato cart was established.

It was invented in 1919 in Coney Island, New York, by ice cream vendors, Archie and Elton Kohr. In 1993, World's Fair, Chicago, a frozen custard stand, introduced the dessert to a large number of consumers. Since then, the popularity of frozen custard has spread across several states with Milwaukee, Wisconsin, being known as the "unofficial frozen custard capital of the world."

Ice cream is a frozen snack or dessert. It is typically made from dairy products like milk and cream. Different fruits, colors, flavors, and other ingredients are added to make variants of ice cream. Sucrose, corn syrup, cane sugar, beet sugar, or other sweeteners are used to give a sweet taste to it. Stabilizers are also added to it.

The mixture of the ingredients is stirred while cooling. It prevents ice crystals from forming. The process infuses air in the mixture, resulting in smooth and semisolid foam of ice cream. Ice cream contains more than 50% of air in it.

Gelato is an Italian word for ice cream; therefore, it is obvious that there must be something different in this frozen dessert compared to ice cream. This dessert is made using mostly or entirely with whole milk. Traditionally, cream is not added in gelato; however, some variations might use it.

Flavors, sweeteners, and colors are added for different variants of gelato. Traditionally, no eggs or stabilizers are added into the gelato mixture.

The gelato mixture is stirred on a slower speed than the ice cream, while cooling. As a result, air less than the ice cream in whipped into the mixture. It makes it dense and semi-frozen (almost) state. It contains around 25-30% of air.

Along with milk, cream, and sugar, eggs are used to make frozen custard as well. It contains almost 1.4% of egg yolk solids in one frozen custard marketed product.

It is a very dense dessert as the air overrun percentage is lesser than both ice cream and gelato. On the other hand, high milk fat and egg yolk gives a thick, creamy, and smooth soft-serve texture. Most of the time, custard is made fresh and usually frozen shortly before serving. However, it can be hardened to be sold in packages.

The calorie count of ice cream varies according to its different flavors, ingredients, and brands. However, in a hundred grams of vanilla ice cream, there are 201 calories.

In hundred grams of vanilla gelato, there are 140 calories. Again, the count changes according to the flavors, ingredients, and brands.

Hundred grams of vanilla-flavored frozen custard contains 180 calories. Same as ice cream and gelato, the calorie count changes according to the flavors, ingredients, and brands.

In 100 g of vanilla-flavored ice cream, there are 10.9 g of fat, which is only 17% of daily value. Saturated fat is about 6.8 grams and almost 33% of daily value. It contains 44 mg cholesterol, i.e., 15% of daily value.

Gelato (100 g) has around 9 g of total fat, in which 5 g is saturated. It is 14% and 25% of daily value. It has 75 mg of cholesterol, i.e., 25% of daily value.

100 g of frozen custard includes almost 10 g of total fat, which is 15% of daily value. It includes 6 g, i.e., 30% of saturated fat. Cholesterol count is 75 g in frozen custard, which is 24% of daily value.

► Frozen custard has the highest protein content compared to the other two. Every 100 g of frozen content has 4 g of proteins. On the other hand, ice cream has 3.4 g and gelato has 3 g only.

► Frozen custard has the highest calcium count of 14% than the other two. Ice cream has 13% and gelato has 10% only.

*Note: The nutritional values have been sourced from Calorie Count.

Overall, frozen custard seems like a healthier option in the war between frozen custard, ice cream, gelato. However, when it comes to the immense happiness that one experiences when eating a frozen dessert, all the contenders stand equal.