How to elevate your ice cream experience

Ice cream is one of the simplest desserts to enjoy at home. Scooping straight from the pint is one way to enjoy the frozen delight - but when the occasion calls for it, there are some simple tricks to maximise your ice cream enjoyment.

1. Store it right

The enemy of ice cream is changes in temperature. When the temperature fluctuates, ice crystals form faster, ruining the texture of the ice cream. You want to store your frozen friend in the coldest part of your freezer, as far away from the door as possible. In a front-door freezer, this means somewhere right at the back, and in a chest freezer, this means at the bottom.

2. Raise the serving temperature

Just like chocolate, ice cream tastes better at a slightly higher temperature than its recommended storage temperature. When it's too cold, the flavours are muted and the texture feels less creamy. Tip: defrost your ice cream tub in the fridge for around 30 minutes before serving (the exact timing will depend on your fridge and the size of your tub, so play around until you find the perfect length for you). This will result in softer, more scoopable ice cream and more intense flavours than if you dig in straight from the freezer. The ice cream should be a similar texture to whipped buttercream, not liquid or melting.

3. Get fancy with plating

Truly fussy ice cream aficionados will serve their scoops in pre-chilled dishes, to slow down melting. If you want to impress friends at a dinner party, try a quenelle - a technique used in restaurants to serve food like sorbets & ice cream (or mashed potato, meat or fish) in a pretty oval, egg-like shape. Learn the technique from winner of Masterchef Asia, Woo Wai Leong, in our tutorial from our sister company Pint Society.