The Scoop on Frozen Desserts

Perfect for Summertime or Anytime

By Michele St. Martin

Summertime. Frozen desserts. The two are inextricably linked in many people's minds. Whether your favorite is no-fat sorbet or Italian ice, low-fat frozen yogurt or sherbet, or that perennial full-fat favorite, ice cream, many mouthwatering options await you. If you, like most of us, eat ice cream year round, summer is a time to come out of the ice cream closet and stroll the streets with a cone of raspberry chocolate chip in hand.

Or maybe you prefer vanilla? The old standby remains the top-selling favorite, according to ice cream industry sources, although supermarket sales of vanilla ice cream actually decreased slightly in 1998. Chocolate is the second biggest seller, followed by Neapolitan, cookies 'n cream, butter pecan, strawberry, chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, vanilla/chocolate and marble fudge.

Reducing the Fat
Worried about the fat in supermarket ice cream? Frozen dessert expert Diane Howard advises that making your own ice cream allows you to control the amount of fat in the final product; it also allows you to add or subtract ingredients to tailor the finished dessert to your own taste. Howard, who writes a nationally syndicated column, "America a la Carte," and is also the author of Taste the Temptation: Ice Cream, Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt, Sherbet & Sorbet

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