The Facedown Between Two Refreshing Treats: Ice Cream vs. Gelato

Frozen treats bring us lots of joy all year round, but especially during the spring and summer. Nothing beats chilling off with a frozen treat on a hot eventful day! And something better than a frozen treat is sharing a frozen treat with family, friends and loved ones.

At Beach Town Pops, we make gourmet, organic, cold pressed ice cream and gelato. We are based in the Los Angeles area, but will happily head out to San Diego, Orange County and other nearby hot-spots to give you a taste of the coolest ice cream catering of Los Angeles! We enjoy catering our frozen treats to your special events, making them that much more special!

Our ice cream and gelato are made with organic, cold pressed, gluten-free ingredients, making them perfect for everyone. Each recipe is created by us, and we create new recipes every week! We will even take your special requests upon order.

The question is: What’s the difference between gelato and ice cream?

You certainly know what ice cream is because it is one of the most popular treats around the world, but perhaps you’ve never tried gelato. This frozen treat originates from Italy. Gelato actually translates to “ice cream” so you can imagine they are very similar.

Gelato was first created way back during in the Italian Renaissance! It was originally made to welcome a visit from the King of Spain. Soon enough, all of Europe loved this yummy frozen treat and it is still incredibly popular in Italy and worldwide.

[ Additional read —> Frozen Custard vs. Ice Cream - The Real Difference ]

We cater our delicious treats to Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego!

Ingredients…

First, let’s talk about ingredients. Both ice cream and gelato are made with a base of milk and cream, but the amount of each ingredient is different in each. Ice cream has more cream, while gelato is made with more milk. Additionally, most ice cream recipes contain egg yolks, an ingredient that gelato rarely has. Due to these differences in ingredients and measurements, the textures of ice cream and gelato are a bit different.

Ice cream typically has 10-16% of fat, while gelato has 4-8% of fat. As you can see, ice cream has twice the amount of fat as gelato. The fat in the ice cream gives it the creamy and velvety feel to it. When eating ice cream, the fat actually sits on the tongue and creates a type of layer which can prevent the full range of flavors to reach the tastebuds. Because of this, gelato has a much more intense flavor than ice cream because it doesn’t coat the palate.

Our scooped ice cream will keep your guests cool at your next event.

Churn It Up!

The actual process of making each frozen treat determines its texture and density. While they are both churned to yummy perfection, the speed of the whole process results in air being integrated with all the ingredients. Ice cream is usually churned at a higher speed, resulting in more air pockets. With about 50-60% of air content, the ice cream is very light and airy. On the other hand, gelato is churned at a slower speed and has 15-30% air, making it much heavier and dense.

[ Additional read —> The Best Ice Cream Scoopers That We Love to Use ]

Cold Temperatures

Surprisingly, temperature has a lot to do with the intensity of flavor in foods. we are able to taste more flavor in foods that are warmer, which is very interesting! In terms of these frozen treats, ice cream is stored and served at a colder temperature than gelato, yet another factor that makes gelato a bit more intense in flavor. If you’ve ever seen gelato and thought, “That looks melted compared to ice cream,” that is because it technically is! Ice cream is stored at around 0 degrees F, while gelato is stored at 15 degrees F.

In general, ice cream is going to be “harder” than gelato because gelato is not as frozen as ice cream. When you visit an ice cream shop, you are served perfect ice cream balls that were scooped with a metal ice cream scoop. When getting gelato, you’ll notice that they use a paddle rather than a scoop, and the gelato is more malleable and soft. While gelato is more dense, it is also more silky and smooth.

Invite Us to Your Next Event

As mentioned earlier, we are a frozen treat catering business in the Los Angeles area!

For the past 11 years, we have created, tasted and perfected our ice creams to give you the tastiest frozen treats for your next event.

With Southern California being hot majority of the year, fun events are always going on. Whether it be weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, marketing campaigns, or corporate events, what better way to celebrate than with a gourmet frozen treat.

Apart from our delicious dessert, we provide custom branding to further support your event or business.

When you invite us to your event, our team will come out to you and happily serve you and your guests. Additionally, we can customize our ice cream cart to your liking! You can choose to add your company logo onto the cart as well as the colors to decorate the ice cream cart. If you’re celebrating a wedding, why not add the initials or names of the bride and groom?

Whether it’s ice cream or gelato, you can’t go wrong with having delicious frozen treats at your events to celebrate with family and friends. And don’t forget to contact our ice cream experts for more information!