‘Out of this world’: the best supermarket chocolate ice-cream, tasted and rated

The Guardian's food critic, Tom Hunt, reviews the best supermarket chocolate ice-creams, highlighting a significant industry shift towards less-processed, higher-quality products with fewer additives. Unlike previous years, where ice-creams were often laden with gums and emulsifiers, current offerings are described as sophisticated, rich, and complex, boasting deep, dark flavors. Hunt's scoring criteria prioritize taste and texture, favoring denser, French-style, custard-based ice-creams, along with smoothness and mouthfeel. Extra marks are awarded for products rich in cream, good provenance, lower processing, and a short, recognizable ingredients list, which he notes often signifies better quality cream and chocolate. The review crowns Waitrose No 1 Santo Domingo chocolate ice-cream as the 'Best overall' for its voluminous, super-rich, smooth, and creamy profile, featuring 35% West Country whipping cream and Rainforest Alliance-certified Dominican Republic chocolate. It's praised for complex dark chocolate notes and the absence of stabilisers, earning a Great Taste one-star award. For the 'Best bargain', Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian chocolate ice-cream is recommended, offering a rich, dense, and creamy experience with a medium intensity and a sugary, toffee flavor, made with British cow’s milk, 27% double cream, and Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa, also free of stabilisers and emulsifiers (beyond soya lecithin). Additionally, the review features Brickell’s all-natural craft chocolate ice-cream as a premium option, described as 'out of this world' for its fudgy, rich, and satiating qualities. This craft ice-cream stands out with a bittersweet, nutty, complex caramel-molasses flavor, made with British milk from Westcombe Dairy and high-quality Pump Street 85%-cocoa Ecuadorian chocolate. The article underscores a consumer trend towards 'simple pleasures' and transparency in food production, where ingredient quality and minimal processing are key indicators of excellence.