The superb weather throughout 2018 has made it a record year for ice cream sellers and manufacturers. What does 2019 hold? We have compiled our favourite news stories relating to ice cream.
Carpigiani made the news this month. Reported in BQ Live:
Hereford-based ice cream equipment business, Carpigiani UK has provided over £2 million in asset funding to its customers via its specialist finance partner, Academy Leasing, following record summer temperatures and the rise of dessert lounges in the UK.
Carpigiani UK is the leading manufacturer of soft serve ice cream, artisan gelato, shakes and blended drinks machines and currently supplies some of the UK’s biggest high street cafes, restaurants and dessert lounges.
The company, which not only provides equipment, but also development facilities, recipe guidance and display design services, has experienced a huge demand for its products over the past 12 months. This coincides with the significant rise of dessert lounges, waffle houses and ice cream parlours in the UK, twinned with the uncharacteristically warm summer weather.
The finance facilities are provided by Academy Leasing, an asset-based lender and part of the 1pm plc group of specialist finance companies. It allows both new and established businesses to spread the cost of the state-of-the-art machinery across a number of years, making the equipment more accessible, and payments more manageable against cash flow, which can often fluctuate in seasonal hospitality businesses.
Scott Duncan, sales director at Carpigiani UK, said: “The rise in popularity of dessert lounges on the UK high street and retail parks has seen a huge surge in demand for our equipment, recipe development and shopfitting services. The prolonged summer weather has also boosted urgent enquiries for new and upgraded ice cream and gelato machinery to meet the British population’s appetite during the prolonged heatwave.
“Working alongside Academy Leasing allows our customers’ fast access to the highest quality machines to meet demand driven by the weather, which as we know doesn’t always stick around. This finance facility also allows us to work with a larger number of companies during the peak summer season, which can see sales enquiries rise four-fold.
“The process of developing a concept, designing a product and creating a place to sell it from can take months before the first sale is made, so flexible finance is required for the majority of our customers.”
Michaela Dodd, from Academy Leasing, said: “Naturally when the sun is out, Brits flock to buy ice creams, so businesses need to be ready to meet the demand, however, taking on the expensive equipment can be a big financial risk.
“Carpigiani have a rich heritage and history of supplying to the best quality cafes and restaurants and we’re pleased we can support them to continue to do this when the British appetite for ice cream increases. The state-of-the-art equipment, by nature, is expensive to buy outright and companies of all sizes will need assistance in purchasing it. Our specialist finance options allow them to offer the best quality products at affordable prices.”
Originally reported in food52
Winter is upon us and as the temperatures plummet, we turn to “comfort food”, such as pies. Which is perfectly fine with us. We love pies — eating it, baking it — but it is a bit of a labour of love. Unless you shape and freeze your crust, or make your dough in advance, baking a pie takes some time and elbow grease. But every time I do it, I remember why it’s worth the effort.
Pie is a study in contrast. A crisp, buttery, flaky crust cradles a soft filling of cooked fruit or silky custard or the gooey base of a pecan pie. Pie is good warm and exceptionally good cold. And pie practically cries out for a scoop of ice cream.
The marriage of ice cream and pie is one of the nicest pairings in the dessert world. But why not take it a step further? I’ve seen pie shakes on menus (where a slice of pie is blended with ice cream into a milkshake), but that loses all the delicious texture of the pie itself.
This year I realised what I should have been making all along: pie ice cream. Not only do you get the fun of eating both together, but you cut down on some of the trickier elements of pie-baking, like rolling out the crust and shaping it. I highly recommend making this for holiday parties this year — it’s such a novel approach to a classic dessert.
Now, if you want all the fun of pie ice cream with none of the fuss, you can go the store-bought route. Take a slice of leftover pie, smoosh it up with a fork — taking care to leave large chunks of crust intact — fold it into slightly softened ice cream, then refreeze. Voila! Instant pie ice cream.
But if you want to make a full batch of pie ice cream (and you really should), here’s how I do it. My favourite is chocolate pecan pie ice cream: the gooey, sugary interior of a pecan pie makes a nice ribbon-like swirl in ice cream, while the nuts add a delightful crunch. Throw in some chopped chocolate for good measure, and it’s downright addictive.