Chocolate ice cream...

Why is it so hard to find just regular chocolate ice cream here?  I have seen it.  It does exist, but it's next to impossible to find it with any regularity.  Right now, the only thing Asda has that is close is Carte D'or chocolate and orange, and I absolutely hate chocolate orange flavour combination.  In fact, I generally hate orange flavour at all.  I'm happy to eat real oranges, but anything orange-flavoured is a hard no from me*.

Anyway.  I'm just venting because I have struggled to get chocolate ice cream pretty much since I moved to the UK.  Vanilla's good for when it's good, but sometimes you need chocolate.  Just rich and smooth chocolate ice cream without chunks, swirls, or nibs mixed in.


* except on rare occasions when I crave a chili dog with yellow mustard, some super-salty french fries, and a Sunkist orange soda (not Orange Crush, which is sweeter and less fizzy and simply doesn't work)... it's a thing my parents treated me to as a kid when Weinerschnitzel had a promotion going on their chili dogs, and I learned it was an amazing sugar-salt-fat combination of joy.

Why is it so hard to find just regular chocolate ice cream here?  I have seen it.  It does exist, but it's next to impossible to find it with any regularity.  Right now, the only thing Asda has that is close is Carte D'or chocolate and orange, and I absolutely hate chocolate orange flavour combination.  In fact, I generally hate orange flavour at all.  I'm happy to eat real oranges, but anything orange-flavoured is a hard no from me*.

Anyway.  I'm just venting because I have struggled to get chocolate ice cream pretty much since I moved to the UK.  Vanilla's good for when it's good, but sometimes you need chocolate.  Just rich and smooth chocolate ice cream without chunks, swirls, or nibs mixed in.


* except on rare occasions when I crave a chili dog with yellow mustard, some super-salty french fries, and a Sunkist orange soda (not Orange Crush, which is sweeter and less fizzy and simply doesn't work)... it's a thing my parents treated me to as a kid when Weinerschnitzel had a promotion going on their chili dogs, and I learned it was an amazing sugar-salt-fat combination of joy.

I see an ice cream maker in your future, once kitchen comes to pass! 

You should be able to get tubs of bog-standard soft-scoop chocolate ice cream in the main supermarkets... can't guarantee how nice it tastes though!

A quick Google search shows that Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA and Morrisons all sell own-brand, 2-litre tubs of chocolate ice-cream for between £1.50 and £1.80 each.

You should be able to get tubs of bog-standard soft-scoop chocolate ice cream in the main supermarkets... can't guarantee how nice it tastes though!

A quick Google search shows that Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA and Morrisons all sell own-brand, 2-litre tubs of chocolate ice-cream for between £1.50 and £1.80 each.

Not mine, sadly.  I look in every shop I go in.  "My" Aldi, ASDA, Iceland (they specialize in frozen food!!), and Tesco, have all let me down.  If I drive to Llanelli or Carmarthen, I can get it from Morrison's.  But I'm just surprised at the scarcity of plain chocolate ice cream of any brand, generally.

Not mine, sadly.  I look in every shop I go in.  "My" Aldi, ASDA, Iceland (they specialize in frozen food!!), and Tesco, have all let me down.  If I drive to Llanelli or Carmarthen, I can get it from Morrison's.  But I'm just surprised at the scarcity of plain chocolate ice cream of any brand, generally.

Yeah, I'm surprised they don't have any, since I've always thought of it as a pretty standard thing to sell... then again, I haven't actually looked for any in the supermarkets in years

Maybe the popularity of brands like Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry's has meant they just aren't selling much of the regular chocolate ice cream anymore and they've decided it's not worth stocking.

Maybe the popularity of brands like Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry's has meant they just aren't selling much of the regular chocolate ice cream anymore and they've decided it's not worth stocking.

Based on what IS available, I'm pretty sure that's the problem.  It's frustrating, whatever the cause, though.

It does seem to be hard to find, doesn't it?

I feel like desserts here are rarely choco-centric, to my dismay.

As others have said it comes in generic tubs, seeing a few times. But it's not very good...the type that almost seems more like water and chocolate powder. Gross.

Even "gourmet" ice creamery's seem to skirt around it- for me that would Marys Milk Bar in Edinburgh...so darn good! But no darn chocolate!

I wonder if Hotel Chocolat would sell something fitting? I haven't been in to a shop yet.

It does seem to be hard to find, doesn't it?

I feel like desserts here are rarely choco-centric, to my dismay.

As others have said it comes in generic tubs, seeing a few times. But it's not very good...the type that almost seems more like water and chocolate powder. Gross.

Even "gourmet" ice creamery's seem to skirt around it- for me that would Marys Milk Bar in Edinburgh...so darn good! But no darn chocolate!

I wonder if Hotel Chocolat would sell something fitting? I haven't been in to a shop yet.

There is an ice cream shop on Cockburn Street that has amazing chocolate ice cream.

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It does seem to be hard to find, doesn't it?

I feel like desserts here are rarely choco-centric, to my dismay.

As others have said it comes in generic tubs, seeing a few times. But it's not very good...the type that almost seems more like water and chocolate powder. Gross.

Even "gourmet" ice creamery's seem to skirt around it- for me that would Marys Milk Bar in Edinburgh...so darn good! But no darn chocolate!

I wonder if Hotel Chocolat would sell something fitting? I haven't been in to a shop yet.

Can confirm hotel chocolat has high quality ice cream, there's one in our town centre. Their coffee is also extremely good, and they use compostable lids and cups! But I'm guessing there probably isn't one that close to JFKimberly.

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It does seem to be hard to find, doesn't it?

I feel like desserts here are rarely choco-centric, to my dismay.

As others have said it comes in generic tubs, seeing a few times. But it's not very good...the type that almost seems more like water and chocolate powder. Gross.

Even "gourmet" ice creamery's seem to skirt around it- for me that would Marys Milk Bar in Edinburgh...so darn good! But no darn chocolate!

I wonder if Hotel Chocolat would sell something fitting? I haven't been in to a shop yet.

No idea if they have ice cream (I think they do?). But HC's dark chocolate is to die for. 

Margo is correct... there isn't a HC near me.  We order from them rather a lot, and until this moment, I didn't realize they had physical shops!

Margo is correct... there isn't a HC near me.  We order from them rather a lot, and until this moment, I didn't realize they had physical shops!

  They have a funny shop in Borough Market called Rabot 1745 where they actually make a lot of chocolate from the beans.  There's a cafe and they give chocolate making lessons.  Supposedly they serve "Unusual contemporary dishes with a cocoa theme in a stylish colonial plantation-inspired space."  We stumbled upon it one day and had some excellent hot chocolate and some chocolate beans covered in chocolate.  It's not obvious that it's associated with Hotel Chocolat.  And they sell ice cream according to the web site.  Worth a visit.

What's wrong with Ben and Jerry's?  Their chocolate fudge brownie is pretty good.

  They have a funny shop in Borough Market called Rabot 1745 where they actually make a lot of chocolate from the beans.  There's a cafe and they give chocolate making lessons.  Supposedly they serve "Unusual contemporary dishes with a cocoa theme in a stylish colonial plantation-inspired space."  We stumbled upon it one day and had some excellent hot chocolate and some chocolate beans covered in chocolate.  It's not obvious that it's associated with Hotel Chocolat.  And they sell ice cream according to the web site.  Worth a visit.

What's wrong with Ben and Jerry's?  Their chocolate fudge brownie is pretty good.

Chocolate fudge brownie sounds lovely, and I'd be happy to eat it as it is.  The thing is, I need plain chocolate ice cream, without all the stir-ins, if I want my husband to make me chocolate milkshakes with rum or other booze (and I do want that!).  When I could get Ocado to deliver, they consistently had Carte D'or chocolate ice cream, but since our move to the middle of nowhere, I pounce on the rare occasions I can find chocolate ice cream in a shop.

Chocolate fudge brownie sounds lovely, and I'd be happy to eat it as it is.  The thing is, I need plain chocolate ice cream, without all the stir-ins, if I want my husband to make me chocolate milkshakes with rum or other booze (and I do want that!).  When I could get Ocado to deliver, they consistently had Carte D'or chocolate ice cream, but since our move to the middle of nowhere, I pounce on the rare occasions I can find chocolate ice cream in a shop.

Sorry, maybe I wasn't following along.  I didn't know the end result was going to be a boozy mikshake.  What about using vanilla ice cream and adding cocoa powder and sugar?  Or vanilla ice cream and some cooking chocolate melted over the hob?  I'd imagine that any combination of ice cream, melted chocolate and booze is going to be worth drinking.

By the way, it was my boy's birthday the other day, so I made him a batch of these brownies:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/sep/09/how-to-make-perfect-brownies

and then made a frosting out of peanut butter.   Here's a picture, sorry it's already mostly eaten.


For his present, he got a Raspberry Pi 4 that we are going to turn into a Minecraft server that he can run and invite his friends over for a birthday party / Minecraft server party. 

Any tips ont he Minecraft server?  I don't think we'll make it available to the internet.