Historic Flavors Of Summer Ice Cream

Ice cream is great any time of year but Summer is by far the best! A walk in the sunshine and you soon want a thirst-quenching, cream icy cream treat especially if you are visiting one of the many tourist attractions that are open this time of year.

In fact many tourist attractions sell their own ice cream either from their own ice cream parlor, from a little cute kiosk or even from an ice cream truck that parks up nearby. All kinds of places do this, from medieval castles to animal and theme parks.

This gorgeous looking purple ice cream was a cone treat I bought whilst visiting a brilliant outdoor spectacle in France. Stuntmen and actors dressed up as medieval knights fought each other whilst a medieval story played out behind them. Amazing!

Violet flavor ice cream

The place? Puy du Fou (pron pwee dew foo) in France.

Puy Du Fou Medieval Battle

Another historic site I once visited in summer was Rocamadour where, halfway up the steep and ancient hill climb of hundreds of steps, I found an ice cream parlor! I couldn't believe the amazing ice cream they sold there - prune gin, goats cheese, saffron and walnut were 4 that I particurlaly remember. All the ice cream was locally made too and the lady at the ice cream counter was only too happy to let me sample as many as I wanted. Such was her pride and delight in sharing her passion for great ice cream.

Amazing ice cream flavors at Rocamadour parlor

My tub of goat's cheese ice cream

So if you are ever in France and can visit Puy du Fou or Rocamadour, don't get carried away just by the history and spectacle ..... remember the great ice cream they serve up :)

Summer Ice Cream - Picture 7

Summer Ice Cream - Picture 7
Almond ice cream photographed at an ice cream parlor in France.



Read more about ice cream parlors

Summer Ice Cream Treats - Pictures 5 & 6

Summer Ice Cream - Pictures 5 & 6
Ice cream can be really colorful. In fact it's amazing how beautiful an ice cream display freezer can look when strongly colored ice creams are displayed next to each other. These pictures (all of the same display freezer) demonstrate my point beautifully.

Ice cream in hues of blue, peach, brown, white, yellow, cream, purple and red!

Summer Ice Cream Treats - Picture 4

Summer Ice Cream - Picture 4
Another photograph of some French ice cream. This time it's not an ice cream cone but a delicious chocolate ice cream sundae. It was so sunny and warm on the day this photograph was taken that the ice cream was melting really quickly right before our eyes so we had to be quick!



If you like chocolate ice cream and want to try making your own, here is a quick and easy chocolate ice cream recipe that I came up with - no eggs, no cream, no custard base. Just use full fat milk, condensed milk and cocoa powder. It's a whizz!

Looking for more homemade ice cream ideas? Here are lots more ice cream recipes

Summer Ice Cream Treats - Picture 3

Summer Ice Cream - Picture 3
Taken in France on the beautiful Île de Ré in the Vendée region of France, this picture shows a close up of a delicious ice cream cone. It wasn't around for long!


I remember the day well because the camera had been really busy! We came back with shots of all sorts of interesting things we had seen along the route including pictures for a variety of sites and blogs that I'm involved with (medieval recipes to ghostly ancient castles and more!).

Back to the sublime .... read more about French ice cream. There's nothing quite like it :)

PS. Just conducted a poll on my ice cream recipes Facebook page. I asked how people liked their ice cream served - in a cone, a bowl, or some other way. Ice cream cone was the winner! As a result I've started a Facebook cone gallery

PPS. If you like the look of this ice cream, here is a great page about Vendée food and wine. When it comes to food, whether starters, main courses or desserts, the French really do have that 'savoir faire'.

Summer Ice Cream Treats - Ice Cream Picture 2

Summer Ice Cream Picture 2
An ice cream cone with a single scoop of creamy ice cream and a chocolate flake. Looks tempting doesn't it?

Well, you would be wrong to be tempted!

Not because of the calories - far from it .... this ice cream cone is not even edible!
It's an ice cream display cone made of plastic and was part of a display in an ice cream shop window that I passed.

Summer Ice Cream Treats - Ice Cream Picture 1

Ice cream - a great way to celebrate summer! There are so many ways to enjoy ice cream at this time of year. Here are just a few of the things people do:

• buy an ice cream cone from an ice cream stall
• wait for the ice cream truck to come around
  
• visit an ice cream parlor for a special ice cream sundae treat
  
• buy a tub of commercially made ice cream to enjoy at home after dinner
  
• make your own homemade ice cream

In the coming weeks I'm going to share with you some of my summer ice cream treat photographs taken over the last couple of summers whilst out and about in the sunshine.

Summer Ice Cream Picture 1
An ice cream stall located outside a retail store - ideally placed to offer something tasty and refreshing to weary shoppers. Painted pink and white, it's not easily passed by!

Ice Cream Sales Go Pink

As the summer draws to a close, the memories of sunshine and fun start to crystallize and for many people - adults and children alike - summer fun is often associated with ice cream.

You might have spotted an ice cream sales cart on a beach whilst on holiday and enjoyed a refreshing water ice whilst to cool you down .... you might have been to one of the many super ice cream parlors around these days for a special celebration treat and enjoyed a fabulous ice cream sundae .... or you might have simply enjoyed a weekly visit from your local ice cream truck offering locally made ice cream.

An increasing trend I have noticed is the number of ice cream kiosks outside stores during the summer hoping to tempt shoppers into an ice cream cone. Here is a photograph of one of the prettiest ice cream kiosks I have ever seen - painted PINK!

It certainly caught the eye as you walked past so there was no chance of failing to notice it. Now that's what I call good point of sale marketing!

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