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> I'm American and I find most American ice cream too sweet. I much prefer Italian-style ice cream (gelato) and custards for this reason. That's odd, consideri

> I'm American and I find most American ice cream too sweet. I much prefer Italian-style ice cream (gelato) and custards for this reason. That's odd, considering Gelato tends to have less fat and more sugar than American ice cream. [1] I prefer Gelato, but it's obviously denser and more sugar-heavy than the equivalent scoop of plain ice cream. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2016/07/16/heres-the-scoop-about-gelato-vs-ice-cream-vs-frozen-yogurt/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2016/07/16/heres-the-s...

js2 8y ago
I consulted McGee. He lists Italian gelato as 16% sugar by volume and American ice cream as 13-16% sugar. Most of the recipes I googled (for both gelato and ice cream) were 3/4 cup sugar to 3 cups of dairy. So the sugar content seems to be the same in the base of either. What can I say. Maybe the fact that gelato is denser and served warmer makes it seem less sweet? Cold dulls the taste so you'd expect the warmer gelato might taste sweeter. Maybe the eggs in custard make it seem less sweet, or maybe it's all in my head.
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  I guess with American processed foods being what they are, it's entirely plausible that the average ice cream contains additional sweeteners or at least HFCS instead of sugar. If memory serves HFCS tastes sweeter than the equivalent amount of sugar, which may be part of what you're observing? Gelato is decadent. I've always found american ice cream to be kind of bland and watery in comparison, like drinking skim milk vs. whole milk.
  - h4b4n3r0 8y ago
    The ice cream aisle in a grocery store I go to has about 100 varieties of “American ice cream”. You need to be more specific. :-)
    - js2 8y ago
      I generally avoid grocery store ice cream and either make my own at home or prefer to go out to any local place that makes their own. But as an example of an ice cream that’s entirely too sweet: anything from Coldstone. The one exception I have to grocery store ice cream: I’ll buy Häagen-Dazs vanilla for making a Guinness float.

js2 8y ago

I consulted McGee. He lists Italian gelato as 16% sugar by volume and American ice cream as 13-16% sugar. Most of the recipes I googled (for both gelato and ice cream) were 3/4 cup sugar to 3 cups of dairy. So the sugar content seems to be the same in the base of either. What can I say. Maybe the fact that gelato is denser and served warmer makes it seem less sweet? Cold dulls the taste so you'd expect the warmer gelato might taste sweeter. Maybe the eggs in custard make it seem less sweet, or maybe it's all in my head.

newnewpdro 8y ago
I guess with American processed foods being what they are, it's entirely plausible that the average ice cream contains additional sweeteners or at least HFCS instead of sugar. If memory serves HFCS tastes sweeter than the equivalent amount of sugar, which may be part of what you're observing? Gelato is decadent. I've always found american ice cream to be kind of bland and watery in comparison, like drinking skim milk vs. whole milk.
- h4b4n3r0 8y ago
  The ice cream aisle in a grocery store I go to has about 100 varieties of “American ice cream”. You need to be more specific. :-)
  - js2 8y ago
    I generally avoid grocery store ice cream and either make my own at home or prefer to go out to any local place that makes their own. But as an example of an ice cream that’s entirely too sweet: anything from Coldstone. The one exception I have to grocery store ice cream: I’ll buy Häagen-Dazs vanilla for making a Guinness float.