The World’s Best Frozen Desserts & Ice Creams: Made at Home with International Ingredients
There are few things more satisfying on a warm Costa del Sol evening than a frozen dessert. Not your standard supermarket tub of vanilla ice cream, but something fragrant and different – the kind of dessert that gets people asking: “What did you put in this?”
The good news is that the world’s most exciting frozen desserts are actually far more achievable at home than most people think. They don’t require specialist equipment or hours in the kitchen. What they do require is the right ingredients, however, and that’s where most home cooks in Spain come unstuck, because the building blocks for these recipes simply aren’t available in the average supermarket.
At Leo Foods in Marbella, we stock a wide range of international ingredients sourced from across Asia, India, Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond. We’re going to be sharing some of our favourite frozen dessert recipes using ingredients you can find right here at our store in Marbella.
Creamy Indian Kulfi: The Original Ice Cream
Way before traditional churned ice cream arrived in the West, India had kulfi. Dense, creamy and fragrant with cardamom and rose, it is traditionally made by slowly reducing milk until thick, then freezing it in small moulds. Unlike Western ice cream, it contains no eggs and is never churned – which gives it a really nice dense, fudge-like texture that holds up beautifully in warm weather.
The key flavour notes come from ingredients you might not expect: cardamom for a bit of warmth, a few drops of rose or saffron essence for floral depth, and crushed pistachios scattered over the top just before serving.
Simple Kulfi Recipe (serves 6)
Combine 1 litre of full-fat milk with 4 tablespoons of sugar in a heavy pan and simmer over a low heat, stirring frequently, for around 45 minutes until reduced by half and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in ½ teaspoon of cardamom essence, a few drops of rose essence, and 4 tablespoons of double cream. Pour into small cups or lolly moulds, scatter with roughly chopped pistachios, and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight. To serve, briefly run the mould under warm water and turn out onto a plate.
The result is richer and more intensely flavoured than any ice cream you can buy in a shop, and the combination of rose, cardamom, and pistachio is a beautiful flavour combination!
Thai Coconut & Lemongrass Sorbet: Fragrant and Dairy-Free
Thailand’s street food culture really understands the appeal of cold and sweet on a hot day, and coconut-based frozen desserts are a staple across Southeast Asia. This sorbet recipe uses coconut milk as its base, which gives it a natural sweetness and a wonderfully silky texture, sharpened with lime juice and scented with a little lemongrass.
It requires no ice cream maker and no churning – just mix, freeze, and scrape!
Simple Thai Coconut Sorbet Recipe (serves 4)
Gently warm a tin of coconut milk (Aroy-D 400ml) with 80g of caster sugar, stirring until dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the juice of two limes and a pinch of Himalaya Virgin Pink Salt to balance the sweetness. For a more fragrant version, steep a bruised lemongrass stalk in the warm mixture for 15 minutes before removing. Pour into a shallow tray and freeze for 4 hours, forking through the mixture every hour to break up the ice crystals and keep it light and scoopable.
Serve in chilled glasses with a lime wedge and a few toasted white sesame seeds scattered over the top for a subtle nuttiness that works beautifully with coconut.
Middle Eastern Saffron & Rose Ice Cream: The Jewel of Frozen Desserts
Persian-style ice cream, known as bastani, is one of the most gloriously perfumed frozen desserts on earth. It’s traditionally made with saffron, rose water, pistachios, and sometimes a little cream. The saffron gives it a gorgeous golden colour and a gentle floral warmth; whilst the rose adds sweetness without being overpowering.
This version uses essences to keep things simple, but the flavour is still really impressive.
Simple Bastani-Style Ice Cream Recipe (serves 6)
Whip 500ml of double cream to soft peaks. In a separate bowl, combine 4 tablespoons of icing sugar, ½ teaspoon of saffron essence, and 1 teaspoon of rose essence with 200ml of cold whole milk. Fold the milk mixture gently into the whipped cream until combined, then fold in a generous handful of roughly chopped pistachio kernels and a small handful of sultana raisins. Pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 5 hours.
Asian Mango & Black Sesame Frozen Yoghurt: The Modern Classic
This one plays with contrasts: the sweet brightness of mango against the deep, earthy nuttiness of black sesame, set in tangy frozen yoghurt. It’s visually stunning, the swirls of pale mango and charcoal-dark sesame look amazing in the bowl, plus it all comes together in just a few minutes.
Simple Mango & Black Sesame Frozen Yoghurt Recipe (serves 4)
Blend 400g of ripe mango (fresh or defrosted from frozen) with 2 tablespoons of honey and 400g of full-fat Greek yoghurt until smooth. In a separate small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of black sesame seeds – lightly toasted in a dry pan – with 1 tablespoon of honey and a splash of coconut milk to form a loose paste. Pour the mango yoghurt into a freezer container, drop spoonfuls of the sesame paste over the top, and swirl through with a knife. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Scatter a few more white roasted sesame seeds over each serving for crunch.
A Freezer Worth Exploring
What unites all four of these recipes is that the complexity of their flavour comes not from technique but from ingredients – and those ingredients are exactly what’s missing from most supermarket shelves in Spain. Rose essence, saffron essence, cardamom, quality coconut milk, black sesame seeds, real pistachios: these aren’t unusual things if you know where to look. They’re simply not where most people look!
At Leo Foods, we stock all of these and much more – sourced from across India, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and beyond. Whether you’re cooking for your family, running a restaurant kitchen, or simply curious about what the rest of the world has been eating for centuries, our warehouse in Marbella everything you need.
Come and visit us in person at our cash and carry in Marbella, or browse and order online at shop.interleo.com with delivery available across Spain and Portugal.
