The world’s top ice cream flavours

Whether you prefer a cone or cup, on its own or melting on top of a warm waffle, ice cream is one of the world’s most universal sweet treats.  

Curious about the flavour preferences of travellers around the globe, Premier Inn looked at Google searches for nearly 80 ice cream variations to discover which taste reigns supreme. 

From the classics such as strawberry and chocolate to unique tastes that blend the line between sweet and savoury, such as matcha, ube (purple yam) and avocado, here is every country’s go-to ice cream. Perhaps unsurprisingly, vanilla came out tops.

The flavour is also a favourite for South Africans who were predicted to love it as much as other African frigophiles, including those in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

The layered Neapolitan flavour follows in second (29 countries), with chocolate in third (22 countries) while unusual flavours reign supreme in South Korea, with green tea, and Sri Lanka, with their love for guava soft serves.

The global top five and the number of countries that showed the flavours love:

1. Vanilla (45) 
2. Neapolitan (29)
3. Chocolate (22)
4. Strawberry (12)
5. Pistachio (11)

Want a go at making your own ice cream without the clunky machine it comes with? Here are six hacks to make delicious homemade ice cream from LifeStyle's food editor Hillary Biller:

1. Check the power outage schedule as you require an electric mixer to make it and the ice cream needs about 12 hours in the freezer.
2. The recipe makes two litres of ice cream. Ensure you have a two-litre plastic container with a lid — reuse an ice cream container — to package the ice cream for freezing.
3. Three ingredients are needed — 500ml (two cups) fresh cream (if you are using long life cream, ensure it has been well chilled for at least 24 hours), 1 x 385g can condensed milk (you can use the standard one or low sugar version) and 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence.
4. Whip the cream using an electric mixer till you have nice firm peaks, taking care not to turn it into butter. Fold in the condensed milk and vanilla essence and beat again until just incorporated. Pour into a two-litre container, cover and freeze.
5. The beauty of this ice cream is you can add any flavouring you desire by folding into the mixture before freezing. One idea is finely grated citrus rind, 250ml (1 cup) chocolate chips, crushed chocolate Chuckles, chocolate chip biscuits or crushed Oreo biscuits; or perhaps 250ml (1 cup) lemon or orange curd and 250ml (1 cup) fresh chopped berries.
6. Homemade ice cream needs to stand outside the freezer for 10-15 minutes for easy serving. Delicious in a bowl on its own or in a cone. Add a dollop of chocolate sauce before serving and a sprinkling of toasted nuts if desired.