Ice Cream vs Gelato vs Soft Serve: What's the Difference?

Ice cream, gelato, soft serve — they're all frozen, sweet, and delicious. But what actually makes them different? And why does Muffle use soft serve with our bubble waffles? Here's a simple guide.

Ice Cream

Traditional ice cream is made with milk, cream, sugar, and often eggs. It's churned at a relatively high speed, which incorporates air (called "overrun"). The air makes ice cream light and fluffy.

Key characteristics:

• Higher fat content (at least 10% in Australia)
• More air incorporated (25-100% overrun)
• Served at a colder temperature
• Firmer texture
• Often stored in tubs and scooped

Gelato

Gelato is the Italian cousin of ice cream. It's made with more milk and less cream, and often no eggs. It's churned at a slower speed, which incorporates less air.

Key characteristics:

• Lower fat content (4-8%)
• Less air incorporated (20-30% overrun)
• Served at a slightly warmer temperature
• Denser, silkier texture
• Often stored in flat pans and scooped with a spade

Soft Serve

Soft serve is a type of ice cream that's churned and frozen at a different rate, incorporating more air. It's served directly from a machine rather than being stored in tubs.

Key characteristics:

• Lower fat content than traditional ice cream
• More air incorporated (up to 60% overrun)
• Served at a warmer temperature than hard ice cream
• Soft, smooth, and creamy texture
• Served directly from a machine as a swirl

Why Muffle Uses Soft Serve

We chose soft serve for our bubble waffles for several reasons:

Temperature

Soft serve is served warmer than hard ice cream, which means it melts slightly when it meets our warm waffle. This creates a beautiful, gooey interaction.

Texture

The smooth, creamy texture of soft serve is the perfect contrast to the crispy-chewy texture of our bubble waffles. Hard ice cream would be too firm.

Flavour Balance

Soft serve is milder and less sweet than hard ice cream, which balances the rich toppings we use (Nutella, Biscoff, peanut butter).

Melting

Soft serve melts faster, creating those delicious little pools of cream in the waffle's bubble pockets.

Which Is Best?

There's no "best" — each has its place. Hard ice cream is great on its own. Gelato is beautiful for intense flavours. But for pairing with a warm bubble waffle, soft serve is the clear winner.

Come taste the perfect pairing at Muffle — inside Fremantle Markets!