011 | I Scream for Ice Cream: The Ultimate List of Frozen Treats
A guide on what to eat when you are melting on the sidewalk.
There is something about a scorching day that makes me want to melt onto the sidewalk and stick there forever, defying the odds of even the most talented street cleaners.
I crave getting in a car that’s been sitting in the hot sun and marinating there before putting my key in the ignition. I don’t even drive, but I would start for this feeling.
I dream of walking on the sunny side of the street and sitting in a chair that isn’t covered by an umbrella while outdoor dining, preferably with french fries in front of me.
I am meant to live the life of a lizard on a rock, though my easy-to-burn skin begs to differ.
Maybe it’s because I run cold, or the fact that I didn’t grow up with much air conditioning in the first place. Whenever I am in an air-conditioned room the air feels artificial rather than refreshing. In the winter, I feel like dry leaves, shaking and living in fear that if a stiff breeze goes by, I will crumble to dust right then and there.
If I could figure out how to make my laptop survive the abrasive heat, I would do my work on a folding chair on the sidewalk outside of my apartment all day long.
The heat makes me feel more entertained too. When it gets hot enough, all I need are my headphones. I could sit in the sun on a bench for hours and not think about anything else, like some type of temperature-controlled meditation. When it’s not hot, a to-do list runs through my head and how long it will take for me to get to my next destination sits like a sticky note on my brain. In the heat, everything just slides right off me. Sticky notes’ weak adhesion never stood a chance.
When it’s exceptionally hot like today, I want lukewarm water and no ice in my drinks. (I really like this about myself, it feels low maintenance and I never have to worry about heavy insulated water bottles.) The reason for my aversion to cold beverages is I get worried that the differing temperatures from inside my body and out will mess up my energy. (That sounds high maintenance.)
Recently, I found out this is a common belief in Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the thought that cold food and drinks mess up your body’s internal balance. I couldn’t believe it, I knew it all along!
Sacrifices are part of life though, and I will sacrifice my internal balance occasionally for ice cream. I use the term ice cream broadly, any frozen sweet treat doesn’t stand a chance.
This brings me to a list of frozen treats you should hunt for this heatwave.
Frozen Treat Guide, Summer 2026
Halo-Halo: Halo-halo is a Filipino dessert, translating to mix-mix in Tagalog. It’s made up of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and a bunch of mixed ingredients like coconut, tapioca pearls, ube ice cream, leche flan, palm fruit, and my favorite, sweetened red beans. If you haven’t had ube ice cream or red bean ice cream on its own before, I think you should do that first. They are excellent. When it’s first given to you, all the ice cream, fruits, jellies, and shaved ice are in a tall glass and it looks beautiful. You are going to be given a bowl to dump it into, and that is where the magic happens. It gets ugly, soupy, and is a phenomenal sweet treat. If you live in New York, I recently had halo-halo for my friend’s birthday at Kalye. They also have great cocktails.
Ice Cream Sandwiches: I am an ice cream sandwich aficionado. I go back and forth, enjoying classic ones that stick to the packaging, thick Van Leeuwen ones, creamery distributed ones that are akin to hockey pucks, and even the ones that are marketed as “frozen dessert” because they technically do not have ice cream in them. I will not be looking into this as I would like to preserve my peace. My favorites right now are the Japanese frozen waffle ice cream sandwiches that split in half. Great for sharing with a friend or not, depending on how your day is going.
Soft Serve: If you go all the way to SoHo only to find out Mimi’s frozen yogurt has a twenty-minute-long wait (it’s good, but if you are in dire need of a sweet treat forget about it), walk down the street to Upside Pizza. Next door is their frozen yogurt spot, Softside. They also do good milkshakes with bits of cookie in them. Really, I love soft serve from anywhere, I’m not picky, any ice cream truck will do.
Painkiller: I am dropping this in here because sometimes we need something a little harder than an ice cream. McCarren Parkhouse has you covered. Sit in the sun with your painkiller and enjoy watching everyone sit on picnic blankets in the dirt patches that seem to never grow grass anymore.
Mamita’s Coconut Cream: Frozen coconut cream that tastes as good as the inside of a Mounds bar. A bodega classic, it is like a creamier version of a coconut popsicle.
Ningxia Lemon Flavored Ice Cream: A candy-like outside and lemon inside, these taste as good as they will look on your Instagram story. These are the latest addition to my rotation and are a crowd favorite. You can find them in packs of three. I think these will be a hit if you have a dinner party and bring them out at the end.
Ice cream served in a coconut or a lemon, matching their respective casing: You can get these at Kaleidoscope Coffee in Greenpoint, however the owner told me he just gets them from Costco, a path I will not be taking as 1. they would take up too much valuable freezer space 2. I do not have a Costco membership 3. I don’t think I have self-control. I would fill my entire apartment with coconuts.
BONUS: My favorites from childhood (if you are ever in Germany, let me know if you get the chance to try it.)
Bum Bum ice cream: I liked this ice cream growing up because the stick was a piece of gum covered in plastic you could rip off. I couldn’t have gum until I was older, so it was a good way to sneak it. Now whenever I have it, it brings me back to my childhood. Bum Bum was created as a tribute to the German tennis star Boris Becker, unfortunately nicknamed Bum Bum Boris. Mr. Bum Bum won his first Wimbledon championship in 1985 and the ice cream came out in 1986.
Spaghettieis: Looking like a bowl of spaghetti, the Italo-German ice cream dish gets its shape by pushing vanilla ice cream through a Spätzle press, then topping it with strawberry sauce, coconut shavings, and whipped cream (not sweetened). According to Wikipedia, Spaghettieis was created by Dario Fontanella, a second-generation ice cream shop owner, in the late 1960s in Mannheim, a town 20 minutes away from my hometown of Heidelberg.
Honorable mention: Strawberry popsicles. I don’t count these as a treat. These are just a summer staple.
What did I miss?