54 terms
The ice cream van glossary
What everything on the menu is, how the van works, and the paperwork words event organisers and councils use.
Ice cream & treats
- 99 Flake
- A 99 Flake is a soft serve cone with a short Cadbury Flake bar pushed into the top. Where the name "99" comes from is genuinely unknown.
- Banana split
- A banana split is a banana cut lengthways with ice cream between the halves, finished with sauces, cream, nuts and often a cherry.
- Butterfat
- Butterfat is the natural fat in milk and cream. In ice cream it carries flavour and gives a rich, smooth texture. More fat usually means richer.
- Choc ice
- A choc ice is a bar of ice cream coated in a thin layer of chocolate, sold wrapped and usually without a stick. A long-standing British classic.
- Chopped nuts
- Chopped nuts are a classic sundae topping of small pieces of roasted nuts. They add crunch, but nuts are major allergens and need careful handling.
- Flake
- A Flake is Cadbury's crumbly milk chocolate bar made from thin folded layers. A shorter version is the standard topping on a soft serve cone.
- Gelato
- Gelato is Italian-style ice cream, usually made with more milk than cream and churned with less air, so it tastes dense and intense.
- Hundreds and thousands
- Hundreds and thousands are tiny coloured sugar balls or strands scattered over ice cream and cakes. Also called sprinkles or nonpareils.
- Ice lolly
- An ice lolly is a frozen treat on a stick, made from flavoured water, juice or ice cream. Wrapped lollies are the fastest thing a van can serve.
- Knickerbocker glass
- A knickerbocker glass is a tall, narrow sundae glass that shows off the layers of a Knickerbocker Glory. It is paired with a long-handled spoon.
- Knickerbocker Glory
- A Knickerbocker Glory is a tall layered sundae of ice cream, sauce and toppings, served in a tall glass and eaten with a long spoon.
- Mr. Whippy
- Mr. Whippy is the British soft serve brand launched in the late 1950s. The name is now widely used for any soft serve sold from an ice cream van.
- Overrun
- Overrun is the extra volume ice cream gains from air whipped in during freezing. Higher overrun means lighter ice cream; lower overrun means denser.
- Oyster wafer
- An oyster wafer is a shell-shaped wafer that holds soft serve between its two halves, like an open oyster. A traditional British van treat.
- Raspberry sauce
- Raspberry sauce is the bright red syrup squeezed over soft serve. In parts of Britain it is jokingly nicknamed "monkey blood".
- Scoop
- A scoop is a rounded portion of hard ice cream, and also the spring-loaded tool used to serve it. Scooped ice cream is kept colder than soft serve.
- Screwball
- A Screwball is ice cream served in a cone-shaped plastic cup with a ball of bubblegum hidden at the bottom. A long-time favourite with children.
- Sherbet
- In Britain, sherbet is a sweet, fizzy powder. On an ice cream van it adds colour and a sharp fizz to soft serve. In the US the word means a frozen dessert.
- Slush
- Slush is a frozen drink of flavoured syrup and water, churned in a chilled machine until it forms fine ice crystals. Served in a cup with a straw.
- Soft serve
- Soft serve is ice cream frozen and whipped to order in a machine, then piped straight into a cone or tub. It is softer and lighter than scooped ice cream.
- Sorbet
- Sorbet is a frozen dessert made from fruit juice or purée, sugar and water. It is traditionally made without milk or cream, but recipes vary.
- Sundae
- A sundae is ice cream served in a dish or tub and topped with sauce, plus extras such as nuts, sprinkles or a wafer. It is eaten with a spoon.
- Wafer cone
- A wafer cone is the light, pale cone moulded from a thin batter, used for the classic 99. It is airy and mild so the ice cream does the talking.
- Waffle cone
- A waffle cone is a crisp, golden cone rolled from thin baked waffle batter. It is sweeter, sturdier and larger than a standard wafer cone.
The van
- Chimes
- Chimes are the short tunes an ice cream van plays to let people know it has arrived. Their use in public is governed by a code of practice.
- Conservator
- A conservator is the trade name for an ice cream freezer used to store and display frozen products such as lollies, tubs and scooping ice cream.
- Electric ice cream van
- An electric ice cream van powers its freezers and soft serve machine from batteries, so it serves without an engine or generator running.
- Greensleeves
- Greensleeves is a traditional English folk tune from the sixteenth century, and one of the tunes most commonly played by British ice cream vans.
- Hatch
- The hatch is the opening in the side of an ice cream van that customers are served through. Its position decides which way the van has to face.
- LEZ
- A Low Emission Zone restricts or charges more polluting vehicles. London's LEZ mainly targets heavier vehicles such as lorries, buses and coaches.
- Soft serve machine
- A soft serve machine freezes and whips liquid ice cream mix in a chilled barrel, then dispenses it through a nozzle when the handle is pulled.
- ULEZ
- ULEZ is London's Ultra Low Emission Zone. Vehicles that do not meet its emission standards pay a daily charge to drive within it.
- Zero emission
- Zero emission describes a vehicle that produces no exhaust emissions while it is being used. Battery electric vans are the usual example.
Events & planning
- Access route
- The access route is the path a van takes from the road to its pitch, including gates, width, height clearance, turns and surfaces along the way.
- Deposit
- A deposit is a payment made when booking to secure a date. It confirms the booking and is usually taken off the final balance.
- Dwell time
- Dwell time is how long guests stay at an event or in one area. It shapes how demand for ice cream spreads across the day.
- Event organiser
- The event organiser is the person or company that plans an event, books suppliers and makes sure the site, permissions and safety are in place.
- Ground conditions
- Ground conditions describe the surface a van will drive over and park on, such as tarmac, gravel or grass, and whether it is firm, level and dry.
- Pitch
- A pitch is the spot where a food van parks and trades at an event. A good pitch is level, reachable and close to where guests gather.
- Prepaid tokens
- Prepaid tokens are vouchers handed to guests in advance and swapped for ice cream at the van, so nobody pays at the hatch.
- Queue management
- Queue management means planning how guests line up and are served so waits stay short and the queue does not block paths or other activities.
- Serving window
- The serving window is the agreed period during which the van is open and serving guests, separate from the time needed to arrive and set up.
- Site visit
- A site visit is a check of an event location before the day to confirm access, the pitch, the ground and any restrictions that affect a supplier.
Safety & compliance
- 14 allergens
- The 14 allergens are the major food allergens UK food businesses must give information about, including milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, gluten and soya.
- Cold chain
- The cold chain is the unbroken chain of temperature control that keeps frozen and chilled food safe from the manufacturer to the customer.
- COSHH
- COSHH stands for Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, the UK regulations on handling harmful substances such as cleaning chemicals.
- Cross-contamination
- Cross-contamination is when bacteria or allergens pass from one food, surface or utensil to another. At a van it usually happens through shared tools.
- Food hygiene rating
- A food hygiene rating is the score from 0 to 5 that a council gives a food business after inspection. 5 means hygiene standards are very good.
- Level 2 food hygiene
- Level 2 food hygiene is the standard UK food safety qualification for people who handle food, covering hygiene, temperature control and allergens.
- Method statement
- A method statement sets out, step by step, how a supplier will carry out its work safely on site. It is often paired with a risk assessment as RAMS.
- NCASS
- NCASS is the Nationwide Caterers Association, a UK trade body for mobile and event caterers that supports members with food safety and compliance.
- Public liability insurance
- Public liability insurance covers a business if a member of the public is injured or their property is damaged because of its work.
- Risk assessment
- A risk assessment identifies what could cause harm at an event or workplace, who might be hurt, and what is being done to control those risks.
- Street trading licence
- A street trading licence is council permission to sell on a public street. Rules vary by council; private events usually need landowner consent instead.
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