Cornish ice cream

Up and down the country people buy Cornish ice cream without thinking what it actually means when it’s given “Cornish” title. The fact is, it’s made with Cornish clotted cream. And while ice-cream is perhaps a very Italian invention, some of the best ingredients of the frozen dairy confection are, it should go without saying, from Cornwall.

Kelly’s are well known producers of ice-cream all over the UK. Joseph Staffieri came from Italy to Cornwall in the late 19th century to pursue the Italian tradition of making ice-cream to sell to the locals, initially in and around St Austell.

Joseph’s son-in-law Lazero had the idea to go mobile, and took the ice cream business further afield with a horse and cart, selling “penny licks”. Kelly’s business rapidly grew, with more rounds and extra vehicles, animals and employees. 

Kelly’s is Cornish through and through, with milk sourced from the top Cornish dairy farms.

The secret, they say, is clean air, green grass and a touch of Callestick magic. As well as ice-cream that you can watch being made on the premises, there’s a tea room and shop that serves cakes and local foods.

Free to visit, kids will enjoy a visit to this working farm near Truro with its rare breeds of chickens and pigs, and a shire horse.

The unassuming Jelbert’s ice-cream parlour on New Road in Newlyn is a law unto itself. There is only one flavour, but you decide whether you want clotted cream on top and if you require a flake. That’s it. It’s made from the family dairy farm’s milk, but the recipe is secret, and the home-made purity of the product is such that it cannot even be stored in a freezer. This ice-cream has to be eaten fresh. It’s delicious and unique.

This attractive waterfront ice-cream parlour is in Calstock overlooks the Tamar River and is named after Antonio Valente who established the ice-cream business in 1912. In 1959 it was taken over by Williams Ice Cream, who are best known for their Willy’s brand sold from traditional ice-cream vans all over Cornwall.

Valenti’s is still in the Williams family to this day, and the parlour serves spectacular ice-cream of every shape and colour from its beautiful slate premises on what was once called Williams’ Quay.

The organic working farm at Roskilly’s in St Keverne is free to visit and see how they make most of the ingredients that go into their ice-cream. Described by Condé Nast Traveller as the best ice-cream in Britain, over thirty flavours are available in their excellent ice-cream parlour, including frozen yoghurt and sorbet too!