What is the best cold dessert in the world? It’s not Italian (but almost everything else is)

dessert freddi

Cornish clotted ice cream in first place, Italian pistachio ice cream close behind. TasteAtlas has published the Top 100 Frozen Desserts in the World, a ranking of the 100 best cold desserts in the world (updated to 15 April 2026 on 8,396 ratings recognized as legitimate) and the result is a map of the global cold dessert in which Italy occupies a disproportionate share, in the best possible sense.

Italian dominion

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It is difficult to find another nation that appears with this frequency in an international ranking of this type. Among the top ten places, Italy occupies six: pistachio ice cream (2nd), hazelnut ice cream (6th), gianduia ice cream (8th, Piedmont), Pizzo truffle (9th, Calabria) and, from Sicily, almond granita at 11th. Stracciatella di Bergamo, affogato, kiss ice cream, fior di latte ice cream, dark chocolate ice cream, semifreddo, lemon granita, granita tout court: scrolling through the list you get the feeling that Italian ice cream parlor has simply colonized the world’s confectionery imagination.

In the central band of the ranking, Italian specialties continue to appear: coffee ice cream (46th), almond ice cream (47th), strawberry ice cream (51st), peach ice cream (53rd), melon ice cream (65th), black cherry ice cream (66th), Messina coffee granita (67th), ice cream trifle (68th), Sicilian mulberry granita (70th), nougat ice cream (73rd). Further down, with scores still to be consolidated, appear the Buontalenti Fiorentino (75th), the Spumoni (77th), the Calabrian liquorice ice cream (78th), the bergamot granita from Reggio Calabria (86th), the Sicilian Setteveli (85th), the Biscuit Tortoni (88th) and the bergamot ice cream (89th).

Some unusual items also appear for most people, such as Florentine cream ice cream (80°) and zabaglione ice cream (19°), which remind us of how Italian tradition knows how to translate everyday cooking ingredients into cold formats.

The other protagonists

Outside Italy we find Dondurma from Kahramanmaraş (Turkey), in third place, the elastic ice cream that is pulled and rolled before the customer’s eyes, which went viral on social media before TasteAtlas even discovered it. Indian Kulfi is seventh, with the Kulfi falooda variant at 33rd and the Matka kulfi at 74th. From Peru come the Cremolada (5th) and the Queso helado from Arequipa (10th). Iran brings Faloodeh of Shiraz (21st), Havij Bastani (23rd) and Bastani Sonnati of Tehran (32nd) to the rankings. Japan responds with Matcha parfait (28th) and Kakigōri (38th).

How the ranking works

The TasteAtlas rankings are based on the ratings of the platform’s audience, with mechanisms that filter the votes of bots, nationalists and localists, giving greater weight to users who the system recognizes as competent. For this list, as of April 15, 2026, 11,588 total ratings had been registered, of which 8,396 were considered legitimate. The ranking does not pretend to be a definitive verdict on world gastronomy: its declared aim is to promote local excellence, fuel pride in traditional dishes and stimulate curiosity towards what has not yet been tasted.

The 100 Best Cold Desserts in the World (TasteAtlas, April 2026)

Here is the complete ranking:

  1. Clotted cream ice cream — Cornwall, England
  2. Pistachio ice cream — Italy
  3. Dondurma — Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye
  4. Frozen custard — Wisconsin, United States
  5. Cremolada — Peru
  6. Hazelnut ice cream — Italy
  7. Kulfi — Delhi, India
  8. Gianduia ice cream — Piedmont, Italy
  9. Pizzo Truffle — Pizzo, Italy
  10. Queso helado — Arequipa, Peru
  11. Almond granita — Sicily, Italy
  12. Brownie Sundae — United States
  13. Dark chocolate ice cream — Italy
  14. Fior di latte ice cream — Italy
  15. Kiss flavor ice cream — Italy
  16. Drowned — Italy
  17. Chocolate flavored ice cream — Italy
  18. Stracciatella — Bergamo, Italy
  19. Eggnog ice cream — Italy
  20. Sorbetes — Philippines
  21. Faloodeh — Shiraz, Iran
  22. Lemon ice cream — Italy
  23. Havij Bastani — Iran
  24. Cream ice cream — Italy
  25. Lemon granita — Sicily, Italy
  26. Granita — Sicily, Italy
  27. Semifreddo — Italy
  28. Matcha parfait — Japan
  29. Patbingsu — South Korea
  30. Vanilla ice cream — Italy
  31. Limber — Puerto Rico
  32. Sleepy bastards — Tehran, Iran
  33. Kulfi falooda — Northern India
  34. Milkshake — United States
  35. Cookies ‘n cream ice cream — South Dakota, United States
  36. Truffle — Pizzo, Italy
  37. The White Lady — Belgium
  38. Kakigōri — Japan
  39. Créponné — Oran, Algeria
  40. Fried ice cream — United States
  41. Hokey Pokey ice cream — New Zealand
  42. Frozen lemonade — New England, United States
  43. Halo-Halo — Philippines
  44. Knickerbocker glory — Sherston, England
  45. Frozen yogurt — New England, United States
  46. Coffee ice cream — Italy
  47. Almond ice cream — Italy
  48. Ice cream sandwich — New York, United States
  49. Parfait — France
  50. Mango shaved ice — Taiwan
  51. Strawberry ice cream — Italy
  52. Ice cream float — Philadelphia, United States
  53. Peach ice cream — Italy
  54. Sundae — United States
  55. Soursop ice cream — Trinidad and Tobago
  56. Ice cream cake — United States
  57. Helado de paila — Ibarra, Ecuador
  58. Baobing — Guangdong, China
  59. Booza — Syria
  60. Piragua — Puerto Rico
  61. Glace plombières — Plombières-les-Bains, France
  62. Baked Alaska — New York, United States
  63. Blue Moon — Midwest, United States
  64. Banana split — Latrobe, United States
  65. Melon ice cream — Italy
  66. Black cherry ice cream — Italy
  67. Coffee granita — Messina, Italy
  68. Trifle ice cream — Italy
  69. Tutti Frutti Ice Cream — England
  70. Mulberry granita — Sicily, Italy
  71. Sno-Ball — New Orleans, United States
  72. Karsambaç — Çamlıyayla, Türkiye
  73. Nougat ice cream — Italy
  74. Matka kulfi — India
  75. Buontalenti flavored ice cream — Florence, Italy
  76. Sugar on snow — Vermont, United States
  77. Spumoni — Italy
  78. Licorice ice cream — Calabria, Italy
  79. Scottish ice cream tablet — Scotland
  80. Florentine cream ice cream — Florence, Italy
  81. Kyorchekh — Yakutsk, Russia
  82. Guernsey ice cream — Guernsey, United Kingdom
  83. Chamoyada — Mexico
  84. Sheer yakh — Afghanistan
  85. Setteveli — Sicily, Italy
  86. Bergamot granita — Reggio Calabria, Italy
  87. Soufflé glacé — France
  88. Biscuit Tortoni — Italy
  89. Bergamot ice cream — Reggio Calabria, Italy
  90. Maple creamee — Vermont, United States
  91. Huckabuck — Southern United States
  92. Ice cream potato — Boise, United States
  93. Nutmeg ice cream — Grenada
  94. Akutaq — Alaska, United States
  95. Schwedeneisbecher — East Germany
  96. Sucka bag — Trinidad and Tobago
  97. New Mexican sundae — Las Cruces, United States
  98. Superman ice cream — Michigan, United States
  99. Tiger tail ice cream — Canada
  100. Brown bread ice cream — United Kingdom
Chris Rivers

Chris Rivers

With over 15 years of experience in journalism and a deep-seated passion for environmental sustainability, I lead the editorial team at Green Technology Investments. My background in environmental science fuels my commitment to crafting insightful and impactful content. When I'm not penning articles, you can find me exploring national parks or tending to my organic garden.