AD/PR Sample | Making A Chocolate Hazelnut Sundae With Valsoia Ice Cream From Ciao Gusto

I'm always open to trying new food items as I love discovering new products. I was recently contacted about trying out a Valsoia product from the new Ciao Gusto range. They offer a collection of all your favourite authentic Italian food and drink items that can now be bought on Ocado to make shopping for them super easy. There is a Ciao Gusto Shop area on Ocado where you can search through ingredients and products from over 30 of Italy's most popular brands such as Ponti, Barilla, Valsoia, Lavazza, and more which can be easily added to your basket when ordering. I picked up the Valsoia Chocolate & Cream Soya Ice Cream to make something exciting while trying out one of their new Italian products. Regular dairy ice cream doesn't tend to sit well with me and I've found that I don't get a reaction when having a dairy-free ice alternative so I will tend to choose this option when it's available. Since turning vegetarian just over a year ago I've found that there is a whole new world filled with different products to try out and this product is no exception.

The Valsoia ice cream is dairy-free Italian Gelato that is naturally lactose-free, gluten-free, and 100% plant-based which also makes the product vegan. It is half chocolate and half vanilla which is perfect if you want to have a bit of each. My partner has always been a big fan of ice cream sundaes and will always choose this as a dessert in restaurants even though dairy doesn't tend to sit well with him either. I thought making one of these would be a perfect combination for both of us to enjoy. We've tried a variety of non-dairy ice creams before and some haven't been the best as there was just something missing compared to your normal dairy ice cream. To create this sundae dessert, I started by adding a generous scoop of melted hazelnut white chocolate spread at the bottom of the glass and a good squeeze of Belgian chocolate sauce. I then added alternating chocolate and vanilla scoops of the Valsoia Chocolate & Cream Soya Ice Cream to fill up the glass and then finished it off with more Belgian chocolate sauce and a Kinder Bueno bar.

You can see the result above and I have to say I was really impressed with how it tasted. This ice cream was so nice and creamy I would not have thought it was a dairy-free version. I know it is gelato which is a bit different from ice cream but I would have never guessed it would taste this nice, and I am a bit shocked, to be honest. So many dairy-free products have a lingering taste of coconut which I dislike, but trust me when I say this, the fact that I can have gelato and it be kind to my stomach is never a sentence I ever thought I would type.  I would definitely buy this again and would recommend trying this even if you don't normally go for dairy-free ice cream. The flavour was great and it was perfect to use for making a sundae and would also be good to enjoy on its own or added to the side of other desserts. With the ingredients, I used it was a vegetarian dessert, but you could swap out the additions if you wanted to make it vegan. I did also pick up the Valsoia Soya Drink too in case I felt like making a milkshake, which you could do if you're not a sundae person. If you'd like to check out more about the Ciao Gusto product range, you can find it on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest pages. 

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Joe Delucci's Gelato Tasting

Sweet treats are a must for me as I've always been in favour of them instead of something savoury. When Joe Delucci's contacted me and asked if I'd like to review two of their Gelato flavours, I was over the moon. Their Gelatos are made using traditional Italian recipes using only fresh and natural ingredients. Some of their products are fat-free, gluten-free and dairy-free so there is something for everyone. Aside from the normal flavours you see such as vanilla, chocolate and mint choc chip, they also make flavours such as melon & chilli, parmesan and tiramisu. I've tested these two flavours out with family members to see whether they're better than your standard tub of ice cream. They are in the flavours Creme Caramel and Creamy Coconut.

Now I went in assuming that I would fall head over heals for the Creme Caramel and I wouldn't mind the Coconut flavour. I tried both at the same time and whilst I liked the Caramel tub, the Coconut one was by far the nicest. These flavours include coconut oil and that's why I wasn't in love because the initial taste is gorgeous, the coconut pulls through afterwards and doesn't taste the same. For me the Coconut flavour was exactly how I imagined it to be and a million times better. Although the Caramel wasn't for me, they do flavours such as Chocolate and Hazelnut which I think would taste amazing picture Nutella gelato and now that they're available in Tesco, I think I'll try that one out next. They're around £4 to buy but they fill the tubs right to the top and the tubs are pretty big too. 
If you're looking for an alternative to your everyday supermarket ice cream, I'd give Joe Delucci's a try. They have parlors around the UK (the nearest to me being Manchester) and you can find them in Nando's. Yes Nando's! They're proud to say they've scooped over 257, 684,472 scoops of Gelato too. Head over to their website to explore their flavours for yourself, and let me know if you'd try their Gelato for yourself.

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