Luigi's ice-cream van has been parked up in my car park ever since that spell of good weather we had last month. People are starting to talk. He may have occasionally helped me out with an emergency tub of raspberry ripple and a few mixed nuts, but I reckon Mr Whippy's pushing his luck now.
I'm sure I can do better than a rather tired portion of Neopolitan - let's see what else is on offer.
Criterion dairy ices
This is more like it. Criterion has a range of 30 fresh cream dairy ices including double cream vanilla, vintage marmalade; English strawberry, stem ginger and brandy & orange, all made at a country creamery in the heart of Suffolk. The one I really like the sound of is dark chocolate sorbet. I can feel a full sampling afternoon coming on before I decide which flavours are right for my regulars.
07778 842090 www.criterion-ices.co.uk
Go On! mini desserts
What could be better than a plate full of small puddings? Well, a plate full of big ones, for a start. But I'm told that sharing platters are very popular, and that customers are moving away from traditional large desserts in a bid to be healthier, so I'm going to try the new variety packs of Go On! mini desserts from Atlantic Foods. The range of 12 desserts includes mini pancakes, mini brownies and mini toffee banana sponges. I'm sure eating half a dozen small desserts is much healthier than one big one…
01252 846 500 www.atlanticfoods.co.uk
Moy Park Fruit PiesSurely a deep fried apple pie is really an apple fritter? Still, it doesn't matter what you call it, as long as it does the job. Moy Park Foodservice Fruit Pies are available in two varieties; strawberry and custard, and the new apple. The pies can be deep fried from frozen in under six minutes - top with ice-cream, cream or custard to serve, and there's even free point-of-sale stuff available.
0800 085 2749 www.moyparkfoodservice.com
Jus-Rol Medium Pastry Cases
I find a good session with the blender on full speed can be very therapeutic, so I need somewhere to pour my French cream afterwards. Jus-Rol's pastry cases are ideal if you can't be bothered to make traditional puff pastry. Which frankly, I can't. Just bake them off for 8-10 minutes and you're away.
0800 626 893 www.jusrolfoodservice.co.uk
Erlenbacher Caramel and Lemon Cheesecake
I thought for one glorious moment that this was a single caramel and lemon cheesecake - not an obvious flavour combination, but one I'm willing to try. In fact it's two new cheesecakes from Erlenbacher, part of the Schöller Desserts range - Caramel cheesecake made from double cream cheese, caramel and rippled with a zingy, fruity lemon mix. I think I need a lie-down…
01483 205500 www.scholleruk.com