Darlish's new autumn/winter menu brings build-your-own Hot Sundaes, rose and pistachio hot chocolates and a saffron and honey hot milk. From 2nd October in Spitalfields, Bloomsbury, St Albans and Hatfield House.

Hot meets cold: introducing Darlish Hot Sundaes and our Autumn/Winter menu

Ice cream has always been thought of as a summer thing in Britain. It's the scoop you queue for on a warm day, the treat that disappears from the high street as soon as the clocks go back. For Darlish founder Laura Dawson, it never made sense to put it away for half the year. From 2nd October, our new autumn/winter menu is here to prove the point - with Hot Sundaes, four special hot chocolates and a saffron and honey hot milk.

An idea rooted in Persian cooking

The thinking behind our Hot Sundaes goes back to the kitchen Darlish grew out of. In Persian cooking, hot and cold are meant to balance each other – a principle Laura grew up with and one that shapes how she thinks about dessert.

“Ice cream shouldn’t just be a summer treat. It should be enjoyed all year round,” says Laura. “In Persian cuisine, you complement hot with cold, and that’s the idea behind our Hot Sundaes. A hot sauce over cold ice cream is warming and comforting and just right for an autumn or winter day.”

The result is a dessert made for cooler days. The sauce goes on hot and the ice cream stays cold, so the two melt into each other as you eat.

Build your own Hot Sundae

Every Hot Sundae is built in three steps:

Choose your hot. Hot chocolate fudge, hot pistachio, hot cherry or hot apple.

Choose your flavour. Any scoop from the Darlish ice cream range.

Choose your topping. A drizzle of sauce, such as salted caramel or raspberry, or a bit of crunch from hazelnut praline, pistachios or chocolate shavings.

Each one is finished with cream and a wafer, and costs £7.95.

Where to start

With that many combinations, we’ve picked three to get you going:

Saffron, Rose & Pistachio with hot cherry and crushed pistachios. The flavour that started it all, under a glossy cherry sauce.

Turkish Coffee with hot chocolate fudge and chocolate flake. Part affogato, part mocha.

Black Tahini with hot apple and hazelnut praline. Warm apple and spice – think toffee apples.

Turkish Coffee with hot chocolate fudge and chocolate flake.

From the freezer to the cup

Alongside the sundaes, we’re introducing four special hot chocolates: regular, mint, rose and pistachio. The rose and pistachio take the Persian-inspired flavours our ice cream is known for and bring them into a warm cup. Hot chocolates start at £4.25.

And for anyone who’d rather skip the chocolate, there’s something new: a saffron and honey hot milk – gentle, golden and made for a cold afternoon.

Saffron and honey hot milk

Find it in the parlours

The Hot Sundaes, special hot chocolates and saffron and honey hot milk are available from 2nd October at Darlish Spitalfields, Bloomsbury and St Albans. So whether you’re sheltering from the drizzle in Spitalfields, warming up after a morning at the British Museum, there’s a reason to come in from the cold.

Ice cream isn’t just for summer. Find your nearest Darlish parlour, or sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about new flavours, seasonal specials and what’s coming next.

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