Ice cream or ice-cream (originally iced cream) is a frozen dessert made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, combined with flavorings and sweeteners, such as sugar. This mixture is stirred slowly while cooling to prevent large ice crystals from forming, which results in a smoothly textured ice cream.

These ingredients, along with air incorporated during the stirring process (technically called overrun), make up ice cream. Generally, less expensive ice creams contain lower-quality ingredients (for example, natural vanilla may be replaced by artificial vanillin), and more air is incorporated, sometimes as much as 50% of the final volume. Artisan-produced ice creams often contain very little air, although some is necessary to produce the characteristic creamy texture of the product. Generally speaking, the finest ice creams have between 3% and 15% air. Because most ice cream is sold by volume, it is economically advantageous for producers to reduce the density of the product in order to cut costs. Ice cream can also be hand-packed and sold by weight. The use of stabilizers rather than cream and the incorporation of air also decrease the fat and energy content of less expensive ice creams, making them more appealing to those on diets.

Similar frozen desserts have been developed for people with special dietary needs like lactose intolerance or milk allergy, and for vegans or people following religious restrictions like Jews (the Jewish diet has strict regulations considering dairy products, this leads to vegan ice cream being kosher pareve, after approval of a Rabbi), usually named vegan ice cream or non-dairy ice cream on the product package, substituting non-dairy ingredients (coconut milk, rice milk, soy milk, soy yogurt, oat cream, soy cream) for the dairy milk and cream.

Although the term "ice cream" is sometimes used to mean frozen desserts and snacks in general, in some countries it is legally reserved for frozen desserts and snacks made with a high percentage of milk fat. Frozen custard, frozen yogurt, sorbet, gelato, and other similar products are sometimes informally called ice cream, but governments generally regulate the commercial use of these terms based on quantities of ingredients.

Federal (Northern American) labeling standards require ice cream to contain a minimum of 10% milk fat (about 7 grams (g) of fat per 1/2 cup serving) and 20% total milk solids by weight. Premium ice creams contain approximately 16% milk fat and can range to 20%. Added flavoring must be identified on the label as naturally flavored (e.g., raspberry ice cream) or artificially flavored (e.g., raspberry-flavored ice cream or artificially flavored raspberry ice cream) [blank">http://www.wisdairy.com/OtherDairyProductInfo/IceCream/Default.aspx].

Ice cream comes in a wide variety of flavors, often with additives such as chocolate flakes or chips, ribbons of sauce such as caramel or chocolate, _nuts, fruit, and small candies/sweets. Some of the most popular ice cream flavors are vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and Neapolitan (a combination of the three). Many people also enjoy ice cream sundaes, which often have ice cream, hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream, maraschino cherries or a variety of other toppings. Other toppings include cookie crumbs, butterscotch, sprinkles, banana sauce, marshmallows or different varieties of candy.

Ice cream is generally served as a chilled product. It may also be found in dishes where the coldness of the ice cream is used as a temperature contrast, for example, as a topping on warm desserts, or even in fried ice cream. Some commercial institutions such as creameries specialize in serving ice cream and products that are related.