While there’s never a bad time to enjoy spoonfuls of silky ice cream, summertime in Toronto presents the best options whether you’re into classic vanilla or prefer a charcoal cone topped with every colour in the rainbow. A wave of new shops, each specializing in their own takes on the classic frozen sweet, have opened to sate our cravings.

Ice cream is meant to be a fun, lighthearted treat and Torontonians are wholeheartedly embracing it in all its colourful shapes and sizes. From a gelato stand on the St. Clair West strip to a Filipino stalwart in North York, here are our hand-picked standouts for iced desserts.

With ice cream, anything is popsicle.

Passion Fruit Coriander

Bar Ape, 283 Rushton Rd.

Ingredients

Clockwise: Sugar, dark chocolate, coriander seed, water, passion fruit

Since this food-truck-cum-gelato-stand opened it has seen a steady line of frozen fanatics. While their soft serve is incredible, it’s Bar Ape’s hyper-seasonal list of gelato bars that keep us running back to their shop.

Mango, Coconut, Soursop

Ali’s Roti Shop, 1446 Queen St. W.

Ingredients

Clockwise: Sugar, dark chocolate, coriander seed, water, passion fruit

While Ali’s Roti Shop is the go-to for those seeking traditional West Indian stuffed rotis and doubles, they also make wickedly good tropical ice cream. Don’t expect any frills here – Ali’s ice creams are as simple as can be, but those punched up tropical notes can whisk you away to the Caribbean.

Halo Halo

Casa Manila, 879 York Mills Rd.

Ingredients

Clockwise left-hand side: Mung beans, shaved ice, candied palm fruit, pandan syrup, sliced jackfruit, glutinous rice crisps

Clockwise right-hand side: Flan, Casa Manila cream blend, sliced young coconut, seaweed jelly, cubed coconut jelly, Filipino banana, ube, gold beans, ube and taro ice cream.

The popular Filipino dessert of shaved ice topped with sweet ingredients gets the ultimate treatment at Casa Manila. Fifteen traditional ingredients from soaked beans to flavoured jellies go into making the dessert Anthony Bourdain described as “oddly beautiful”.

Black Sesame with Salted Duck Egg

Wong’s Ice Cream, 617 Gerrard St. E.

Ingredients

Clockwise: Salted duck egg, black sesame paste, cream, salt, sugar, milk powder

Ed Wong left a corporate career to open his dream ice cream shop, Wong's Ice Cream, one where he plays with nostalgia by pulling from Asian cultural influences. Our favourite flavour is the one that is most emblematic of dim sum: a black sesame ice cream stuffed with chunks of salted duck egg yolk.

Lemon Sour Cream

Soma Chocolatemaker, 443 King St. W.

Ingredients

Clockwise: Sugar, cream, lemon juice, sour cream

For years, Soma has garnered global praise for its lineup of chocolates. So it’s no surprise that when the company decided to feature a range of small-batch gelatos, the quality would be just as high. Soma makes some of the best seasonal, creamy Italian-style ice cream you’ll find in Toronto.