Frozen dessert is the generic name for dessert

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

s made by freezing liquids, semi-solids, and sometimes even solids. They may be based on flavored water (shave ice

Shave ice

Shave ice or Hawaiian shave ice is an ice-based dessert made by shaving a block of ice. While the product can resemble a snow cone, snow cones are made with crushed, rather than shaved, ice....

, sorbet, snow cone

Snow cone

Snow cones or snow balls are a variation of the shaved ice dessert commonly served throughout North America in paper cones or styrofoam cups...

s, etc.), on fruit purées, on milk and cream (most ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

s), on custard

Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...

 (frozen custard

Frozen custard

Frozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar.In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration requires products marketed as frozen custard to contain at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids. If it has fewer egg yolk...

 and some ice creams), on mousse

Mousse

Mousse is derived from the French word mousse which means "lather" or "foam". A mousse is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture...

 (semifreddo

Semifreddo

Semifreddo is a class of semi-frozen desserts, typically ice-cream cakes, semi-frozen custards, and certain fruit tarts. It has the texture of frozen mousse because it is usually produced by uniting two equal parts of ice cream and whipped cream. Such a dessert's Spanish counterpart is called...

), etc. In the UK and Ireland, where the term "dessert" is uncommon, frozen desserts are referred to as "ices".

In some countries including Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, the term is often used on products which are similar in taste and texture to ice cream, but which do not meet the legal definition of that term (often being made primarily with vegetable oils, i.e. mellorine

Mellorine

Mellorine is a lower cost alternative to ice cream, wherein other fats are used instead of butterfat. It can be made from both animal fat and vegetable fat....

, as opposed to milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

 or cream

Cream

Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...

).

For a list of frozen desserts, see :Category:Frozen desserts.