Dreamsicles and Creamsicles: What’s the Difference and Where to Find Them

When I was a kid, and maybe even now, my favorite summertime treat was a dreamsicle.

Deliciousness comprised of vanilla ice cream or ice milk coated in orange sherbet. Seriously, the best ice cream treat around.

I have also seen them called Creamsicles, so I wondered if there really is any difference between a creamsicle and a dreamsicle, other than the name. Let’s look into it. And if you’re in need of a great creamsicle ice cream, I have you covered.

What Flavor is Dreamsicle?

“Dreamsicle” and “Creamsicle” started out as brand names and weren’t flavors in and of themselves. But the flavor of both is that of orange (usually in sherbet form) and vanilla ice cream or ice milk, either swirled together or with orange sherbet coating a vanilla ice cream/ice milk core.

There’s something about fruit and cream that just works.

• A scoop of ice cream on top of a pandowdy or a slump.
• Milk dip that’s served with sonker.
• Whipped cream dolloped on fruit crisp.

Peaches and cream, strawberries and cream, raspberries and cream and, the Best of All, oranges and cream. 

The dairy balances out the acid in the orange and just makes The World Taste Good.

Being a fan of orange and cream, I’ve always enjoyed a Creamsicle. Not the kind with the orange coating around the vanilla ice cream. The kind that was all swirly with orange and vanilla.

Some folks call it a Dreamsicle, but either way, when orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream come together on a stick, I am All In. Dip it in Bittersweet chocolate, and, well. There are No Words.

Dreamsicle Vs Creamsicle: What’s the Difference?

I don’t think there is a clear difference between a Creamsicle and a Dreamsicle. 

I did a bit of research to see if Dreamsicle is a registered trademark, and Tish & Snooky’s N.Y.C. is the trademark holder. And they don’t even make food. They’re the Manic Panic people, so I guess the actual trademarked Dreamsicle refers to hair color or something.

Somewhere in the murky past, though, Dreamsicle must’ve been the name of an Ice Cream Treat, because I did find reference in this article (since unpublished. Boo) about Dreamsicles, Creamsicles, and Other Frozen Treats that, while both had an orange sherbet shell, Creamsicles had an ice cream center while Dreamsicles had an ice milk center.

The Popsicle people own the trademark to Creamsicle, though, so these days, Creamsicle® is the actual ice cream product combining vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet, while Dreamsicle-no-® refers to the combination of vanilla and orange in pretty much any form.

Are Dreamsicles Still Being Made?

In light of my trademark research, I would say that no, Dreamsicles are no longer being produced as an ice cream treat.

What About Creamsicles? Can I Still Buy Them?

Yup, you can get them at most groceries.

I looked up Creamsicles® and find that they no longer come in just orange. It doesn’t even look like you can get a package of them in the store with only orange. But the Good Humor version is still available in all orange.

For my money, I only want the orange kind, though. Maybe on an ice cream truck you can get a one-off orange and vanilla without having to buy other flavors you don’t want.

Or, you know, make your own!

Homemade Creamsicles

If, like me, you’d rather not buy All The Flavors of Creamsicles and stick to just orange. So yes, you can make them yourself if you want. I looked around for some recipes, and the fastest way to make them looks like this Zoku Creamsicle recipe.

A Zoku is a self-freezing popsicle maker that isn’t strictly a necessity, but they’re nice to have if you want to make short work of making popsicles.

The Zoku Quick Pop Maker Doesn’t always get the best reviews, so if you can wait hours rather than minutes for your homemade dreamsicles, there are other ice pop molds you can buy to put in your freezer.

You’d have to freeze the orange part partially, dumping out the inside slushy part leaving the orange shell, and then add your cream mixture.

This seems a bit fussy to me, so if you are cool with having vanilla and orange swirled together like the creamsicle bars I remember as a kid, just add some of each mix to your molds and freeze away.

Creamsicle-Inspired Treats

The flavor of orange and cream is such a great combination that many desserts are called dreamsicle or creamsicle to let you know it’s an orange-vanilla combination.

Some of these treats are actually orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream, and others just use the term to describe the flavor of orange and vanilla together no matter the form: cake, candy, pudding, etc.

But if you’re a fan of this combination, get ready to enter dreamsicle/creamsicle heaven!

I hope this collection of recipes and links to ice pop molds will help you either enjoy the retro-delicious flavor combination of orange and cream in new ways and let you recreate your childhood favorite in your own freezer.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Take care, and have a lovely day.