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.
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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though, Dreamsicle must’ve been the name of an Ice Cream Treat, because I did find reference in this article (since unpublished.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.
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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!
Even if you think you have outgrown the ice cream treat called a Creamsicle or Dreamsicle, you probably haven't outgrown the flavor combination of orange and vanilla. Here are some great recipes to try to get that retro flavor combination without pulling out your popsicle molds!
Orange Chocolate Halloween Cake
This is a chocolate version of creamsicle flavors. Chocolate cake and vanilla frosting, both spiked with some orange flavoring makes this a sophisticated (Halloween) spin on the traditional dreamsicle combo.
Orange Creamsicle Cake
If this cake is not the spitting image of a creamsicle, I don't know what is! Rose from Rose Bakes made this cake for her son's birthday. Lucky son!
Blood Orange Caramel Sauce
Blood orange caramel sauce poured over vanilla ice cream is a delicious grown-up spin on the creamsicle/dreamsicle flavor combination. But kids will probably love it too!
Orange Creamsicle Cocktail
Three ingredients and for adults only, this could become the new drink of summer!
Creamsicle Orange Poke Cake
White cake, orange Jello, and frosting made from vanilla pudding and CoolWhip. Yes, please!
Orange Creamsicle Pound Cake
Zesty orange pound cake with creamy vanilla glaze. I'll take it!
Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake Bars - The Midnight Baker
Orange no-bake cheesecake flavored and set with orange Jello in a graham cracker crust. Plus instructions to make it with a bit lighter texture in the cheesecake. Yum!
Orange Creamsicle Trifle (Gluten-Free)
Orange pound cake (gluten-free as written if you need it to be) layered with whipped cream and garnished with white chocolate chips and orange segments. A sophisticated yet fun take on a childhood classic.
Vanilla-Orange “Dreamsicle” Panna Cotta
Creamy panna cotta topped with tangy orange curd. Hello, beautiful!
Orange Creamsicle Layer Cake
Orange cake flavored with orange marmalade, orange juice and zest all slathered in orange cream cheese frosting.
Easy 4 Ingredient Vegan Creamsicle Smoothie
This smoothie is vegan, paleo, and delicious. That creamy dreamsicle flavor we all love wrapped up in a healthy package. Lovely!
Creamsicle Sheet Cake (and thoughts for Rachel Held Evans)
Moist yellow cake drenched in orange syrup and spread with whipped cream. Yeah.
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.
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weee i like ice creams… but i gotta agree with you… ice cream truck playing song over and over again gets me freak out… its so annoying when its on my head…
I was a big fan of the ice-pop that had the orange coating around the vanilla ice cream (over here it was called the orange split) or, for a variation on the theme, a float made with orange soda (which had to be our best local brand, Club Orange) and a nice big dollop of vanilla ice cream. Ah, summer…
Oh my gosh reading about the ice cream man just made me have an epiphany! As I was piddling around the house last night doing chores Im singing…She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes… in my head over and over (all the verses too) And Im thinking why the hell am I thinking of that song, it must be from the myriad of ice cream trucks that whip through our cultisac! Sometimes twice or three times a day…
Sheesh… thanks!
Like I always say, Nic–I’m here to help! ๐ And, if anyone is wondering if I ever remembered the Evil song from Florida–it was Music Box Dancer. Over and Over Again. Shudder.
I LOVED frank mills’ tune “music box dancer” ! when I first heard it (no computer then…) I went crazy until I could find out the name of the tune. hard to believe you felt it was evil–I found it so upbeat and cheerful. but then, i’m a bit of a freak for music boxes (as a child I played with my parents’ bottle of BOLS apricot brandy as much as I played with my barbies et al. why? there was a music box with a dancing ballerina inserted via the bottom of the partially hollow bottle.) loved that thing.
I think it was the endless repetition of it. Perhaps Evil was a bit of an overstatement! ๐
In The Valley [LA], it was “Turkey in the Straw” for like, 10,000 years, then an immediate & permanent switch to “La Cucaracha”. Not the best choice for a food vendor. Lol
Sounds like they didn’t give that one enough thought! lol
Ah, the ice cream man. It makes me think of the token acoustic song Van Halen would include on every album.
And bless you, you’re a fan of the Doctor. Do you just love David Tennant?
Jamie, I must admit I’m not as much a fan of The Doctor as I am his TARDIS. Used to watch years ago, but Tennant is intriguing. Perhaps I should get back into it…
Oh yes. The new ones are really good. Not Buffy good, but close. Gwyn and I are hooked. Or perhaps I should say Hooked.
Get thee to Netflix and start with season one. David Tennant shows up in season two, but Christopher Eccelston is good too.
I’m going home now to enjoy a refreshing parfait of orange Jello with mandarin oranges and whipped cream.
Laugh if you want, but Seattle’s having an early heat wave (scorching mid-80s).
Niko, I would never laugh at you. Unless you said something funny. And I’m not Above Jell-o. Seriously. ๐ Enjoy your parfait!
I always hemmed and hawed when the ice cream truck came. I always made the wrong decision. Like the one with the gumballs or pistachio flavored. It was such a treat I felt obligated to pick something different that I had never tried and I never picked my favorite which was creamsicle or fudgesicle.
I got a chocolate taco once. Once. Then, I ran right back to my Push-Up! Gumball ice cream! ๐
The last time I tasted anything like an Orange Creamsicle was a can of Whole Foods’ Orange Cream Soda. Texturally not the same but quite TARDIS-like nonetheless. As for a twist on it, the only thing that comes to mind is the Filipino fruit salad – instead of the requisite can of fruit cocktail, one could sub mandarin oranges then just drench it in Nestle’s Table Cream and sweetened condensed milk. Mmmmmm . . .
I need a creamsicle right now.
For a homemade twist… how about a cocktail?
Vanilla vodka.. Grand Marnier… cream.. vanilla sugar.. squeeze of orange?
At the Inn at Little Washington we had miniature dreamsicles of passion fruit sorbet and vanilla ice cream, dipped in toasted coconut flakes – it was a delicious dessert!
Ok, so let’s talk pound cake.
By talking about pound cake, I’m guessing you’re asking how to turn pound cake into a creamsicle? Use a ton of orange zest and a wee bit of orange extract along with the vanilla. For part of the liquid/fat, use whipped cream. (Shirley Corriher talks about using whipped cream in cakes in Bakewise. If you don’t have it, pick up a copy. It’s pretty great). Make a glaze with 10x, whipping cream, pinch of salt, orange zest and vanilla. Voila. ๐
That too, but I think what I meant was more along the lines of what makes pound cake so amazingly dense and moist and Better than other types of cake.
Ah-ha! Yes, let’s talk about pound cake–the velvety crumb; the yumminess of it. I am completely with you on that one, Sarah! ๐
@Anna Yeah, we all whispered that the Freddie Freeze guy was selling tabs of LSD out of his truck. The fear added to the fun! ๐ The orange soda float definitely sounds like a Plan!
@Chelsea I had an Unfortunate Experience with grape juice and milk one time. Say no more.
@ChefLilly Sounds fantastic. It’s always interesting to hear what people say are the “key” secrets. I wouldn’t doubt that he knew whereof he spoke! Thanks for dropping in. ๐
@croquecamille Wonderful addition to the list! Necessity is often the mother of Very Good Inventions. ๐
I’ve always been a fan of orange crรจme brรปlรฉe – “invented” when I wanted crรจme brรปlรฉe and had no vanilla beans, I subbed in strips of oprange zest. Of course it’s even better wuth the vanilla in there, too! I like it with some crispy ginger-pecan lace cookies.
Would love to add to your already fabulous list– and so glad to hear about another TARDIS fan. We love Dr Who!
In high school, a friend worked at a cafe and would sneak me Dreamsicle Italian Sodas- which I remember as:
Sparkling Water, Orange Syrup, Splash of Strawberry syrup (apparently key according to him), I think a splash of vanilla, ice, half & half and topped with whipped cream. Ohhh… I could use one of those right now!
You are truly hilarious! We were (and still are) afraid of the ice cream guy because of the “watch for children (that we can kidnap and put in the back trunk)” sign on the side of every truck. Maybe we were just paranoid. How I did love myself a good Bottle Rocket, though!
I would NOT recommend trying anything with grape and creme. Take my word on it – sounds like maybe a good idea, but definitely does not lead to any sort of a dreamsicle. Just a warning
Haha, growing up I was afraid of the ice cream truck because my best friend convinced me the ice cream guy in her neighborhood was a creep (we had one of those friendships when we were little where she made up stupid things and I totally believed them). Plus it was all frozen yogurt, ice milk and Juicy Juice homemade popsicles at home for me anyway. My mom has a soft spot for Creamsicles, though, so I definitely knew what those were. I love all your ideas! Orange and cream are totally awesome. Really good orange soda with a scoop of vanilla is one of my favorite alternatives to a root beer float.