Last Updated on March 2, 2023
EDITOR’S NOTE: In February of 2023, Aldi marketed these as Sundae Shoppe Gelato Cups rather than as ice cream cups.
Aldi sells some desserts that dedicated fans really love, whether it’s knockoff Girl Scout cookies, donut ice cream bars, chocolate and caramel mousse desserts, St. Patrick’s Day ice cream, or cheesecake.
One of the more popular dessert options that rotates into stores during Italian week is some ice cream that comes in fancy single-serve plastic goblets. Some people like to wash and reuse the plastic cups and serve other foods such as pudding, trifle, or other kinds of ice cream in them. When these ice cream cups showed up again at one of my local Aldi stores, I picked up a couple of them to try.
Specially Selected Italian Ice Cream Cups cost $3.79 at the time of publication for a 10.14-ounce package that contains 2 cups. That comes out to about $1.90 per serving. These are a product of Italy. They were available in three different flavors: Pistachio, Cappuccino, and Chocolate Hazelnut. I bought the Chocolate Hazelnut.
These are an Aldi Find, so they’re only in stores for a short time. You can’t order these online from Aldi if they aren’t in stock at your local store.
Specially Selected Italian Ice Cream Cups nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
These look fairly processed. Ingredients for the Chocolate Hazelnut flavor include water, cocoa preparation (glucose syrup, sugar, water, cocoa processed with alkali, pectin, and natural flavor), sugar, coconut oil, skimmed milk powder, glucose syrup, cocoa processed with alkali, milk proteins, hazelnut paste, mono- and diglycerides (emulsifier), thickeners (carob bean gum, guar gum, and carrageen), and natural flavor.
If you’re looking out for allergens, the Chocolate Hazelnut ice cream cups contain milk, hazelnut, and coconut. They may contain soy, wheat, egg, and other tree nuts.
One serving of Chocolate Hazelnut ice cream (90 grams) has 190 calories, 8 grams of total fat (10% DV), 6 grams of saturated fat (30% DV), 40 mg of sodium (2% DV), 26 grams of total carbohydrates (9% DV), 21 grams of total sugars, and 12 grams of added sugars (24% DV).
These ice cream cups are really good. They have a rich chocolate flavor. The hazelnut flavor is there, too, but it’s not overpowering. The presentation is nice, with cocoa powder sprinkled on top and chocolate streaks throughout the ice cream. Needless to say, these didn’t last long in my house.
Plastic cups that are ready to be repurposed.
I washed out and saved the plastic goblets the ice cream came in. The plastic cups are thin, so I don’t know how long they’ll last, but they should be good for layered desserts using pudding or ice cream. I might also use them to layer fruit, yogurt, and granola cereal for a healthy breakfast or snack.
The Verdict:
Specially Selected Italian Ice Cream Cups are sold in Chocolate Hazelnut, Pistachio, and Cappuccino flavors. We tried the Chocolate Hazelnut ice cream, which was excellent. As a bonus, the plastic cups the ice cream comes in can be washed and repurposed at least a couple of times for serving yogurt, pudding, ice cream, or whatever you want to put in them.
