An Arctic roll is a British

ice cream cake An ice cream cake is a cake with ice cream as the filling for a swiss roll or a layer cake. A simpler no-bake version can be made by layering different flavors of ice cream in a loaf pan. Ice cream cake is a popular party food, often eaten a ...

made of vanilla

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

wrapped in a thin layer of

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

to form a

roll Roll or Rolls may refer to: Movement about the longitudinal axis * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis ** Roll (aviation) ...

, with a layer of raspberry flavoured sauce between the sponge and the ice cream.

History

The dessert was invented in the 1950s by Dr. Ernest Velden, an immigrant from then Czechoslovakia. He set up a factory in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

producing Arctic Roll in 1968, and the dessert soon became a successful product. During the 1980s, more than of Birds Eye Arctic Roll were sold each month. However, sales slumped during the 1990s and eventually the manufacturer of Arctic roll,

Birds Eye Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had b ...

, stopped producing the dessert. The

2008 economic downturn The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

saw the reappearance of Arctic roll as consumers increasingly looked for low-cost foods. While some consumers view the Arctic Roll as

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual, or it may app ...

, others view it as old fashioned and the food writer

Nigel Slater Nigel Slater (born 9 April 1956) is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for ''The Observer Magazine'' for over a decade and is the principal writer for the ''Observer Food Monthly'' supplement. Prior to ...

has even described it as tasting of "frozen carpet". Nonetheless, Birds Eye reported "overwhelming consumer demand" for the dessert. Indeed, from when Birds Eye started marketing Arctic Rolls again in December 2008 until April 2009, sales of the product were estimated at £3.5 million, or 3 million boxes (around of Arctic Roll). Commentators suggest that aside from Arctic Roll's low price, many consumers buy the dessert out of feelings of nostalgia. A number of UK supermarkets sell their own brand versions of Arctic Roll, both chocolate and raspberry variants, and did so even when Birds Eye were not marketing the product.

Flavours

The original Arctic Roll features vanilla ice cream and raspberry jam; Birds Eye also produce a variant using chocolate ice cream.

References

British desserts Frozen desserts Ice cream Sponge cakes Stuffed desserts Brand name desserts {{dessert-stub