Ice cream is a truly ubiquitous food; it's loved around the world, and most of us have fond memories of it in some form, be it an ice lolly from the corner shop or unforgettable gelato on an Italian adventure. Although it can be the perfect counterpoint to a hearty chocolate brownie or apple crumble in the colder months, ice cream really comes into its own when the weather hots up and the days grow longer. A cone enjoyed during a stroll along the beach or a refreshing sorbet after dinner – it's hard to top, as far as we're concerned.

And while ice cream certainly doesn't need to be fancy, sometimes an extra few steps or little bit of planning can take a classic to new heights. There aren't many people who know this better than chefs, who spend their days rethinking ingredients and combinations in the name of deliciousness, so we've followed their lead by pulling together some of their best ice cream recipes. There are dinner party desserts, soft serves and simple scoops packed with new and interesting flavours, all for you to enjoy.

In this grown-up take on a childhood classic, chef William Curley swaps out wafers for macarons and plumps for nostalgic ice cream flavours (rum and raisin and mint choc chip) for the fillings. With a few different elements, you'll need to start prep for this the day before, but we promise the extra effort is well worth it. 

You'll need to get your hands on a soft serve ice cream machine for this recipe from Jack Croft and Will Murray, but it's definitely worth tracking one down. This moorish and complex dessert is made up of malty brown bread ice cream on a chocolatey crumble, drizzled with a home-made caramel sauce.  

In this clever dessert, Nina Matsunaga uses sakura – the Japanese word for cherry blossom – to make a perfumed syrup which forms the base of her floral ice cream. She then uses anko, a sweet paste made from red adzuki beans, to fill monaka (sweet wafer shells made from mochi). The ingredients can be found in Japanese supermarkets or online.

This intensely flavoured ice cream from Jeremy Chan relies on the fat inside the walnuts to set the ice cream, which intensifies the finished result. Its base of frozen roasted white chocolate gives the dish a toasted sweetness, and it's finished with a coffee uda oil, made using Grains of Selim, a fruity, peppery spice from West Africa. It's a challenging but completely stunning ice cream.

This tartufo di Pizzo originates from Pizzo in Calabria and is one of chef Francesco Mazzei's favourite dishes from the region. A chocolate ice cream bombe has a hidden centre of hazelnut ice cream, sugared hazelnuts and a thick chocolate sauce. The dish requires hours of chilling and freezing, but all the elements can be prepared well in advance, making it a perfect dinner party dessert.

You might be – or, realistically, probably are – yet to try potato ice cream, but chef Jan Ostle says the starchy spuds make a particularly dense and rich version (this recipe actually first came about to use up a glut of potatoes). The chocolate mousse comes together very quickly and the combination of the two is deliciously unique – a great one if you're looking to impress at a dinner party.

Helen Graham's stunning ice cream dessert combines the zing of tangerines, sweetness of dates and richness of tahini. It's rippled with a date and tangerine jam and drizzled with fresh tahini and date syrup, taking some of the best flavours of the Middle East and channelling them into a frozen classic you'll enjoy all year round.

Sorbet more your thing? Our recipe collection is right this way.