Kate Wills

The biggest queue in London this summer? Not a secret Peruvian pop-up bar on the roof of a car park in Peckham but your local ice-cream van, because nothing says summer in the city like a serving of the cold stuff. As Scoop – London’s first museum of ice cream – opens, allow us to present an A-Z of frozen creamy goodness. Whether you and your little ones opt for a charcoal Mr Whippy made with liquid nitrogen or a rainbow-coloured unicorn froyo, London’s ice-cream scene has come a long way from the humble 99 Flake. A is for… AvolatoStill Instagramming actual avocados? On toast? So 2017. You want to get down to Snowflake, where £9.50 will buy you a dairy-free, vegan, avocado-flavoured gelato, served in a real avocado shell, with an edible nut-butter ‘stone’. This is the reason you’ll never get on the housing ladder. B is for… Brain freezeLove eating large quantities of salted caramel sorbet but hate the intense stabbing pain in your head? Relax! You’re just experiencing sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia aka ‘brain freeze’. When ice cream touches the top of your mouth, the nerve centre overreacts to the cold by trying to heat your brain, causing the ouch. To prevent it, warm the roof of your mouth by pressing it firmly with the underside of your tongue or a warm thumb (ideally your own). C is for… Charles IIThe ‘Merry Monarch’ was the first recorded person in England to serve ice cream at his lavish Garter Banquet in 1671. The delicacy for the royal table was ‘one plate of white s