First sale venue is Berry Bros & Rudd (tel: 0870 900 4300, ), which has stock left over from its acquisition last year of the wonderful Burgundy specialist Morris & Verdin. But some sale offers demand special attention, and two of them are currently running at prominent UK wine retailers. Warning: I can't promise any of the following is still relevant. As we stand by the tiny counter, children and adults alike squeeze into the shop to select their favourite flavours - Valrhona chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, followed by mango sorbet It almost feels like Italy.

Opinions differ on the ices, some loving his "Ace" - orange, carrot and lemon sorbet (apparently a classic-pick-me up ice in Italy), while others prefer his aromatic, pale-green Aloe Vera ice (£2.25 per scoop)."Although there is a lot of experimentation in ice-cream flavours," muses Beattie, "people still mainly go for the classic flavours, such as chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla, pistachio and strawberry". But, I think, what about mango, cardamom or even passion fruit with white chocolate? These are all flavours I have come across today yet, 10 years ago, they would have been regarded as too exotic.By the time we reach Oddono's, even Beattie looks a bit ice-creamed out, so it is a relief to find that the tempting array of home-made sorbets and ice creams taste as good as they look. (Emulsifiers, in case you are wondering, are used to ensure that the fat and water remain bound together when mixed.) Huffer's "English apricot" ice cream (£2 per scoop) is, as Beattie puts it, "the mutt's nuts", with its creamy custard base and tart, sour-cream finish. Nor can we fault her strawberry sundae (£6), which we all demolish in minutes.Refreshed, we head off for our final two ice-cream makers: Morelli's in Harrods and Oddono's, a new Italian artisan gelato-maker based in South Kensington The Harrods branch of Morelli's is run by Gino Soldan.

He is obsessed by ice cream and, as he enthusiastically tells us, is prepared to make it in any flavour. Some of his more bizarre commissions have been for "baked beans on toast" and "Marmite with pickled onion and white chocolate".Gino whisks one ice cream after another under our noses with the air of a concerned artist. She is pastry chef at the Atlantic Bar and Grill, and makes all the Inn the Park's scoopable ice cream, with no additives, emulsifiers or stabilisers. Not a patch on the mini-tubs of Hill Station's excellent (stabiliser- and emulsifier-free) ice cream sold at the London Eye (£1.90).However, we are consoled with Jane Huffer's creations.