Ginger’s Comfort Emporium is about as luxurious as an ice cream van can get. The hand-decorated truck peddles ice cream and desserts after dark to the lucky grown-ups of Manchester. We spoke to Claire Kelsey, the brains behind this dessert wagon, about recipes gone wrong and the city’s budding street food scene.

Ginger’s Comfort Emporium

What persuaded you to start an “ice cream van for grown-ups?”

My sweet tooth and a taste for the unusual. It was meant to be a fun side project to my day job as a chef and food stylist, but it’s taken over everything.

I love experimenting and ice cream is a perfect canvas for trying flavour combinations. My Roast Banana, Caramel and Peanut has just won a NorthWest Fine Food Award. (I’ve got nothing against children eating the goods by the way, I encourage it.)

Your spring menu has some pretty unusual ice cream flavours (we’re drooling over the Marmalade & Toast). Are there any concoctions that didn’t turn out quite so well?

A couple…I tried to infuse the taste of menthol into some milk using menthol chewing gum, I didn’t strain it through properly and the ice-cream was all stringy and gooey! And for some mad moment I thought molasses and Cointreau would work together. They don’t.

The flavours on offer at Ginger’s

What do you think of the street food scene in Manchester? Do you have any particular favourites?

There’s an amazing curry shack in Ardwick…if it’s got a name I don’t know it but it’s green. And you can’t turn a corner in Chorlton on a Saturday without bumping into someone or another BBQ’ing sausages on the street. All top quality.

When you’re not in your ice cream van, what are your favourite things to do in Manchester?

Wander round the great food shops and delis of South Manchester, prop up the bar in the underground Temple of Convenience on Oxford Road, then go sky high for panoramic views at Cloud Bar, Hilton Hotel.

Thinking of tracking down Ginger’s Comfort Emporium this summer? The ice cream truck will he pulling up at these festivals and events:

Chorlton and Didsbury Street Markets

Leeds Riviera (26th June)

Gelato Festival Islington Wharf (9th July)

Secret Garden Party (21-24th July)

Just So Festival (18-21st August)

Harvest at Jimmy’s (9-11th September)