Amazing Ice Cream in Marbella | How to Impress Your Spanish Wedding Guests

Charly Cook’s Fabulous Rolled Ice Cream will be the Centrepiece of Your Spanish Wedding Feast…

You are in for a taste sensation in today’s very special feature! Sunshine Weddings Spain was honoured to visit the legendary Charly Cook in Marbella recently to sample his exquisite Thai-style rolled ice cream, just perfect for Spanish wedding celebrations. Be prepared for some serious culinary cravings in our exclusive interview with the Costa del Sol-based chef…

I have been a chef for 23 years, learning from and working alongside some of the most talented people in the business. I have worked in some of the top kitchens in Europe – with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in the UK, Ferran Adria at elBulli, and Ren Redzepi at Noma… the latter establishment winning the award of best restaurant in the world several times over. My passion for ice cream actually started in China when I observed the Thai way to make ice creams, using a special rolling technique and working with a frozen pan. The result is really effective, as well as delicious.

Eventually, I set up my own ice cream business in Brighton, UK. Whilst my company still has a base there, I decided to move to Spain (the great weather was definitely a factor!), but I also saw a niche in the Spanish market for my unique way of making ice cream and my flavour pairings. There had been no real groundbreaking catering advances made in the field of ice cream here for twenty years, so I introduced the Costa del Sol to my cocktail-infused single ice cream rolls and they went down extremely well.

My ice cream lends itself perfectly to a wedding celebration – or a pool party (in fact my company is the official ice cream supplier for the exclusive Nikki Beach resorts in Marbella and Mallorca). It’s easy to transport via an aircraft-style trolley, it compliments the beautiful hot weather, and it delivers the ultimate wow factor for bridal couples and their guests. Then of course, there is the theatrics of the ice cream rolling, which always puts a smile on peoples’ faces…

My team and I work with many flavour combinations. Some of the most popular are Oreo and Nutella, Kinder Bueno, Banana and Dulce de Leche, Vegan Strawberry and Lotus, Banana Baileys and Salted Caramel, and Champagne or Vodka with Strawberries. The latter, our ice cocktails, are hugely popular too, with taste sensations such as Passion Fruit Mojito, Mango Daiquiri, Pi�a Colada, and Irish Coffee with Jameson Whiskey, delivering the best of both worlds: a hit of alcohol and the rich creaminess of ice cream.

We also create healthy-style ice cream rolls composed of fresh fruit and chia seeds. In fact, many couples choose vegan ice cream rolls (which are sugar, dairy and gluten-free) with a delicious yoghurt base for their weddings – they have become very popular.

We will have some exciting new products to launch ready for the 2022, and I’ll have updates on those after the summer…

We always talk in depth with couples before their wedding to make sure we cover every taste, intolerance, and allergy requirement of the wedding guests. This is really important, and as far as intolerances are concerned, we make that ice cream separately. So, if for example, one of your guests requires a gluten-free ice cream roll, this will be made before the others. We tend to avoid nuts full stop. It’s safer and easier that way.

One of my favourite Costa del Sol wedding memories has to be when my team and I catered for a large Indian wedding at one of Marbella’s most exclusive golf resorts and hotels. The wedding lasted for three days and we were catering for 400 people per day… so 1200 guests in total from Friday through to Sunday, serving three hours each day. It was super busy but a really special honour.

Newlyweds tend to opt for the ice cream to be served after the cake. We are also in demand to provide ice cream at pool parties, after the BBQ.

We have the vision and the capacity to cater for one hundred weddings a year, so that’s our short-term goal.

Having sampled some of the mouthwatering array of ice cream flavours ourselves, we are highly confident of Charly’s vision becoming a reality. These little luxurious desserts really are a culinary wedding experience not to be missed! A big THANK YOU to Charly for his time and hospitality. We are so excited to work with him at many more weddings!