Melburnians have even more places to get their ice-cream and gelato fix this summer as high-quality scoop shops open at all points of the city’s compass. Add these to your summer bucket list.

SOUTH

The Messina juggernaut has touched down (again) in Melbourne’s south, with Malvern the fifth lucky suburb to get a piece of their wildly OTT ice-cream. Also for sale: cakes and the brand’s very own Jersey milk (sourced from its farm in northern Victoria and used in the ice-cream). But the real reason you’re here is to experience the delicious decision paralysis generated by the range of flavours, including perennial favourites macadamia crunch and hokey pokey, and head-turning specials like pink-swirled finger bun or “caramel on caramel on caramel”.

Open Sun-Thu noon-10.30pm, Fri-Sat noon-11pm

225 Glenferrie Road, Malvern, gelatomessina.com

NORTH

Sundae School Ice-Creamery’s chef-created wonders are now available far beyond the original Caulfield North shop. A quaint little space with bay windows in a Fitzroy North shopping strip is the perfect setting for the artisanal creations of former fine-dining chef Karina Serex, who serves just 10 flavours at a time in a frequently changing cabinet.

Lemon creamsicle is a happy accident created by churning lemon sorbet with vanilla one day, while orange sherbet is a buttermilk-based flavour that’s egg-free, refreshing and tart. There’s also a vegan iced-coffee sorbet, blueberry cheesecake, and cardamom with burnt honey and pistachio. Sundaes and spiders are also available.

Open Wed-Fri 2pm-9.30pm, Sat-Sun noon-9.30pm

344 Queens Parade, Fitzroy North, @sundaeschoolicecreamery

EAST

Camberwell cafe Fordham’s Milk Bar has opened an ice-cream shop next door. The space – previously used to make the cafe’s pastry – is now a bright, vintage-inspired shop with timber and whitewashed finishes serving eight flavours, all made with Riverina Fresh milk. Choose from strawberry cheesecake, tiramisu, hazelnut, mango sorbet and more. On Sunday nights, the cafe serves $20 pizzas from its backyard pizza oven.

Open Mon-Tue 7am-4pm, Wed-Sun 7am-9pm

118 Fordham Avenue, Camberwell, fordhamsmilkbar.com.au

WEST

Biancolatte has gone from a single roaming gelato cart to three shops in 11 years. Its latest is a petite space in Yarraville where gleaming silver pozzetti hide 18 flavours, many of them traditional Italian favourites. Rich pistachio, blood orange sorbet, and stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate flakes) are complemented by more contemporary scoops such as cold-brew coffee, Basque cheesecake and coconut chocolate.

The gelato is rivalled by cannoli filled with ricotta in flavours of Belgian chocolate, pistachio and honey-almond. Everything, from fillings to shells, is made in-house by Biancolatte’s Sicilian pastry chef.

Open Tue-Thu 3pm-9pm, Fri 3pm-10pm, Sat 1pm-10pm, Sun 1pm-8.30pm

17 Ballarat Street, Yarraville, biancolatte.com.au

PLUS

In December, it’ll be 10 years since Pidapipo scooped its first cup of gelato made from whole fruits, nuts and dairy, with no syrups or ingredients made in a laboratory. It raised the bar for gelato across the city.

True to form, the gelateria’s 10-year celebrations include a showstopper of a cake created with Beatrix Bakes’ Natalie Paull: a riff on Beatrix’s Peach Alabama sponge cake. The log-shaped, sponge-encased gelato version ($120, serves 12) gives nothing away until the first slice is cut, revealing a stunning cross-section of mascarpone-zabaglione gelato and poached peach sorbetto.

It’s already available for preorder, and will be available at all stores (CBD, Carlton, Windsor and Fitzroy) from December 7 to 31. Or join the queue for a free slice from 5pm on Wednesday, December 6 at 429-431 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

pidapipo.com