Category: Dessert Recipes

Be Cool With Ice Cream!

More than two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson loved vanilla ice cream; in the present-day, it is the best-selling flavor of ice cream in the United States. Tried-and-true, there is simply nothing outdated, old-fashioned, or boring about “plain old vanilla”! Times change, of course, and changing times mean new fads and trends– some of which fade quickly, but others which hold out in their popularity. This fact is as true about ice cream as any other trend; and there have been many trends in what is made and what is preferred in ice cream ever since it first came to America. Attempting to assess and cater to the wishes of the people, ice cream manufacturers have come up with nearly-endless varieties of ice cream products, ranging from basic products to those which are more than slightly odd.

While there are numerous ice cream products sold in a variety of forms, such as bars, sticks, sundaes, and many others, the widest range of variety can be found in the basic in-a-box containers at your local grocery stores and in-a-scoop at ice cream shops. With the assumption that every person is different, and that every person desires newness and change, there is seemingly no end to the varieties which you can now choose from. Perhaps it may be thought odd, though– or perhaps not– that those who patronize such wonderful establishments as Baskin-Robbins 31-Flavors still have a distinct preference for vanilla!

One of the newest types of ice cream, although it has been around for awhile, are the “designer” styles. Mostly popular amongst the younger generation, attraction to specific brand-names is the main focus. Ben and Jerry’s is one of the most popular brands. Ben and Jerry’s best-selling ice cream, “Cherry Garcia,” is nearly a staple amongst the younger crowd. Some of Ben and Jerry’s other top-ten ice creams boast names such as Chunky Monkey, Coffee Health Bar Crunch, and New York Super Fudge Chunk. If you cannot find an ice cream that suits your personal tastes, Ben and Jerry’s welcomes you to suggest a new style for their consideration.

While the phrase “Dove Bar” often brings to mind a basic, albeit delicious, ice cream bar where the only choices offered are whether you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate coating, Dove also offers chocolate fans a tempting variety of ice cream flavors. Although the calorie content in Dove ice cream is a bit higher than in most of the other popular brands, you may still wish to indulge in such tasty treats as Triple Chocolate (at 340 calories per serving), Unconditional Chocolate (300 calories per serving), Chocolate and Brownie Affair (310 calories per serving), or Vanilla With a Chocolate Soul (300 calories per serving). For those with an on-the-go active lifestyle, Dove also makes its original and flavor varieties in ice cream miniatures.

If you crave a sense of “different,” there are many options which easily fall into this category. While you may be saddened to learn that Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter and Jelly, Bovinity Divinity, and Miz Jelena’s Sweet Potato Pie ice creams are no longer in existence, ice cream manufacturers continue to seek out the unusual tastes of their consumers and supply equally-unusual new flavors which will cater to such tastes. As “being cool” is frequently taken to mean being as outrageous as possible, you have the choice of such unusual treats as Mashed Potato and Bacon ice cream, Chili Con Carne ice cream, Tuna Fish ice cream, and Horseradish and Beer ice cream. Or, you can remain cool by conforming with the majority of the American population, and select the flavor which has remained at the top of the best-selling list for more than two hundred years: vanilla.

All About Ice Cream

Ice cream, America’s favorite treat, has been around for a very long time. It is believed that some form of ice cream dates back to 200 B.C. Folk lore has it that in the 1st Century, Roman Emperor Nero ordered his slaves to bring ice from the mountains to make his iced mixture with fruit topping.

Another form of ice cream was made by King Tang of China (A. D. 618-97). He combined ice and milk. From China ice cream was brought to Europe when, in the 1200’s Marco Polo had brought an ice cream sorbet recipe back with him to Europe from the Far East. The recipe called for the ingredients snow and milk. Ice cream was later imported from Europe to the United States where it was served by Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to their guests.

In New York City, in 1776, the first ice cream parlor was opened. The word ice cream was started by the American Colonists. They first called it “iced” cream and it was later shortened to “ice” cream. In 1777 Philip Lenzi, a confectioner, placed the first newspaper advertisement for ice cream in the New York Gazette.

When First Lady Dolly Madison was in the white house from 1809 to 1817, she served ice cream to guests. Ice cream was even served to immigrants as part of their meal when they arrived at Ellis Island.

The hand crank ice cream maker or freezer was invented in 1846 by Nancy Johnson. Today, ice cream is still made using the basic method of the hand-crank ice cream freezer. In 1848 a similar ice cream freezer, the Johnson Patent Ice-Cream Freezer was patented. By 1850 ice cream had become a popular treat. It wasn’t until 1851 that Jacob Fussell’s Baltimore Company began to manufacture and market ice cream commercially.

It isn’t clear who or when someone realized that mixing the cream in a small pewter pot inside of a larger pot filled with salt mixed with ice would lower the temperature of the ingredients. The wooden freezer bucket and paddles would open the way for the larger-scale manufacture of ice cream. Historians disagree on when the ice cream cone was invented. It has been said that the ice cream cone was invented in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904 when on July 23 Charles E. Minches thought of making a pastry cone and filled it with two ice cream scoops. The ice cream cone first appeared at the St. Louis World’s Fair later in the year where, historians believe, there were more than 50 ice cream cone vendors.

Historians also believe that before the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, metal and paper cones were being used. England was also already selling edible ice cream cones. Another theory is that prior to the 1904 World’s Fair, an ice cream vendor from New York City had grown tired of customers pilfering his serving dishes, so he invented an ice cream cone in 1896.

In 1926 Clarence Vogt came up with a process of continuously freezing ice cream for the commercial manufacturing of ice cream. By the 1930’s ice cream had a huge increase in popularity and many flavors of ice cream and sherbets had become available.

By the 20th Century many flavors of ice cream were being sold on a large scale in grocery stores, supermarkets and ice-cream franchises. With the many flavors of ice cream available in supermarkets and eateries, vanilla is still America’s favorite and chocolate is the second favorite flavor of ice cream.