Sunday, July 17 is national ice cream day

What do you think of when you think of summer? For many it’s the hot summer days, and a cool treat to beat the heat. Ice cream is a hit with all ages, and most people (and dogs!) love it from their very first taste.

Vanilla continues to be America’s flavor of choice in ice cream and novelties, in both supermarket and foodservice sales. This flavor is the most versatile, mixing well with toppings, drinks and bakery desserts. America’s top five favorite individual flavors are vanilla, chocolate, cookie ‘n cream, strawberry and chocolate chip mint.

However, ice cream flavors are only limited by the imagination. Manufacturers, scoop shops and chefs constantly come up with new and exciting flavors for their customers. To keep consumers looking to see what’s next in the freezer case, individual processors often release limited time “seasonal” flavors, such as gingerbread, peppermint or caramel ice cream for the November/December holidays.

Ice cream was first introduced here in American in the 1700s, although it was served at royal tables in Europe in the 15 and 1600s.

Wide availability of ice cream in the late 1800s led to new creations. In 1874, the American soda fountain shop and the profession of the “soda jerk” emerged with the invention of the ice cream soda. In response to religious criticism for eating “sinfully” rich ice cream sodas on Sundays, ice cream merchants left out the carbonated water and invented the ice cream “Sunday” in the late 1890s. The name was eventually changed to “sundae” to remove any connection with the Sabbath.
If all this talk of ice cream is making you want to head straight to the store or your favorite ice cream shoppe, try one of the sundae desserts on our recipe page.

If you have a favorite ice cream recipe you’d like to share with us, we’d love to print it. Just send it to news@cedarspringspost.com.