Homemade Frozen Treats ~ July 2012 Topic Community Forums - p1

Homemade Frozen Treats ~ July 2012 Topic

Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:31 am

Forum Host

~ With the hot and humid summer days ahead of us, it’s always nice to cool off with a sweet treat from the freezer. What better way to quench that thirst for coolness than to relax with a double scoop of ice cream, fruity sorbet, or a triple-flavor popsicle.

There are variations of ice cream served throughout the world, such as gelato, frozen yogurt, frozen custard, sherbet and sorbet. When frozen into molds with a stick inserted at the bottom, ice cream or sorbet bases can be served as popsicles.

~ Ice cream has been around for a long time, dating back to the Persian Empire when grape juice concentrate was poured over snow and enjoyed as a treat. Arabs were the first to use milk as a major ingredient, sweetening it with sugar rather than fruit juices.

In her History of Food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat claims that the Chinese were perhaps the first to be credited with inventing a device to make sorbets and ice cream, using syrup (rather than salt) to lower the freezing point to below zero.

~ Ice cream recipes were first published in 1718, and the earliest reference to ice cream was given by the Oxford English Dictionary in 1744. But It was the Quaker colonists who introduced ice cream to the United States, first selling it in shops in New York and other cities. It was made by hand in a large vat placed inside a tub with ice and salt to ensure the mixture reached below the freezing point. Being tedious and labor intensive to make and store, it tended to be a luxury in most areas (as the finished batches were usually quite difficult to store properly). Ice cream was, nonetheless, the favorite treat of such dignitaries as Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. In addition, First Lady Dolly Madison is said to have been an avid fan of ice cream, too, which she served it at her husband’s inaugural ball in 1813.

However, ice cream shops became quite popular throughout the world in the 20th century after cheap refrigeration made it possible to keep finished batches properly frozen. What followed was an explosion of ice cream shops that cropped up almost everywhere, making ice cream a common treat for all to enjoy.

~ The important development in the 20th Century was the introduction of soft ice cream, developed by a British research team (of which a young Margaret Thatcher was a member).

Ice cream serves the basis of many well-known desserts and frozen treats that are all-time favorites around the world, such as

Root beer floats

Ice cream sundaes

Frozen ice cream pies

Milkshakes

Banana splits

Ice cream cakes

Bananas Foster

Cherries Jubilee

Baked Alaska

~ Of course, ice cream can stand alone and be enjoyed right from the bowl, or served in a sugar or waffle cone. But besides luscious, delectable ice cream, other favorite summertime frozen treats include popsicles, juice pops, ice pops (such as the Otter Pops brand) and snow cones.