I Scream... for Ice Cream
Jan Erik Gjestvang-Lucky
Merchandiser

“Cookie Monster” is the nickname I got from my wife when she was pregnant, but I could almost as easily have been “Ice Cream Monster.” As she stopped eating sweets because of concerns about gestational glucose intolerance, I seemed to pick up her slack; my sugar intake probably doubled during that time. Not surprisingly, ice cream played a part in that increase. It has been a weakness of mine since I was a kid, first in its creamy, dairy goodness, and now in its milk-free forms. Because July is National Ice Cream Month (declared so by President Reagan in 1984), it seems to be the perfect time to talk about ice cream in its many varieties, its history, and even how you can make some yourself.

Frozen Desserts
People usually use the term “ice cream” to refer to frozen desserts in general, but there are several different types of frozen desserts, with ice cream being just one of them. Most of them are made by a similar process, which involves cooling the ingredients to below freezing while stirring to keep ice crystals from forming. This keeps the texture creamy and smooth. The stirring also mixes in air and increases the volume of the finished product by as much as 50%. Soft-serve ice cream is ready to serve at this point, but hard pack (scoopable) ice cream is then hardened by rapid deep-freezing.

Here are some typical definitions of frozen desserts (all of the percentages below refer to weight):
Ice cream is a frozen dessert with at least 10% milk fat.

Ice milk has 3-5% milk fat, and is usually less sweet than ice cream.

Frozen custard also has at least 10% milk fat, but usually more milk fat than ice cream, and also has egg yolk.

Sherbet is sweeter than ice cream, but has only 1-2% milk fat.

Sorbet is fruit-based and has no milk products at all.

Non-dairy “ice cream” is made with a variety of milk-free bases, including soy, rice, and oats.

The Components of Ice Cream
To be more specific about ice cream, it usually has a milk fat content of 10%-16%. Milk fat gives rich flavor and smooth texture to the ice cream, while adding body. Non-fat milk solids are 9-12% of weight, and are made up of casein and whey, which are proteins, and lactose, a carbohydrate. The proteins help with emulsification (blending two items that usually don’t mix, i.e. fat and water) and help create texture and body. Sweeteners usually make up 12-16%. Other than enhancing flavors and texture, sweeteners reduce the freezing point of ice cream, which keeps it soft enough to scoop and eat at very low temperatures. Water, from the milk and other ingredients, makes up the largest part at 55-64%. Least in weight, but not importance, are the emulsifiers and stabilizers at 0.2-0.5%. Emulsifiers help the ingredients blend together well, making a smoother, more stable product. The original emulsifier was egg yolk, but most commercial ice creams use mono- and di-glycerides, or polysorbate 80. Stabilizers, not surprisingly, help stabilize the product by keeping the respective ingredients blended together during production, transport and storage. They also help prevent the formation of ice crystals when the ice cream partially melts and then refreezes. Gelatin was the original stabilizer, but plant-based stabilizers, such as guar gum and carageenan, have almost completely replaced it because they are less expensive and more effective.

The Origin of Ice Cream
Even though the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of what is also known as “The Great American Dessert,” ice cream was not invented here. There is no clear record of ice cream’s origins, but frozen desserts and iced drinks are mentioned in connection with Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.E.), and King Solomon. Roman Emperor Nero (15-68 C.E.) may not have fiddled in the flames, but he did have cold rooms built under his palace to hold snow brought from the mountains so he could indulge his taste for a fruit ice made with snow and pureed fruit. Marco Polo is said to have brought back to Italy a recipe for an iced dessert from China. Even if he didn’t, Arab traders did; they then shared these recipes with Venetians and Romans. An iced dessert similar to sorbet came to France from Italy via Catherine de Medici, who married France’s King Henry II in 1533. In Paris in 1660, a Sicilian named Procopio was the first to offer ice cream to the public at his Café Procope. He served ice cream made with milk, cream, butter, and eggs. Europe eventually exported the idea of ice cream to North America.

The first mention of ice cream in the new world appeared in 1700, in a letter describing an elaborate dinner party given by the Governor of Maryland. Ninety years later, George Washington spent $200 dollars on ice cream over one summer. At that point ice cream was still mostly a rare treat for the elite. It didn’t become more available to the general public until the early 1800s, when insulated icehouses were invented, and it helped even more when the first ice cream factory opened in 1851.

Sodas, Sundaes & Cones
The ice cream soda was accidentally created in 1874 when a soda water vendor substituted ice cream for cream (which he had run out of) in his soda water, cream, and syrup beverage; customers loved it. The invention of the ice cream sundae is also connected to soda water. Some towns banned the sale of soda water on Sundays because it was considered improper during Victorian times. A legal “Sunday” was created by removing the soda water from ice cream sodas, leaving just ice cream, syrup, and whipped cream. The spelling was later changed to “Sundae” out of respect for the Sabbath. The 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis is often credited with the creation of the ice cream cone. An ice cream seller reportedly ran out of cones, and improvised with a wafer-like Syrian cookie from a neighboring cart. A flat-bottomed cone was patented by in 1903 by a Wall Street ice cream vendor who was tired of people breaking them or walking off with his glass serving dishes.

Today’s Ice Cream
Modern mass-produced ice cream became possible with the invention of modern refrigeration and freezing technology in 1926, and the process has stayed basically the same since then. There are, however, continuing changes in how ice cream is made and what is in demand. Recent trends (in the last 10-15 years) are toward low-fat and dairy free alternatives, sometimes both together. Paradoxically, another trend has been toward gourmet ice cream, which is very rich and delicious, but tends to have more fat than regular ice cream. One website promoted the possibilities of ice cream as a functional food, which are foods that have health benefits beyond those of the basic ingredients. I can only imagine where this might lead: Happy Cream (with st. john’s wort), Vita-Cream (contains a complete multivitamin), or maybe ImmunoCream (with double doses of echinacea and goldenseal).

Make Some at Home
If you would like to try making your own ice cream (you’ll have to choose your own functional additives), there are a couple of recipes below. The first is for real dairy ice cream, and the second for a dairy-free alternative. You may also want to look at the websites for more recipes. Good luck and happy licking!

Cookie Dough Ice Cream
(from www.makeicecream.com)
2 cups milk
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup chocolate chip cookie dough
2 cups light cream
Scald milk until bubbles form around edge. Remove from heat. Add the sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved. Stir in light cream, vanilla, and the heavy cream. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Freeze as directed by your ice cream machine’s instructions. Once ice cream has been through the entire ice cream machine process and is now a chilled soft ice cream, add the chocolate chip cookie dough. Just break up the dough as best you can with your hands and drop it in small clusters into the soft ice cream. Try to mix it around to ensure that the cookie dough is evenly distributed throughout the ice cream. Put the ice cream in the freezer for several hours until hardened.

Non-Dairy Strawberry Ice Cream
(from www.veganchef.com)
2 cups apple juice
3 T. agar-agar flakes
2 - 12.3 oz. pkgs. Mori-Nu silken style tofu, extra firm
1 1/2 cups soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice
1 cup unbleached cane sugar (or brown rice syrup or maple syrup), or to taste
2 T. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen sliced strawberries
In a small saucepan, place the apple juice and agar-agar flakes, and simmer for 5 minutes to thoroughly dissolve the agar-agar flakes. Meanwhile, in a food processor, process the tofu for 2 minutes to form a smooth puree. Add the agar-agar mixture, soy milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt, and process for 1-2 minutes or until very smooth and creamy. Taste and add additional sweetener or vanilla, if desired. Add the strawberries and pulse 3 times.

If you have an ice cream maker, transfer the mixture to the ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Or, pour the mixture into a large shallow pan, and place it in the freezer. Stir the mixture every hour or so to give it a smooth texture. When completely frozen, remove it from the freezer, and allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container, return the mixture to the freezer, and freeze until solid. Serve as an accompaniment to cakes, pies, desserts, or as a refresher. Variation: for a Strawberry-Banana flavor, substitute 1 mashed banana for half of the sliced strawberries. Or if you don’t mind the extra fat, adding a couple of tablespoons of a mild vegetable oil to the mixture before freezing will result in a rich and creamy texture. Feel free to experiment with the recipe by adding additional flavorings, or chopped fruit or nuts. Yield: 1 1/2 Quarts