Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Ice Cream Trivia: Fun & Interesting Information

By Marquerite Velasquez


We may all scream for ice cream, but certainly everyone screams for different flavors and styles of this tasty and creamy treat. By far the most popular flavor of ice cream that is purchased is vanilla. Chocolate is a strong number two in terms of popularity, but the flavor in the No. 3 spot might actually surprise you a little. Butter pecan beat out flavors such as rocky road, strawberry and cookies and cream. In addition to these flavorful facts, here are few more interesting tidbits about ice cream.

Ice cream has been a part of our nation's history right from its earliest days, and the United States consumes more ice cream than any other country on earth. We eat about 48 pints of ice cream per person each year on average, which adds up to a pretty substantial amount. Even our earliest presidents were ice cream lovers. Thomas Jefferson often served this treat at his home in Monticello, and Dolley Madison ordered that ice cream should be served at her husband's inaugural ball.

In fact, about 10 percent of the milk produced by our American dairy cows is used to make ice cream. Obviously, you knew that cream and then sugar are two ingredients in every batch of ice cream, but actually the most significant ingredient is air. That's right, it's oxygen. After all, to get that creamy consistency, you have to incorporate air. Ice cream is actually whipped and that's when the air is added, just like when you make whipped cream.

One of the most popular ways to enjoy ice cream is by eating an ice cream sandwich, and when we think about this ice cream novelty, we generally conjure up an image of a rectangular block of vanilla ice cream with dark cookies wrapped in wax paper. This particular version of ice cream sandwich was developed and mass produced beginning around 1945. Earlier versions using different shapes and kinds of cookies were being sold even in the late 19th century.

While you can certainly purchase ice cream sandwiches at your local supermarket, it's more fun and tastier to head to Culver City and enjoy a gourmet ice cream sandwich at Yo Ku Mon. These ice cream sandwiches include a scoop of ice cream smashed between two freshly baked cookies.

There are eight cookie types, including standards such as oatmeal-raisin and chocolate chip, as well as red velvet, white chocolate macadamia nut and double chocolate. They even offer gluten free cookies. You can choose any two cookie types you want and then select one of 12 ice cream flavors to put in between the cookies. One of the best sellers is a scoop of cheesecake ice cream between two red velvet cookies. All of the ice cream sandwiches are just $2, so this is one of the most affordable gourmet ice cream treats you can buy.




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