127 Fun Facts About Ice Cream

Which two flavors together held about 40% of the US ice cream market as of 2008?

Vanilla and chocolate are America's two best-selling flavors; in 2008 industry surveys they held about 40% of the US market together, with vanilla alone accounting for roughly a quarter of sales.

Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains how much butterfat?

Artisanal Italian gelato generally runs 6-9% butterfat, below the federal minimum for anything labeled ice cream in the United States, which is why gelato tastes more of its flavoring than of cream.

How many flavors does Baskin-Robbins famously claim to offer?

Baskin-Robbins is famous for its '31 flavors' slogan, representing a different flavor for each day of the month. The company was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins.

What three flavors make up Neapolitan ice cream?

Neapolitan ice cream is vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry frozen side by side in one block; it is cut in slices so every serving delivers all three flavors, a style American parlors were selling by the late 1800s.

What is the main difference between sorbet and ice cream?

Sorbet is a frozen dessert made from water, sugar, and flavoring (usually fruit). Unlike ice cream, it contains no dairy products, making it suitable for those who are lactose intolerant or vegan.

Brain freeze is triggered when something cold touches which part of the body?

Cold against the roof of the mouth (the palate) makes blood vessels there constrict then swell, and the pain is referred up into the forehead; the medical name is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.

Which company owns Magic Shell, the topping that hardens on contact with cold ice cream?

Magic Shell is a Smucker's brand; its coconut-oil base is solid below about 24 °C (76 °F), so the syrup hardens into a crackable shell seconds after hitting cold ice cream.

What is a banana split traditionally served in?

A banana split is served in a long, boat-shaped dish with the banana halved lengthwise along its sides; David Strickler, a pharmacy apprentice in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, is credited with inventing it in 1904.

At the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, Ernest Hamwi improvised an ice cream container by curling what?

Hamwi, a Syrian concessionaire, curled a waffle cookie into a receptacle for the ice cream; the story is much disputed, but he went on to start his own cone-making company.

What flavor is Rocky Road ice cream?

Rocky Road is chocolate ice cream studded with marshmallows and nuts; Dreyer's credits William Dreyer with creating it in Oakland in 1929, and its name was meant to cheer people up after the stock market crash.

What French term describes a slice of pie served with a scoop of ice cream?

À la mode, literally 'in the fashion', is the American term for pie topped with a scoop of ice cream; the phrase took on that meaning in the United States in the 1890s.

Which Japanese treat wraps a ball of ice cream in thin pounded sticky-rice dough?

Mochi ice cream wraps a ball of ice cream in a thin skin of mochi, pounded glutinous rice; Frances Hashimoto of Los Angeles confectioner Mikawaya popularized it in the United States in the 1990s.

What is kulfi?

Kulfi is a traditional Indian frozen dairy dessert made by slowly boiling down sweetened milk; it is not churned as it freezes, so it comes out denser than ice cream and melts more slowly.

When is National Ice Cream Day celebrated in the United States?

National Ice Cream Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of July in the United States. It was designated by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, who also declared July as National Ice Cream Month.

What ingredient gives mint chocolate chip ice cream its green color?

The green comes from added food coloring; peppermint or spearmint extract is colorless, which is why many artisan and 'natural' mint chip ice creams are white.

What is the term for the amount of air whipped into ice cream during production?

Overrun is the industry term for the amount of air incorporated into ice cream during the churning process. Premium ice cream typically has 25-50% overrun, while cheaper brands may have up to 100% overrun, meaning the volume is doubled with air.

Which U.S. president served ice cream at the White House and helped popularize it in America?

He did not introduce ice cream to America as often claimed, but he did help introduce vanilla, and records preserve his 18-step recipe.

Why is soft serve softer and less dense than conventional ice cream?

Soft serve contains more air, introduced as it freezes in the machine, and is dispensed warmer, around -4 °C, which leaves it softer and less dense than hard-packed ice cream.

Which university claims Cookies and Cream ice cream was invented at its dairy plant in 1979?

South Dakota State University says Cookies and Cream was created at its dairy plant in 1979 by manager Shirley Seas and students Joseph Van Treeck and Joseph Leedom; Blue Bell Creameries makes a rival claim for 1980.

What does the name Haagen-Dazs actually mean?

The name means nothing: Reuben Mattus invented the Danish-sounding word as a tribute to Denmark's treatment of its Jews during World War II, a tactic called foreign branding; Danish has no umlaut and no 'zs'.

As of December 2020, which flavor did Ben & Jerry's own website list as its most popular?

Half Baked, chocolate and vanilla ice creams with fudge brownies and cookie dough, topped Ben & Jerry's own 2020 flavor ranking, with Cherry Garcia second and Chocolate Fudge Brownie third.

Spumoni, the layered gelato with candied fruit and nuts, was created in which city?

Its three classic layers are pistachio, cherry and chocolate; Italian-Americans took it across the Atlantic.

What is the key ingredient that distinguishes frozen custard from regular ice cream?

Egg yolks set frozen custard apart: US rules require at least 1.4% egg yolk solids on top of the milkfat minimum for ice cream, and the yolks give it a denser, smoother texture.

Which ice cream brand originated in Texas and is known for its loyal cult following?

Blue Bell was founded in Brenham, Texas, in 1907 as the Brenham Creamery Company and built a devoted following while selling in only a fraction of US states.

What percentage of butterfat must ice cream contain according to U.S. FDA standards?

According to U.S. FDA regulations, ice cream must contain at least 10% milk fat (butterfat) by weight. Products with less fat may be labeled 'reduced fat,' 'light,' or 'low fat' ice cream, but cannot be called simply 'ice cream.'

The 'Sundae War' over the dessert's birthplace pits Ithaca, New York against which Wisconsin town?

Two Rivers, Wisconsin, says Ed Berners served the first sundae in 1881; Ithaca counters with an 1892 newspaper advertisement for a 'Cherry Sunday', the earliest printed record of the dish.

The Italian dessert affogato is a scoop of gelato topped with a shot of what?

Affogato al caffè literally means 'drowned in coffee': a scoop of fiordilatte or vanilla gelato topped with a shot of espresso.

What is the ice cream truck jingle 'Turkey in the Straw' originally from?

The melody was first published around 1834 as the minstrel song 'Zip Coon' before taking on its barnyard title.

Which First Lady served ice cream at her husband's 1813 inaugural ball?

Washington and Jefferson had both served it before her, but Madison's ball made it a White House fixture.

Chewy Turkish dondurma owes its melt resistance to mastic resin and which other thickener?

Salep is flour ground from the tuber of an orchid, and vendors exploit the stretch with sleight-of-hand cone tricks.

Which TV host's Ben & Jerry's flavor pairs vanilla with fudge-covered waffle bits and caramel?

Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream is a Ben & Jerry's flavor created in 2007 for comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert. It features vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel. Proceeds support charity through the Stephen Colbert Americone Dream Fund.

What is the primary emulsifier used in most commercial ice cream?

Mono- and diglycerides are the most common emulsifiers used in commercial ice cream production. They help blend the fat and water components, improve texture and body, and provide resistance to melting.

Carpigiani's Gelato University, opened in 2003, sits just outside which Italian city?

Carpigiani Gelato University is in Anzola dell'Emilia, just outside Bologna, at the headquarters of the Carpigiani gelato-machine maker; it opened in 2003 to train would-be gelato makers from around the world.

What did Harry Burt's early-1920s Good Humor bar add to chocolate-coated ice cream?

Burt's son suggested the stick as a handle, and the bars were sold from a fleet of trucks.

Which Victorian 'queen of ices' suggested making ice cream with liquid nitrogen?

She also patented a hand-cranked ice cream freezer in the 1840s-era tradition and wrote The Book of Ices in 1885.

What is the Korean shaved-ice dessert classically topped with sweetened red beans?

Bingsu is Korea's shaved-ice dessert; the classic patbingsu is topped with sweetened red beans (pat), with condensed milk, fruit, and chewy rice cakes as common additions.

Oregon's farmer-owned Tillamook County Creamery Association makes ice cream, but which product is it best known for?

Tillamook cheese, especially its cheddar, is the co-op's most notable product; the farmer-owned cooperative has made cheese since 1909 and later expanded into ice cream.

What is fried ice cream typically coated with before frying?

Fried ice cream is typically made by rolling a firm ball of ice cream in a coating of crushed cornflakes, cookie crumbs, or breadcrumbs, then briefly deep-frying it. The coating insulates the ice cream and creates a crispy shell while the inside stays frozen.

At the Bakdash shop in Damascus, a pounded ice cream rolled in pistachio is sold under what name?

Booza is beaten with mallets rather than churned, giving a stretchy texture closer to Turkish dondurma than to Western ice cream.

What was the Eskimo Pie originally called before Russell Stover renamed it?

Christian Kent Nelson, an Iowa schoolteacher, first sold it in 1920 as the 'I-Scream Bar' after watching a boy dither between ice cream and a chocolate bar; Russell Stover partnered with him in 1921 to mass-produce it as Eskimo Pie.

New York pushcart vendors were first reported selling ice cream sandwiches in which year?

In 1899 pushcart peddlers on New York's Bowery were reported selling ice cream sandwiches for a penny, decades before factory machines squeezed ice cream between wafers.

What does an ice cream maker do to the cooling mix to stop detectable ice crystals forming?

The stirring also folds in air, which is why the finished product is lighter than a solid block of frozen cream.

Which Roman emperor reportedly had slaves haul mountain snow to make early flavored ices?

Legend has Nero (reigned AD 54-68) sending runners to the mountains for snow to chill fruit and honey; other accounts trace frozen desserts to far older civilizations, so Rome was hardly first.

In Italian, the word 'gelato' literally means what?

Gelato is the past participle of gelare, 'to freeze', so it literally means 'frozen'; in Italy it is the everyday word for all ice cream, not just the dense artisanal kind exported under that name.

The name 'baked Alaska' was supposedly coined at Delmonico's in New York to honor what event?

Delmonico's own original recipe was actually called 'Alaska Florida', a nod to the dessert's extremes of cold and heat.

What is stracciatella gelato streaked with?

Stracciatella gelato is a milk base streaked with thin chocolate shards, made by drizzling melted chocolate into the churning mix; Enrico Panattoni of Bergamo's La Marianna is credited with inventing it in the early 1960s.

What is the term for the dessert where ice cream is scooped into a glass of soda or root beer?

A float is a scoop of ice cream dropped into a glass of soda; the root beer float is the classic American version, and the carbonation foams up around the ice cream.

What ice cream ingredient acts as a natural antifreeze, stopping it freezing solid?

Sugar lowers the mix's freezing point, which keeps ice cream scoopable at freezer temperatures instead of freezing into a solid block; more sugar means a softer scoop at the same temperature.

How much did Serendipity 3's Golden Opulence Sundae, once Guinness's most expensive dessert, sell for?

The Golden Opulence Sundae sold for $1,000, dressed with 23-karat gold leaf and Amedei Porcelana chocolate; the same restaurant later offered a $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate.

What did Nancy Johnson invent in 1843 that revolutionized ice cream production?

Nancy M. Johnson invented the hand-cranked ice cream freezer in 1843 and was granted a patent for it. Her design used a hand crank to rotate a canister of ice cream mix inside a bucket of ice and salt, making homemade ice cream production far easier and faster.

Which English king reportedly offered his ice cream maker a lifetime pension to keep the recipe secret?

Charles I is the king in the legend, said to have paid his cook a pension of £500 a year to keep 'cream ice' a royal secret; the tale is almost certainly apocryphal.

Which Swiss émigré set up the first ice cream stand outside Charing Cross railway terminus in 1851?

Carlo Gatti, a Swiss-Italian from Ticino, sold penny ices from his Charing Cross stand and stored ice, at first cut from Regent's Canal and later shipped from Norway, in purpose-built ice wells at King's Cross.

Roughly how much did George Washington spend on ice cream in the summer of 1790?

Washington spent about $200 on ice cream during the summer of 1790, a large sum for the time; he also owned pewter ice cream pots and kept an ice house at Mount Vernon.

Which Italian duchess is said to have brought sorbet ices to France on marrying in 1533?

Catherine de' Medici married the future Henry II in 1533, and legend says her Florentine cooks brought flavored ices to the French court; historians consider the story unproven.

Which explorer is often credited with introducing sorbet-style desserts to Italy, though his own writings never mention them?

Marco Polo is said to have learned of sorbet-style desserts on his travels to China, though none of his writings mention them; Moorish traders are the other common attribution.

Which dynasty used relays of horsemen to carry ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi for kulfi?

Some historians think kulfi actually evolved in Persia or Samarkand.

Some sources trace the beginnings of frozen desserts to which ancient civilization around 550 BC?

Persian ice houses and ice pools allowed year-round faloodeh and sorbets.

Ben & Jerry's opened its first parlor in 1978 in a renovated what?

Their first scoop shop opened in May 1978 in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, after the founders took a $5 ice cream correspondence course from Penn State.

Ben Cohen's condition of anosmia led to which Ben & Jerry's trademark?

Lacking a sense of smell, he relies on texture and mouthfeel.

Cohen and Greenfield originally planned to open what kind of business before choosing ice cream?

They first considered a bagel shop, but the bagel-making equipment cost about $40,000, far beyond their budget, so they settled on ice cream.

For how much did Unilever buy Ben & Jerry's in April 2000?

Unilever paid about $326 million for Ben & Jerry's in April 2000, agreeing to keep an independent board to guard the brand's social mission.

Which 1987 flavor was Ben & Jerry's first named for a rock legend?

Cherry Garcia, cherry ice cream with cherries and fudge flakes, debuted in 1987 as a tribute to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, after two fans suggested it on a postcard.

Ben & Jerry's 1984 'What's the Doughboy Afraid Of?' campaign targeted which company?

Pillsbury owned Häagen-Dazs and tried to limit Ben & Jerry's distribution in Boston.

Which Ben & Jerry's flavor was briefly renamed in 2009 to celebrate same-sex marriage in Vermont?

Chubby Hubby became 'Hubby Hubby' in September 2009 when Vermont legalized same-sex marriage; it mixes vanilla malt ice cream with fudge, peanut butter and pretzels.

What is the name of the huge Ben & Jerry's sundae served in a bucket at scoop shops?

The Vermonster piles 20 scoops of ice cream with hot fudge, cookies, brownies and more into a bucket; scoop shops run Vermonster challenges where teams race to finish one.

In which New York City borough did Reuben and Rose Mattus found Häagen-Dazs in 1960?

Reuben and Rose Mattus launched Häagen-Dazs in the Bronx in 1960, growing out of the family's Senator Frozen Products business, which had sold ices from a horse-drawn wagon in the 1920s.

Häagen-Dazs launched in 1960 with which three flavors?

Häagen-Dazs launched with just three flavors, vanilla, chocolate and coffee; the line stayed that small for years, and its first retail store did not open until 1976, in Brooklyn.

Häagen-Dazs unsuccessfully sued which rival in 1980 for copying its foreign-branding tactic?

Frusen Glädjé, a Swedish-styled name meaning roughly 'frozen delight', launched in 1980; the court threw out Häagen-Dazs's suit, ruling the plaintiff had 'unclean hands' given its own fake-Scandinavian branding.

Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 in which California city?

Baskin-Robbins traces to Glendale, California, where Irv Robbins opened Snowbird Ice Cream in 1945; he merged with brother-in-law Burt Baskin's Burton's Ice Cream to form the chain in 1953.

How was the order of the surnames in 'Baskin-Robbins' decided?

A coin toss put Baskin's name first when the two brothers-in-law merged their chains in 1953; the same year the Carson-Roberts ad agency came up with the 31 flavors slogan.

Which doughnut chain shares its Canton, Massachusetts headquarters with sibling ice cream brand Baskin-Robbins?

Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins both belong to Inspire Brands and share one headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts.

The first Dairy Queen opened in 1940 in which Illinois city?

The first Dairy Queen opened on June 22, 1940, in Joliet, Illinois, run by Sherb Noble, who had partnered with soft-serve pioneers J.F. and Alex McCullough.

Which conglomerate has owned Dairy Queen since 1998?

Warren Buffett's company bought International Dairy Queen.

How many servings did Sherb Noble sell in two hours at the first soft-serve trial in 1938?

Noble sold more than 1,600 servings in two hours at his Kankakee, Illinois shop on August 4, 1938, in an 'all you can eat for 10 cents' trial, more than one every 4.5 seconds.

Who opened the Paris café in 1686 that is credited with introducing gelato to France?

Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian, opened Café Procope in Paris in 1686 and sold gelato and sorbets there; Louis XIV granted him a royal license as sole producer.

The gelato flavor bacio takes its name from a hazelnut chocolate made by which company?

Bacio gelato copies Baci, the hazelnut-filled chocolate 'kisses' that Perugina has made in Perugia since 1922; the gelato blends chocolate with crushed hazelnuts.

Which Ithaca pharmacy owner is credited with the first 'Sunday' ice cream dish in 1892?

Chester Platt, owner of the Platt & Colt pharmacy in Ithaca, served a 'Cherry Sunday' to the Rev. John Scott in April 1892 and later applied to trademark the name.

Two Rivers, Wisconsin claims the first ice cream sundae because soda-fountain owner Edward Berners did what in 1881?

By the Two Rivers story, customer George Hallauer talked Berners into drizzling chocolate syrup over ice cream in 1881; Ithaca, New York counters with a documented 1892 advertisement.

Which New York inventor patented an ice cream cup mold with a break-apart bottom in 1903?

Italo Marchiony, an Italian immigrant selling lemon ice in New York, patented a mold for baking ice cream cups in 1903; Manchester's Antonio Valvona had patented a cup-baking device the year before.

What is Sicily's coarse, semi-frozen water ice, often eaten with a brioche, called?

Granita is Sicily's coarse, semi-frozen ice of sugar, water and a flavoring such as lemon, almond or coffee; in Messina and Catania it is a breakfast, scooped up with a soft brioche.

A 1934 flat tire in Hartsdale, New York, led which man to found a soft-serve empire?

Tom Carvel's truck got a flat tire in Hartsdale in 1934; he sold the melting ice cream from the roadside in two days and opened a store on the spot in 1936, the start of the Carvel chain.

Under what name was the Popsicle first patented in 1924?

Frank Epperson patented it in 1924 as the 'Epsicle'; his children supposedly called it Pop's 'sicle, and the name became Popsicle.

Which company sued the Popsicle Corporation six months after its patent, forcing a licensing deal?

Popsicle kept ice and sherbet; Good Humor kept ice cream on a stick.

Magnum was developed in the late 1980s in which Danish city?

Magnum was developed at Frisko's plant in Aarhus, Denmark, in the late 1980s by technical director Mogens Vigh-Larsen and launched in 1989.

Unilever's heart-logo ice cream family includes Wall's and Algida; what is its Australian brand called?

Streets is Unilever's Australian ice cream brand; it shares the heart-shaped Heartbrand logo with Wall's in Britain, Algida in Italy and Ola in the Netherlands, all of which sell the Magnum range.

Which James Bond actor claimed to have suggested the idea for the Magnum in the 1960s?

Roger Moore wrote that he proposed a chocolate-coated ice cream on a stick to Wall's in the 1960s; Wall's calls it 'a brilliant story' but denies any knowledge.

Wall's began as what kind of business in 1786?

Richard Wall opened a pork butcher's stall in London's St James's Market in 1786; Wall's took up ice cream in 1922 to keep its sausage workers employed through the summer slump.

Cold Stone Creamery takes its name from what?

The name refers to the frozen granite slab, the 'cold stone', on which employees fold mix-ins into each order of ice cream.

In which Arizona city did Cold Stone Creamery open its first store in 1988?

Donald and Susan Sutherland opened the first Cold Stone Creamery in Tempe, Arizona, in 1988; the company later moved its headquarters to Scottsdale.

Which song do ice cream vans traditionally play in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand?

Greensleeves, the Tudor-era English tune, is the traditional ice cream van chime in the UK and much of the Commonwealth; American trucks favor 'Turkey in the Straw'.

New Zealand's hokey pokey ice cream is vanilla studded with small pieces of what?

Hokey pokey is New Zealand's vanilla ice cream studded with small chunks of honeycomb toffee; 'hokey pokey' is the local name for the sponge-like toffee itself.

Who claimed to have invented the ice cream soda at an 1874 Franklin Institute celebration?

Robert M. Green said he ran out of cream for his soda drinks at the 1874 Franklin Institute fair in Philadelphia and used ice cream instead; his will had 'Originator of the Ice Cream Soda' cut on his tombstone.

What is an ice cream float called in Australia and New Zealand?

Australians and New Zealanders call a float a 'spider', supposedly because the fizz foaming around the ice cream looks web-like.

TCBY began as 'This Can't Be Yogurt'; what did the letters stand for after a lawsuit?

TCBY, founded in Little Rock in 1981, became 'The Country's Best Yogurt' after rival I Can't Believe It's Yogurt sued over the original 'This Can't Be Yogurt'.

A royal chef of which kingdom published the three-layer Fürst-Pückler-Eis recipe in 1839?

Prussian royal chef Louis Ferdinand Jungius published the three-layer recipe in 1839, naming it Fürst-Pückler-Eis after Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau; it is the German cousin of Neapolitan.

Tartufo, the cocoa-dusted ice cream ball with a molten core, comes from which Italian town?

Tartufo is the pride of Pizzo in Calabria, where it was created in the early 1950s: a hand-formed ball of ice cream with a molten chocolate core, dusted in cocoa powder.

Sgroppino, the Venetian dessert cocktail, blends prosecco and vodka with which sorbet?

Sgroppino whisks lemon sorbet with prosecco and a splash of vodka into a frothy palate cleanser, a Venetian tradition served between courses or after dinner.

Germany's Spaghettieis tops strands of vanilla ice cream with which 'sauce'?

Spaghettieis pushes vanilla ice cream through a spätzle press over whipped cream, then tops the strands with strawberry sauce and white chocolate shavings for 'parmesan'; Dario Fontanella created it in Mannheim in 1969.

A 1775 Italian treatise recommended chocolate ice cream as a remedy for which ailments?

Doctor Filippo Baldini's 1775 treatise De sorbetti recommended chocolate ice cream as a remedy for ailments including gout and scurvy.

Which city is known as the 'unofficial frozen custard capital of the world'?

Milwaukee calls itself the unofficial frozen custard capital of the world, with stands like Kopp's, Gilles, Leon's and Oscar's competing across the city.

Which St. Louis stand, opened in 1930, is credited as birthplace of the 'concrete'?

Ted Drewes, a St. Louis stand dating to 1930, is credited with the 'concrete', frozen custard blended with mix-ins so thick it is handed over upside down.

Rainbow sherbet was invented in the 1950s at which dairy?

Sealtest employee Emanuel Goren in Pittsburgh devised a nozzle that extruded three flavors of sherbet at once, creating rainbow sherbet in the 1950s.

Dippin' Dots inventor Curt Jones was originally trying to make what?

The cryogenics specialist started in his parents' garage in Paducah, Kentucky.

Why aren't Dippin' Dots sold in most grocery stores?

Stadiums, malls and vending machines carry them instead.

William Dreyer reportedly cut the first Rocky Road marshmallows with what?

Dreyer reportedly snipped the marshmallows with his wife's sewing scissors in 1929; the name Rocky Road was meant to cheer people up after that year's stock market crash.

In the UK, ice cream Swiss roll cakes are known by what name?

Ice cream cakes are far more popular in North America and Australia.

The knickerbocker glory is thought to be named after a hotel in which city?

It is thought to honor New York's Knickerbocker Hotel on Times Square, which closed in 1920; the layered pink-and-cream sundae appeared in Britain in the 1920s.

A '99 with two Flakes' is sometimes called what in the UK?

Two Flakes stuck in one cone are 'bunny's ears'; a 99 with red raspberry syrup is nicknamed 'monkey's blood'.

One claim says the '99' Flake was named after a shop at 99 Portobello High Street in which country?

Portobello is a seaside district of Edinburgh, Scotland, where Stefano Arcari opened his shop at number 99 in 1922 and, by his family's account, broke Flakes in half to stick in cones.

Halo Top became the best-selling ice cream pint in U.S. grocery stores in which year?

In 2017 Halo Top, the low-calorie brand launched in 2012, became the best-selling pint in US grocery stores, overtaking Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs before its sales declined.

Halo Top partially replaces sugar with stevia and which sugar alcohol?

Halo Top sweetens with erythritol, a sugar alcohol that adds almost no calories, alongside stevia and some cane sugar, which is how a whole pint comes in under 400 calories.

Mister Softee was founded in 1956 by the Conway brothers in which city?

William and James Conway started Mister Softee in Philadelphia in 1956, selling soft serve from a truck, and moved the company to Runnemede, New Jersey, in 1958.

Which Ohio company created the Klondike bar in the early 1920s?

The Isaly Dairy Company of Mansfield, Ohio, introduced the Klondike bar in the early 1920s, naming it after the Klondike River in the Yukon.

Which animal appears as the mascot on the Klondike bar's silver foil wrapper?

A polar bear is the Klondike mascot printed on its silver foil wrapper; unlike most ice cream bars, the Klondike has no stick.

Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream reportedly began from an anonymous suggestion at which company's shop in 1984?

Ben & Jerry's says the idea came from an anonymous note on the suggestion board at its Burlington shop in 1984; it took until 1991 to work out how to sell the flavor in pints.

Which convenience store chain has trademarked the term 'brain freeze'?

7-Eleven, maker of the Slurpee, registered 'brainfreeze' as a trademark in the 1990s and uses it in Slurpee marketing.

Which physicist made a 'reverse baked Alaska' with a microwave in 1969?

Oxford physicist Nicholas Kurti showed off the 'Frozen Florida' in a 1969 Royal Institution lecture: a frozen meringue shell filled with liquor heated from the inside by a microwave oven.

Gelato chain Grom, founded in 2003 and later bought by Unilever, began in which Italian city?

Grom opened its first shop in Turin in 2003, founded by Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom; Unilever bought the chain in 2015.

Ais kacang, the shaved-ice dessert of Malaysia and Singapore, literally means what?

Ais kacang is Malay for 'bean ice'; it began as shaved ice over red beans and now carries jellies, sweetcorn, rose syrup and evaporated milk.

Which Taiwanese ice cream parlor became the first to win a Michelin star, in 2024?

MINIMAL, a dessert bar in Taichung serving ice cream tasting menus, received one Michelin star in the 2024 Taiwan guide, the first star awarded to an ice cream-focused restaurant.

Which milk dealer built the first U.S. ice cream factory in 1851?

Jacob Fussell, a Baltimore milk dealer with surplus cream from his Pennsylvania suppliers, opened the first US ice cream factory in 1851 at Seven Valleys, Pennsylvania, then moved production to Baltimore.

In Mexico and the Southwestern United States, what is a frozen ice pop on a stick called?

Paleta is the name in Mexico, the Southwestern United States and parts of Latin America; the same treat is an icy pole in Australia and an ice lolly in Britain.

Early ice cream makers added what to their ice to lower its melting point and freeze the cream?

Salt lowers the melting point of ice, drawing heat from the cream so it freezes; Hannah Glasse's 1751 recipe still calls for 'a Handful of Salt' in the ice.

Which savoury flavour appeared among the 31 ice creams in Frederick Nutt's 1789 confectionery book?

Nutt's Complete Confectioner includes a Parmesan cheese ice cream among its 31 ices; he had apprenticed at Negri's London confectionery and also offered ginger, chocolate and brown breadcrumb ices.

Which restaurant chain advertised 'a world of 28 flavors' while rival Baskin-Robbins built its marketing on 31?

Howard Johnson's restaurants sold their 'world of 28 flavors'; Baskin-Robbins made its 31 flavours, 'one for every day of the month', the cornerstone of its marketing.

Fonterra sold Tip Top, New Zealand's biggest ice cream brand, to which company in 2019?

Froneri, the Nestlé and PAI Partners ice cream joint venture, bought Tip Top from Fonterra in 2019 for about NZ$380 million.

What is Puerto Rico's shaved-ice dessert, sold from carts in cone-shaped cups, called?

A piragua is shaved ice in a cone-shaped cup with syrup poured over it; vendors walk the sidewalks and beaches with a huge block of ice and 10 to 15 bottles of syrups.