Updated April 4, 2024
To observe National Chocolate Ice Cream Day on June 7 all you need is chocolate ice cream. Who says you have to stop there, though? You can have it in a cone or make it from scratch. Add sprinkles or syrup or whipped cream.
Chocolate ice cream is the second most common flavor, surpassed only by vanilla. The chocolate flavored ice cream has been in existence well over a hundred years and has been popular in the United States since the late 19th century.
The origins of ice cream can be traced back to at least the 4th century B.C. Early references include the Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37-68) who ordered ice to be brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings, and King Tang (A.D. 618-97) of Shang, China who had a method of creating ice and milk concoctions. Ice cream was likely brought from China back to Europe. Over time, recipes for ices, sherbets, and milk ices evolved and served in the fashionable Italian and French royal courts.
- 800 BC – People of the Persian Empire make ice cream by pouring a concentrate of grape juice over snow.
- 1660 – Ice cream became available to the general population in France in 1660.
- 1665 – The first written ice cream recipe was found in a 1665 recipe book
- 1692 – Because of the precedent of frozen drinks, early ice cream flavors are that of popular beverages — including chocolate.
- 1692 – The first frozen chocolate recipe is published in Italy in the book “The Modern Steward.”
- 1700s – Ice cream was introduced to America in the 1700’s, but mostly enjoyed by those of status and wealth.
- 1700s – Vanilla was rare and exotic in the late 1700’s
- 1851 – The first commercial ice cream plant was established in Baltimore in 1851 by Jacob Fussell.
- 1903 – Italo Marchiony sold his homemade ice cream from a pushcart on Wall Street. He reduced his overhead caused by customers breaking or wandering off with his serving glasses by baking edible waffle cups with sloping sides and a flat bottom. He patented his idea in 1903.
- 1934 – Eskimo Pie is the first chocolate-covered ice cream.
- 1946 – Americans celebrated the victory of WWII with ice cream. In 1946, they ate more than 20 quarts of ice cream per person.
- An average dairy cow can produce enough milk in her lifetime to make a little over 9,000 gallons of ice cream.
- The udder of a cow can hold between 25-50 lbs. of milk.
- It takes 12 lbs. of milk to make just one gallon of ice cream.
- The U.S. enjoys an average of 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year, more than any other country.
- The country that consumes the most ice cream is USA, followed by Australia then Norway.
- The most popular flavor is vanilla, then chocolate
- Chocolate ice cream was invented before vanilla
- The majority of Americans – around 90% have ice cream in their freezers
- Ice cream headaches or “brain freeze” is the result of the nerve endings in the roof of your mouth sending a message to your brain of the loss of heat
- The tallest ice cream cone was over 9 feet tall in Italy
- The average American eats 45.8 pints of ice cream a year
- Chocolate syrup is the most popular ice cream topping
Sources:
