It’s hot, hot, hot – the perfect weather to cool off with America’s favorite summertime treat – ice cream! What better time to indulge in this delectable dessert than National Ice Cream Month! Whether you lick it from a cone, scoop it with a spoon or sip it through a straw in a creamy milkshake, this delicious frozen confection is a sure-fire way to cool down on the hottest summer day.

Ice Cream and Dairy-Free Treats

Traditional ice cream is churned with 10-20 percent fat; gelato, a bit less fat. The higher the fat content, the creamier the ice cream. If you’re lactose intolerant, vegan or watching your cholesterol, don’t feel deprived! You have your choice of dozens of delicious dairy-free treats. Made from a base of either coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, soymilk or avocado, today’s dairy-free cool treats are not only tasty, many rival the creamy texture of ice cream.

 

Cool Facts

Regardless of your favorite type – or flavor – consider these cool facts about this frosty treat.

 

A Bit of History

• Ice cream’s history is hazy, but records show that it may date back to the days of Nero in Rome. Apparently, Nero would send his subjects to the mountains to harvest snow, which they mixed with honey or nectar for the emperor.
• Here in the States, early American presidents were fond of the sweet treat. George Washington spent $200 (a tidy sum back then) for his ice cream; Thomas Jefferson concocted his own ice cream recipe. Ice cream certainly has caught on in the U.S. since then: the average American eats a whopping 48 pints a year!
• Ice cream cones were invented during the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis when an ice cream vendor and waffle vendor put their heads together to create the waffle cone.

 

New Zealand Is #1!

• If you think the United States consumes the most ice cream of any country in the world, think again! It’s New Zealand. The U.S. comes in second followed by China.

 

Additional Morsels

• It takes about 50 licks to finish a typical ice cream cone – try it and see for yourself.
• And while you’re feasting on your ice cream cone, consider these morsels:
  • The most popular flavor in the U.S. is vanilla, followed by chocolate, strawberry and cookies-and-cream.
  • Among the most bizarre ice cream flavors: pickled mango, pear with blue cheese and…ready for this…fig and fresh brown turkey.

I don’t know about you, but we’re saving the turkey for Thanksgiving!

Whether you prefer traditional or more exotic ice cream flavors, regular ice cream or dairy-free options or slurping your yummy confection from a cone or eating it out of a dish – enjoy every single lick – all 50 of them!