 Chocolate flavored frozen custard | |
| Type | Frozen dessert |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Egg yolks, cream, sweetener |
Frozen custard is a frozen dessert that is a type of ice cream that is made with egg yolks in addition to cream and sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and an additional flavoring such as cocoa, vanilla, or fruit such as strawberries or peaches. [1] It is usually kept at a warmer temperature compared to ice cream, and typically has a denser consistency.
Egg yolks have been integrated into ice creams since at least the 1690s, [2] though there are several notable invention stories that are associated with modern commercializations of this practice.
One early commercialization of frozen custard was in Coney Island, New York, in 1919, when ice cream vendors Archie and Elton Kohr found that adding egg yolks to ice cream created a smoother texture and helped the ice cream stay cold longer. In their first weekend on the boardwalk, they sold 18,460 cones. [3]
Throughout the 1920s, the popularity of frozen custard spread from Coney Island to traveling carnivals. That is where tennis player Theodore R. Drewes Sr. was introduced to the treat when he began selling it in Florida to earn extra money during the winter off-season, first with the traveling carnival in the 1920s and then at his own custard stand in 1929. He brought the business back to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, where he opened Ted Drewes in 1930 and expanded to a second location in 1931 and three stores in that city by 1941. Ted Drewes is often credited as the birthplace of the concrete, which is a thick custard churned with mix-ins. [4] [5] [6] Ted Drewes custard shop in the Dutchtown neighborhood is the oldest frozen custard stand in the world that is still in operation. [7]
A frozen custard stand at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago introduced the dessert to a wider audience. [8] Following the fair, the dessert's popularity spread throughout the Midwest; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in particular, became known as the "unofficial frozen custard capital of the world". [9] [10] [11]
Per capita, Milwaukee has the highest concentration of frozen custard shops in the world [12] and the city supports a long-standing three-way competition between Kopp's Frozen Custard, Gilles Frozen Custard and Leon's Frozen Custard.
Major frozen custard chains in the United States include Culver's, headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, with outlets in 26 states; Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, based in Wichita, Kansas, with more than 300 locations nationwide; and Andy's Frozen Custard, based in Springfield, Missouri, with over 140 locations in 15 states. [13] Other chains serving frozen custard include Ted Drewes (based in Saint Louis, Missouri), Rita's Italian Ice (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), The Meadows, and Abbott's (Rochester, New York).
In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration requires any product marketed as frozen custard to contain at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids. The FDA also allows the names “french ice cream” or “french custard ice cream” to be used. [14] If it has a smaller percentage of egg yolk solids, it is considered ice cream and legally classified as such by the FDA. [15]
Actual frozen custard is a very dense dessert. Soft serve ice creams may have an overrun as large as 100%, meaning half of the final product is composed of air. Frozen custard, when made in a continuous freezer, will have an overrun of 15–30% depending on the machine manufacturer (an overrun percentage similar to gelato). Air is not pumped into the mix, nor is it added as an "ingredient" but gets into the frozen state by the agitation of liquid similar to whisking a meringue. The high percentage of butterfat and egg yolk gives the frozen custard a thick, creamy texture and a smoother consistency than ice cream. Frozen custard can be served at −8 °C (18 °F), warmer than the −12 °C (10 °F) at which ice cream is served, to make a soft serve product.
Another difference between commercially produced frozen custard and commercial ice cream is the way the custard is frozen. The mix enters a refrigerated tube and, as it freezes, blades scrape the product cream off the barrel walls. The now frozen custard is discharged directly into containers from which it can be served. The speed with which the product leaves the barrel minimizes the amount of air in the product but, more importantly, ensures that the ice crystals formed are very small.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food colouring is sometimes added in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is cooled below the freezing point of water and stirred to incorporate air spaces and prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. It can also be made by whisking a flavoured cream base and liquid nitrogen together. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures. It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce to the thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used in custard desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla; however, savory custards are also found, e.g., in quiche.
Zabaione or zabaglione is an Italian dessert, or sometimes a beverage, made with egg yolks, sugar, and a sweet wine. Some versions of the recipe incorporate spirits such as cognac. The dessert version is a light custard, whipped to incorporate a large amount of air. Since the 1960s, in restaurants in areas of the United States with large Italian populations, zabaione is usually served with strawberries, blueberries, peaches, etc., in a champagne coupe, and is often prepared tableside for dramatic effect. In France, it is called sabayon, while its Italian name is zabaione or zabaglione.
Frozen yogurt is a frozen dessert made with yogurt and sometimes other dairy and non-dairy products. Frozen yogurt is a frozen product containing the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but contains live bacterial cultures.
Gelato is the common word in Italian for all types of ice cream. In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of frozen dessert. Gelato typically contains 35% air and more flavoring than other types of frozen desserts, giving it a density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.
Ted Drewes is a family-owned frozen custard company in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The business was founded by Ted Drewes, Sr. in 1929. There are two locations, one on Chippewa Street, with the other on South Grand Boulevard.
Ice cream parlors or ice cream parlours are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream, and/or soft serve, which is usually dispensed by a machine with a limited number of flavors. Ice cream parlors generally offer a number of flavors and items. Parlors often serve ice cream and other frozen desserts in cones, cups or dishes, the latter two to be eaten with a spoon. Some ice cream parlors prepare ice cream desserts such as sundaes or milkshakes, or even a blend.
Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert and variety of ice cream, similar to conventional ice cream, but softer and less dense due to more air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the United States.
Semifreddo is a class of frozen desserts similar to ice cream. It is derived from the French parfait, introduced in Italy during the 19th century.
Strickland's Frozen Custard is an American ice cream chain, based in Akron, Ohio, with several locations in Ohio and one in Costa Mesa, California. The chain was founded in 1936 by Bill and Florence Strickland of Akron. Strickland's makes its ice cream fresh on-site daily, and generally serves only three or four flavors a day. Despite the chain's name, Strickland's product does not contain egg yolks, and so is legally not frozen custard. Rather, it is similar to soft-serve ice cream, but contains less air than typical soft-serve.
A dairy mix is the blend of milk, cream, sugar, stabilizers, and vanilla packaged by a dairy for commercial use. This mix can either be made directly into ice cream or placed into containers for the use in soft serve, frozen custard, or ice cream machines. Dairy mix used in restaurants can be also used to make frozen drinks or smoothies.
Section 3: "(f) Nomenclature. (1) The name of the food is "ice cream"; except that when the egg yolk solids content of the food is in excess of that specified for ice cream by paragraph (a) of this section, the name of the food is "frozen custard" or "french ice cream" or "french custard ice cream"."
