The Evolution of Ice Cream

Oh Snow!! The Earliest Iced Dessert

The first ice cream was invented by Alexander the Great of Persia, he would mixed shaved ice with honey, nectar, and grape juice.

I made a Granita, it’s an Italian frozen grape juice mixture made by putting grape juice in the freezer and mixing it every hour for 3 hours. It is similar to the first frozen desserts.

What Comes Next?

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Chinese royals would enjoy a frozen desert made of buffalo milk, flour and camphor on hot days.

Sharbat

Arab traders would make a fruity snow cone type of ice cream, to eat and trade called sharbat, also known as sherbet today.

The Birth of Modern Ice Cream

In 1686 a cook in Sicily by the name of Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli opened a cafe' called "Cafe Procope" this is were he served frozen drinks and eventually made a creamy ice cream called Gelato.

Moving to America

Nobody specifically brought ice cream to America, but it first became popular when public figures like Thomas Jefferson and George and Martha Washington talked about and popularized ice cream.

The Commercialization of Ice Cream

The first ice cream store to open in America was Bassetts Ice Cream Shop which opened in 1861. Later after that more and more ice cream brands opened in America. This led to ice cream evolving into the modern ice cream we have today!

These are Oreo ice cream bars. They represent modern ice cream.

Which is Better?

We tried the earliest ice cream and modern ice cream. Now I am going to compare the two.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Old ice cream: healthier, easy to make, refreshing. Modern ice cream: creamy, sugary and comes in a lot of different flavors.

Cons: Old ice cream: Time consuming, easy to mess up the recipe, cold. Modern day ice cream: unhealthy, addicting, can give you stomach and head aches.

The Final Answer:

I am actually giving the two ice creams a tie! They're different in their own ways, one is a classic, one is perfect for a hot summer day!