Celebrate National Ice Cream Month

As if we need an excuse to indulge in this delightful frozen dessert, but we will take it. July is National Ice Cream Month which means we can enjoy it even more. Ice cream goes hand in hand with the summer, holidays and days at the beach, but the origins of this cool and much loved treat dates back to the Romans. Roman Emperor Nero would order ice to be brought back from the mountains and it would be topped with fruit for him to enjoy. King Tang of China created a concoction using ice and milk and this has developed into the ice cream that we know and love today.

Ice Cream In The UK

It is thought that King Charles II was the first person in the UK to indulge in ice cream on 19th May 1671 during a banquet at Windsor castle. The top table was served white strawberries and ice cream and it remained a luxury for the wealthy due to the fact that without anywhere to store it, it needed to be served immediately. Ice was required in order to make ice cream and it was imported from Canada, America and Norway to London and other major ports. Canal barges were then used to transport the ice to be stored in ice houses and from here it was sold to ice cream makers who were then able to sell it to the public from the early 1800s.

Fun Ice Cream Facts

New Zealand consumes the most ice cream per capita than any other country, averaging at 28.4 litres per person, per year! The UK comes up tenth consuming 7 litres per person, per year.
It takes on average, 50 licks to finish a scoop of ice cream.
Nany Johnson revolutionised the way ice cream was made in 1843 by inventing the ice cream making machine.
Vanilla is the most popular flavour.
With a cone over three metres tall, Norway set the record for the tallest ice cream cone ever produced in 2015!
Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father, is credited as the first American to write an ice cream recipe.
Brain freeze is common when eating ice cream. It causes the nerve endings in the roof of your mouth to signal the loss of heat to your brain, causing them to tense up and cause a pain in your head.
The end of World War II was celebrated by eating ice cream

Activities For Ice Cream Month

Try New Flavours

Why not see how many new flavours you can find and try! There is so much choice available, try as many as you can and see if you can find the most unusual, we’ve heard of pizza flavour, chilli flavour and horseradish.

Ice Cream Party

Forget the gin bar, why not create an ice cream bar. Suitable for the whole family (the children are going to love it) you can offer a choice of flavours, toppings, sauces and sprinkles as well as a variety of cones. Ask your friends to bring something along and you’ll be completely spoilt for choice!

Invent A New Flavour

How creative can you be? Come up with something unusual and tasty and create your very own unique ice cream flavour. Use a simple vanilla ice cream recipe as your base and add flavourings, fruit, nuts, sweets or anything you would like and come up with something quirky.

Make Your Own Ice Cream

Everything tastes better when it’s homemade and ice cream is no exception. The thought of making your own ice cream may be a little daunting but it can be as simple or as complicated as you like. You can find easy, 3 ingredient, no churn recipes online but if you are looking to get all kitted out then we have a great choice of ice cream making equipment for your kitchen including ice cream makers, blenders, ice cream scoops and more.