In the millennia and centuries that we have, ice cream and other cold deserts experienced thousands of variations. In the same way that our eating habits, as well as access to the raw materials, ingredients, and refrigeration technology, grew over the ages and ice cream evolved from basic recipes that relied on ice to the contemporary milk-based recipes that we are all familiar with and enjoy to this day.
Before the development of modern technology and industrial production allowed the creation of ice cream that was immediately accessible to all the world over, it was among the most difficult to make and very costly cold treats. Since Ice was the main ingredient in the ice creams and electricity refrigeration was inaccessible during the past 2000 years, ice cream was considered an indication of wealth, status, and social status. About two and half millennia, Persians started eating ice cream made from grape juice and ice shavings. As time went on, they began to freeze rose water and add various fruit-based toppings. The recipe existed in Europe throughout the fall and rise of the Roman Empire and remained mostly unchanged for over 1000 years. This changed in the 13th century when Italian explorationist Marco Polo returned to Europe to bring his milk-based ice cream recipe he discovered in China. This was the start of modern ice cream history, and from then, ice creams have become increasingly well-known. The introduction of electric refrigeration and industrial production enabled the rapid expansion of the Ice cream industry around the globe, in particular during Prohibition and the rise of Hollywood films, and following World War II when American ice cream was distributed to Europe in the form of the military rations provided to the Allied troops.
Contemporary ice creams are created with the following raw materials
- Dairy products (milk cream, butterfat, milk)
- Sugar
- Flavorings
- Approved additives that stop the formation of ice crystals in the production process
- Eggs
- Air enhances ace creams’ ability to absorb flavorings and reduces the sensation of heavy and spongy material.
Steps of production:
1. Mix the materials at the beginning, including pasteurizing (heating at high temperatures to kill dangerous organisms) and homogenizing (thoroughly mixing the cream to dissolve any fat globules until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous).
2. After adding flavors, colors, and fruit purees, the mix can stand for about four hours before it cools.
3. A special barrel freezer machine uses the mix and gradually can freeze only one portion of the water crystals, making the mix harder. At the same time, the machine pumps clean oxygen into the ice that, in the end, will contain more than half of the volume of cream. Without the air, it could be as hard as an ice cube.
4. Semi-frozen mix is added to the mix with the final mixture of toppings, like sweets, nuts, fruits, and biscuits.
5. Sticks are inserted into the special grooves at the base of the mould and are pressed by the machines firmly into place. Ice creams on a stick are still loved an appreciated by children and adults of all ages.
6. Then, it is packed and blasted frozen between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius.
7. Your ice cream is ready.
