| Ice cream is today enjoyed by almost every country | | | | Various publications from London in England and in |
| on earth, but it wasn't always so. Obviously you need | | | | France have recipes written down that are very |
| frozen water to make it, and this wasn't easily | | | | similar to what we enjoy to this day. Even the flavors |
| available for most people until fairly regularly. | | | | were similar, with strawberry being a favorite. |
| There are many examples through ancient history of | | | | Quaker immigrants bought the recipe to the United |
| snow and ice being flavored and served as a treat. If | | | | States; probably around they were being written down. |
| you didn't live very close to a mountain, or in very cold | | | | The desserts popularity quickly spread and by the time |
| climates then this was the preserve of the rich as they | | | | of the Declaration of Independence, America's elite |
| were the only people who could afford to develop | | | | were known to enjoy the treat regularily after their |
| storage for the quickly melting ice. | | | | meals. |
| Many legends have developed to explain the invention. | | | | Inventions such as the hand-cranked ice cream |
| Some say the Chinese developed the technique of | | | | freezer dramatically reduced the time and effort |
| mixing ice and water and churning milk to below the | | | | required for producion. More and more people began |
| freezing point of water. Something fairly similar was | | | | to enjoy it regularly until it's popularity exploded with the |
| almost certainly being consumed in the courts of | | | | invention of electric freezers, which allowed easy |
| medieval Europe, but again it appears to have been | | | | storage and transportation at below the melting point |
| restricted to the rich only. | | | | of ice and of ice cream. |
| It wasn't until the 18th century that we have recorded | | | | By this stage, it was a favorite around the world and |
| evidence of true ice cream being made and eaten. | | | | enjoyed by millions, and not just by a rich elite. |