Ice cream

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 (below 2 °C or 35 °F). It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.

Ice cream may be served in dishes, eaten with a spoon, or licked from edible wafer ice cream cones held by the hands as finger food. Ice cream may be served with other desserts—such as cake or pie—or used as an ingredient in cold dishes—like ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream cakes—or in baked items such as Baked Alaska.

Italian ice cream is gelato. Frozen custard is a type of rich ice cream. Soft serve is softer and is often served at amusement parks and fast-food restaurants in the United States. Ice creams made from cow's milk alternatives, such as goat's or sheep's milk, or milk substitutes (e.g., soy, oat, cashew, coconut, almond milk, or tofu), are available for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to dairy protein, or vegan. Banana "nice cream" is a 100% fruit-based vegan alternative. Frozen yoghurt, or "froyo", is similar to ice cream but uses yoghurt and can be lower in fat. Fruity sorbets or sherbets are not ice creams but are often available in ice cream shops.

The meaning of the name ice cream varies from one country to another. In some countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, ice cream applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients, notably the amount of butterfat from cream. Products that do not meet the criteria to be called ice cream, usually due to being reduced fat (often through cost reduction), are sometimes labelled frozen dairy dessert instead. In other countries, such as Italy and Argentina, one word is used for all variants.

The origins of frozen desserts are obscure, although several accounts exist about their history. Some sources say the history of ice cream begins in Persia in 550 BC.

A Roman cookbook dating back to the 1st century includes recipes for sweet desserts that are sprinkled with snow, and there are Persian records from the 2nd century for sweetened drinks chilled with ice.

Kakigōri is a Japanese dessert made with ice and flavoured syrup. The origins of kakigōri date back to the Heian period in Japanese history, when blocks of ice saved during the colder months would be shaved and served with sweet syrup to the Japanese aristocracy during the summer. Kakigōri's origin is referred to in The Pillow Book, a book of observations written by Sei Shōnagon, who served the Imperial Court during the Heian period.

The earliest known written process to artificially make ice is known not from culinary texts, but the 13th-century writings of Syrian historian Ibn Abi Usaybi'a in his book "Kitab Uyun al-anba fi tabaqat-al-atibba" (Book of Sources of Information on the Classes of Physicians) concerning medicine in which Ibn Abi Usaybi'a attributes the process to an even older author, Ibn Bakhtawayhi, of whom nothing is known.