Fried ice cream is a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

made of a scoop of

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 Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

that is frozen hard, then

breaded Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cutlet ...

or coated in a batter before being quickly deep-fried, creating a warm, crispy shell around the still-cold ice cream. It is common in Chinese and Mexican cuisine.

Origin

There are conflicting stories about the dessert's origin. Some claim that it was first served during the

1893 Chicago World's Fair The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

, where the ice cream sundae was also invented. Though in 1894, a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

company was given credit for its invention describing: "A small, solid akeof the ice cream is enveloped in a thin sheet of pie crust and then dipped into boiling lard or butter to cook the outside to a crisp. Served immediately, the ice cream is found to be as solidly frozen as it was first prepared." It may be derived in part from Baked Alaska, originating earlier in the 19th century, which puts ice cream under a quickly broiled

meringue Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...

Preparation

The dessert is commonly made by taking a scoop of ice cream frozen well below the temperature at which ice cream is generally kept, possibly coating it in raw egg, rolling it in cornflakes or cookie crumbs, and briefly

deep frying Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly Cooking oil, oil, as opposed to the shallow frying used in conventional frying done in a fryi ...

it. The extremely low temperature of the ice cream prevents it from melting while being fried. It may be sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and a touch of

peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...

; whipped cream or honey may be used, as well.

Associations with national cuisines

In the United States, fried ice cream has been associated with

Asian cuisine Asian cuisine encompasses several significant regional cooking styles of Asia: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. Cuisine is a distinctive way of cooking practices and customs, usually associat ...

, appearing in reviews of Chinese, Japanese, and Polynesian restaurants in the "Dining Out" section of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in the 1970s. Fried ice cream

It also came to be associated with

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agr ...

, in large part due to national chain

Chi-Chi's Chi-Chi's is a Belgian Chain store, restaurant chain and a Mexican-styled grocery items owned by MegaMex Foods. The son of one of the original co-founders recently revived the brand by preparing to open two restaurants in Minnesota. The name ...

adopting a fried ice cream made with

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread from Mesoamerica originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indi ...

s and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

as its "signature dessert" when it opened in 1975. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, fried ice cream is strongly associated with Asian cuisine and particularly

Australian Chinese cuisine Australian Chinese cuisine is a style of cooking developed by Chinese Australians, Australians of Chinese descent, who adapted dishes to satisfy local Anglo-Celtic tastes. Its roots can be traced to indentured Chinese who were brought to work as ...

. It is frequently served with caramel sauce.

References

External links

Fried ice cream
@

The Food Timeline Lynne Olver (1958–2015) was a librarian and food historian, and the sole author of the ''Food Timeline'' website. Personal life Olver graduated from the University of Albany (SUNY). She was a librarian at the Morris County Library, New Jer ...

{{Mexican cuisine Ice cream Chinese desserts Mexican desserts American desserts Japanese desserts and sweets

Origin

Preparation

Associations with national cuisines

See also

References

External links