Trivia Tuesday: Ice Cream

Ice cream has long been a favorite summer treat for many, although it has only become as common as it is in the past few hundred years.

Origins of the sweet treat go back to the Chinese King Tang, who combined ice and milk to make a special occasion concoction. The Roman emperor Nero also created a similar product with fruit almost 2,000 years ago, but historians tend to think the dessert as we know it today originated in China and made its way to Europe.

Making ice cream at home can be pretty easy and fun, especially if you do it with a friend. Making homemade ice cream can also be a good learning experience for kids, and if you follow this recipe for mint chocolate chip ice cream, it can be pretty easy:

Ingredients:
Ice cream maker
1/2 (250ml) pint milk
1/2 pint (250ml) double/heavy cream
3oz (75g) caster sugar
5oz (125g) plain chocolate (grated)
1 teaspoon peppermint essence
Two or three drops of green food coloring (optional)

Place the milk and sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Place the milk aside to cool. When cold, stir in the double/heavy cream and peppermint essence (and the green food coloring if you want to use it).

Transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze, following the manufacturer's instructions. Remember to add the grated chocolate as the ice cream begins to thicken!

What common cooking seasoning is added to the ice to help lower the temperature of the ingredients of ice cream as it is made?

Take a guess in the comments section and we'll post the correct answer next week.



Answer to last week's question: Royals Hall of Famer George Brett said, “If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing you grandmother with her teeth out.”