A Sprinkles Emergency
June 23, 2014When it comes to ice cream, we all have our favorite flavors and toppings. Some of us are down with the hot fudge. Others enjoy a fruitier topping, like strawberries and pineapple. When it comes to dry toppings, the passion remains. The debate over nuts or no nuts will likely continue until the end of time. And what about sprinkles? Is the alleged mismanagement of sprinkles on ice cream enough to get the police involved? One British woman apparently thought so. This thought process got her into a wee bit of trouble with police, who apparently didn’t appreciate the woman contacting them on an emergency line to complain about an incorrect dessert order. Police say the woman called them because the woman was upset about how sprinkles were put on her ice cream. There would be more humor to this (though not Good Humor) if not for the fact that…
Read MoreNeapolitan Ice Cream’s Rich History
June 17, 2014Have you ever had your heart set on ice cream but just can’t decide on a flavor? We’ve all been there. This is certainly a first-world problem but there is still a decision to be made. This is why Neapolitan ice cream can be such a delicious decision maker. It’s got three of the all-time favorite flavors all living together under one container. You’ve got your vanilla, chocolate and strawberry all right there for the eating. Some people like one flavor a little more than others. We’ve all opened a carton of this tri-colored treat to find one of the flavors carved out, while the other two flavors remain virtually untouched. Who knows, perhaps we’ve also been guilty of this culinary crime in the past. This does not make us bad people. It just makes quirky ice cream lovers. We are not alone. We love to explore the history of…
Read MoreIce Cream Under the Microscope
June 9, 2014Nothing says summer like ice cream. Let’s rephrase that. Nothing tastes more like summer than ice cream. Science is not usually the first thing that pops into our minds when we are enjoying an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. Yet science may soon be playing a bigger role in how we look at and enjoy ice cream. The folks at Nestle have been known to make some ice cream. Now Nestle is working with the people at the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Switzerland. They are using an x-ray machine that is usually used to study the way avalanches form. They do this by looking at ice crystal formations. The x-ray machine takes images of very small structures at sub-zero temperatures. This gives the Nestle crew a view of their ice cream they’ve never seen before. Looking at ice cream as it forms on a…
Read MoreWhat is a Praline?
June 2, 2014Praline’s takes its ice cream pretty seriously. Praline’s delights in making customers happy by serving up the best-tasting ice cream made with the best ingredients. Some of you might be wondering: What is a praline and where did it come from? We have the answers to these questions. It’s time to take a closer look at one of our favorite sweet treats. A praline is basically a sugar candy. It’s made from nuts and sugar syrup. There are all sorts of variation on Praline’s. We’ll identify a few. Pralines are a big deal in the southern U.S. Go online and you’ll find lots of recipes for southern pralines. Almost all of them include caramel and pecans. You’ll find recipes that call for brown sugar and some that make no mention of brown sugar. There are recipes that include things like baking soda, evaporated milk, buttermilk, and other ingredients. Original pralines…
Read MoreIce Cream from a Factory
June 2, 2014Ice cream is delicious. We can all agree on that statement. There are many ice cream recipes, far too many for us to list here. We all love the taste of homemade ice cream and ice cream made with the best, all-natural ingredients. It’s also hard to argue that point. Yet we also know that for everyone to be able to enjoy the sweet treat that is ice cream, some ice cream (okay, a lot of ice cream), needs to be mass-produced. This means ice cream that is made in (gasp) a factory. All is not lost. Much of the ice cream we enjoy comes from the grocery store freezer section. This means ice cream that has been mass-produced. It’s ice cream on a truck that’s come from miles away. Yet, despite this travel time, the ice cream usually remains delicious. Mass production of ice cream used to be impossible.…
Read MoreMore Funky Ice Cream Flavors
May 27, 2014It looks like ice cream is getting fancy again. Those who enjoy funky ice cream flavors are in luck. Folks are getting really creative with ice cream flavors. Will all the flavors be winners? The taste buds will decide. Make no mistake. We Americans love our ice cream. According to a recent article, Americans devoured nearly 1.6 billion dollars of ice cream and other frozen dairy desserts in 2012. Yet, numbers for some traditional ice creams are down, with specialty items like frozen yogurt and gelato taking their place. So what’s next for ice cream? What flavors are being tried out and developed in some culinary laboratories. We already know about how some shops and ice cream makers are using liquid nitrogen to create a smoother texture in ice cream. Now we are seeing flavors in ice cream that include things like bacon, olive oil, pepper, cumin and pumpernickel. Some…
Read MoreSalty Caramel Ice Cream
May 19, 2014The combination of salt and caramel is proving to be a popular pairing. Salt and ice cream have worked before and when you throw ice cream into the mix, deliciousness happens. This is why Praline’s is so proud to now be offering Salty Caramel ice cream. This is sweet cream with a salty caramel base. It’s as good as it sounds. If you love ice and love to experiment in the kitchen, there is shortage of ice cream recipes featuring salt and caramel. One recipe really brings out the butter. To make the caramel praline connection, you’re going to need ½ of granulated sugar and ¾ tablespoon of sea salt. These are the ingredients for the caramel praline mix. For the ice cream mix, you’ll need 2 cups whole milk, 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar (hope you kept that granulated sugar handy), 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, ½…
Read MoreThe Wine Ice Cream Debate Comes to a Vote
May 12, 2014It seems lawmakers in Louisiana have been talking about wine and ice cream for months. Now, the talk is over and lawmakers have taken action. The Louisiana House of Representatives does not have a taste for wine in ice cream. Only 44 lawmakers supported a proposal that would allow sales of wine-infused ice cream in the state. The measure needed 53 votes to pass. There was some promise for supporters early on. The measure made it out of committee with unanimous approval. This came after restrictions were added to ban people under the age of 21 from gaining access to the ice cream. Under the proposal, ice cream with alcohol of more than ten percent could be sold in Louisiana, as long as the person buying the ice cream was 21 or older. Sales would also have been restricted to establishments that are licensed to sell alcohol. The bill’s sponsor…
Read MoreThe History of the Ice Cream Truck
May 5, 2014Spring is here…finally. We’re also seeing some nice warm weather…finally. It’s getting to be the type of weather where folks want to stay out a little longer in the evening. Maybe take the dog for a walk or do a little grilling for dinner. It’s also the time of year you start to hear the familiar sound of the ice cream truck. We all know the song. There is no way it could be anything else. The ice cream truck is rolling in the neighborhood. Get the loose change and cash because the ice cream man (or woman) doesn’t take plastic. Cold cash means cold treats. It’s a freezer full of ice cream goodness on four wheels. So who first decided it was a good idea to sell ice cream out of the back of the truck? And keep it cold during transportation? For the answer, we delve into another…
Read MoreFunky Flavors?
April 29, 2014You know that commercial by a certain salad dressing maker? The commercial that depicts people living in a happy, magical world where there are farms and fields everywhere and kids’ favorite food is any type of vegetable that’s dipped in ranch dressing? Maybe such a place exists. Maybe there is a place where kids would rather chomp down on a ranch-dipped carrot instead of a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone. Could that place be Japan? We may soon find out. A certain well-known ice cream maker (we’ll skip on giving it free publicity) is testing a couple of unusual flavors in Japan. The flavors are Carrot Orange and Tomato Cherry. Obviously these flavors have a non-traditional flavor theme. Maybe this is an attempt to attract the juicing crowd. Is juicing a big thing in Japan? The bigger question is, do these ice cream flavors sound appealing? Is it any healthier than…
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