Tomorrow is
National Frozen Custard Day, so I thought I'd get a head start on the holiday.
Frozen custard has always meant soft serve ice cream to me -- the kind that comes swirling out of a metal dispenser.
Frozen Custard was never a substitute for ice cream for me. It was just different.
So today, in honor of the holiday, I thought I'd post some
Retro Ads and Signs for
Tastee Freez & D
airy Queen. And, if you scroll down there's a recipe for
Cheater Chocolate Frozen Custard.
The big question is what's the difference between ice cream and frozen custard? Ice cream is made from milk, cream, or a combination of the two, while frozen custard is made from milk, cream,
and
egg yolks. Also, while the machine used to make ice cream churns air
into it to make it have a light mouthfeel, frozen custard is produced in
a machine that barely incorporates air into it, which means it's denser.
History of Frozen Custard
From eHow:
The Dairy Queen Story
According to the book
The Cone with the Curl on Top, a history of Dairy Queen, J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, opened an ice cream shop in 1927 in Davenport, Illinois. In the early 1930s, they moved to an ice cream factory in Green River, Illinois, and decided to find out if customers preferred ice cream before it was completely frozen, which was how they liked it best. The colder ice cream had less flavor than the softer version, they felt. After an experimental, all-you-can-eat sale in Kankanee, Illinois, where they found the softer ice cream was a success, they bought a machine from a street vendor in Chicago in 1939, had a machine company tweak the design, and sold their frozen custard exclusively to a store run by Sherb Noble in Joliet, Illinois, in 1940. They nicknamed the store Dairy Queen. They bought a second store in 1941, and a third that spring.
Carvel's Story
A
ccording to National Geographic and The Nibble magazine, Carvel's sold ice cream on the street in New York. After a flat tire in Hartsdale, New York, caused his ice cream to begin to melt, he sold the partially melted product as a new treat---and his customers loved it. He opened
Carvel Frozen Custard in Hartsdale in 1934 and began to build a series of frozen custard shops along highways. He built a soft-serve machine in 1939.
The McCulloughs continued to improve the design of their soft-serve machine and expand their business.
Carvel continued to expand its chain aggressively, too, as did another competitor, Tastee-Freez. By 1956, soft-serve ice cream consumption was increasing 25 percent every year, according to the U.S. Department of agriculture.
That same year,
Tastee-Freez had 1,500 stores, and Carvel had 500.
Carvel was a true innovator: he was the first to offer “buy one, get one
free”; the first to franchise an ice cream store; and his patented
glass building was copied by McDonald’s. Dairy Queen opened its first
soft-serve ice cream store in Joliet, Illinois in 1940. Carvel’s Flying
Saucer sandwich was introduced in 1951.
CHEATER CHOCOLATE FROZEN CUSTARD
technique adapted from John T. Edge's The Truck Food via Oprah
Makes one quart
Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups chocolate ice cream, softened
Directions
Using a handheld electric mixer, whisk cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla and continue whisking to make stiff peaks, about 30 seconds more.
Using a rubber spatula, stir in ice cream until well combined.
Transfer mixture to a large, resealable freezer bag and freeze until semi-firm (like frozen custard), 4 to 6 hours.
When ready to serve, remove ice cream from freezer and, if needed, knead bag until uniformly soft, about 30 seconds. (Cover bag with a towel to protect your hands from the cold.)
Snip off a corner of the bag to pipe ice cream into a cone, or simply scoop and serve.
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| Dairy Queen Cones |
