The Inside Scoop on Ice Cream ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏   | Ice Cream:
The Inside Scoop! One of the most egalitarian of treats today, before modern luxuries like freezers and electricity, only royalty and the crème de la crème (or should that be crème de la ice crème) of society could enjoy frozen delicacies like ice cream. In fact, the earliest recorded mention of ice cream in England is at the Feast of St George in 1671, when King Charles II was presented with a bowl of ice cream and white strawberries, which were also astonishingly rare delicacies at the time. And as his wide-eyed and doubtless jealous guests looked on, the King savoured his rare and exotic pudding.
Thankfully, by the second half of the 19th century, the advent of domestic freezing systems and greater volumes of imported ice made ice cream accessible and affordable: and in a few shakes of a sprinkle jar, the delicious stuff was a national fixation. In 1851, Swiss émigré and ice importer Carlo Gatti certainly played his part in making Brits obsessed with ice cream, with one of history’s sweetest displays of entrepreneurship; he positioned an ice cream cart outside Charing Cross Station and sold scoops for the very reasonable price of one penny. Whether he asked anyone if they ‘wanted a flake’ with their scoop is unconfirmed...
| | | | Fortnum's Facts 1. Vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavour in the UK, followed by chocolate and strawberry.
2. Brain freeze is a natural response to extreme cold in the throat or mouth, occurring as the body reacts and tries to warm up. Only 30-40% of the population are susceptible to brain freeze.
3. The average UK adult enjoys 9 litres of ice cream every year. | | |  | | A Delicious Fortnum's Invention Like most non-essential practices during the war years production of ice cream in Britain was severely curtailed by the First and Second World Wars, and the ensuing period of post-war sugar rationing left the public craving something far sweeter than the average cone.
And what should ride to the rescue? None other than The Knickerbocker Glory. Introduced to the British public in 1955 by Fortnum’s, the classic Knickerbocker Glory marries vanilla and strawberry ice cream with whipped cream, raspberry sauce and glace cherries and is as popular with our customers today as it was then. | | | | | Handy Hacks Jam Jar Joy
What to do with an almost-empty jar of peanut butter, honey, jam or chocolate spread? Add a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, give it a good stir and ta-da! Your own personal sundae pot.
Easy Glider
Run your spoon under hot water for a few seconds before serving and even the hardest ice cream will glide away easily.
Game of Cones
Place a marshmallow – or candy floss if serving to children - at the bottom of your ice cream cone before filling it to prevent leakage and sticky hands.
| | | Our Serving Suggestions |  | | Crumble your favourite Fortnum’s Biscuit, Toffolossus works particularly well, and sprinkle over ice cream cones for a weekend-worthy treat. | | |  | | Pour a shot of freshly brewed coffee over coupes of good quality vanilla ice cream for an instant Affagato at your next dinner party. Delizioso! | | | | |  | | Psst! There are three delicious new sundaes coming to The Parlour next week! | | | | | | | One last thing... There’s always something delicious going on at Fortnum’s Food & Drink Studio. | | | | |  | | | |  | #Fortnums is Made for Sharing Every day is a delicious adventure with Fortnum's.
Follow our journey and share your own. |  | | |   |
