Chocolate ice cream is

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

with natural or artificial chocolate flavoring.

Nutrition

History

The earliest frozen chocolate recipes were published in Naples, Italy, in 1693 in Antonio Latini's ''The Modern Steward''. Chocolate was one of the first ice cream flavors, created before

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

, as common drinks such as hot chocolate, coffee, and tea were the first food items to be turned into frozen desserts.

Hot chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

had become a popular drink in seventeenth-century Europe, alongside coffee and tea, and all three beverages were used to make frozen and unfrozen desserts. Latini produced two recipes for ices based on the drink, both of which contained only chocolate and sugar. In 1775, Italian doctor Filippo Baldini wrote a treatise entitled ''De sorbetti'', in which he recommended chocolate ice cream as a remedy for various medical conditions, including

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and

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

. Chocolate ice cream became popular in the United States in the late nineteenth century. The first advertisement for ice cream in America started in New York on May 12, 1777, when Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was officially available "almost every day". Until 1800, ice cream was a rare and exotic dessert enjoyed mostly by the elite. Around 1800 insulated ice houses were invented and manufacturing ice cream soon became an industry in America.

Production

Chocolate ice cream is generally made by blending cocoa powder, and the eggs, cream, vanilla, and sugar used to make vanilla ice cream. Sometimes

chocolate liquor Chocolate liquor (cocoa liquor) is pure cocoa mass (cocoa paste) in solid or semi-solid form. Like the cocoa beans (nibs) from which it is produced, it contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in roughly equal proportion. It is produced fr ...

is used in addition to cocoa powder or used exclusively to create the chocolate flavor. Cocoa powder gives chocolate ice cream its brown color, and it is uncommon to add other colorings. The Codex Alimentarius, which provides an international set of standards for food, states that the flavor in chocolate ice cream must come from nonfat cocoa solids that must comprise at least 2.0-2.5% of the mix weight. The US Code of Federal Regulations "permits reductions in the content of milk fat and total milk solids by a factor of 2.5 times the weight of the cocoa solids", to take into account the use of additional sweeteners. The minimum fat content of chocolate ice cream in both Canada and the United States is 8%, irrespective of the amount of chocolate sweetener in the recipe.

Availability

Chocolate ice cream is sold in

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

cafés A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-c ...

, diners, supermarkets, grocery and

convenience Convenient procedures, products and services are those intended to increase ease in accessibility, save resources (such as time, effort and energy) and decrease frustration. A modern convenience is a labor-saving device, service or substance ...

stores.

Ice cream parlor Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard s ...

s specialize in the sale of ice cream. Chocolate is one of the five most popular ice cream flavors in the United States and is second only to vanilla.

Other flavors

Chocolate ice cream is used in the creation of other flavors, such as rocky road. Other flavors of ice cream contain chocolate chips mixed in with the ice cream. For example, (plain) chocolate chip ice cream is made with

ice cream, chocolate chocolate chip (or double chocolate chip) ice cream is made with chocolate ice cream, and mint chocolate chip ice cream is made with

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ice cream.

References

Bibliography

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