History of Ice Cream

In this country Ice Cream was served at a banquet for the Feast of St. George at Windsor Castle in 1671. It was such a rare and exotic dish that only the guests on King Charles II’s table had ‘one plate of white strawberries and one plate of iced cream.’ All the other guests had to watch and marvel at what the Royal table were eating.

Such was the interest and demand for ice cream that wealthy people built ice houses on their estates. Ice, ‘farmed’ in winter from lakes, ponds and rivers was stored under straw and bark, until the summer when it was used for cooling drinks, making water ices and ‘iced creams’. The ice was of such a poor quality that it was never actually put in food, it was only ever used to chill and freeze food and drinks.

Ice cream making was a closely guarded secret and the knowledge of how to make it would have been a meal ticket for life, which is why the first recipe in English did not appear until 1718.

The technique of making a custard based ice cream using egg yolks started in France around the middle of the 18th century and this is the origin of custard based ice cream. The Americans had to wait until 1800 to get their first taste of ice cream.