What's the one thing better than two scoops in a bowl?
Easy. Two scoops in a bowl you can eat when you're done.
The perfect addition to ice cream was the invention of the cone. Whether pointy or flat, sugar or cake, this edible container serves multiple purposes, and comes in almost as many varieties as ice cream itself.
A coneucopia, if you will.
According to Joy Cone Company, although different versions exist, most seem to agree that the birth of the cone was at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904. Supposedly, a Syrian waffle vendor wrapped one of his homemade waffles into a cone, and filled it with ice cream from a neighbor vendor.
And the rest was cone history.
One of the most frustrating things about working at an ice cream store, besides dealing with the "sample every flavor" people, was when a customer orders an "original" cone.
Everyone has a different idea what "original" means when it comes to cones. Learning proper cone terminology is important to make sure you get what you want.
For starters, the two basic kinds of cones, as mentioned before, are cake and sugar.
Sugar cones are usually darker in color, pointy and slightly sweeter. Coming from my experience at Baskin Robbins, they're also more popular.
Cake cones are more old-fashioned looking. They're flat on the bottom, crispy and formed with little air pockets that fill with ice cream.
The benefit of the cake cone is it can stand on it's own, but it does get soggier quicker, so eat fast.
The sugar cone will usually stay crispy till the very last bite, but if not made right, it can leak at the bottom, which results in having to rotate between licking the top and sucking from the bottom.
I like to call this move "ice cream gymnastics."
And I hope it is obvious, but sugar cones don't stand on their own; hence the cone-holders at most ice cream counters.
Although these are the two basics, this is far from where cone technology stops. My personal favorite, the waffle cone, is made by pouring waffle batter over hot griddles until cooked, and then forming into a cone.
They're generally fresher and taste better, even all by themselves.
One can experiment and upgrade any one of these types of cones by dipping in chocolate, caramel, white chocolate, nuts, sprinkles or virtually any kind of candy.
Most cones, especially from larger ice cream chains, now come in what is called the cone "jacket."
No, cones don't get cold.
They do, however, collect germs. The jacket is meant to decrease germs spread between scooper and eater, not to mention plaster the company's name on everything possible.
Commercialization or not, what it comes down to is that the question is no longer cup or cone.
It's sugar or cake.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This post reminded me of a place we used to go as a kid, the name escapes me, but I am sure it had something to do with the monarchy of the ice cream world. Anywho... they only had cake cones but the scoops of ice cream where square. I have not seen a square scoop since.
My personal favorite is the waffle bowl because there are no trick moves involved in eating it.
Post a Comment