The New York City Weekend was a blast. The parents and their 14-year-old daughter first visited the Brooklyn Bridge, crossing it by foot back and forth between Manhattan and Brooklyn. They became experts at taking the Staten Island ferry to and from the city. They has also visited Trinity Church, Times Square, Central Park, Battery Park and ate meals at a New York Diner as well as a street side food cart. On the final night in town, after walking uptown to the theater district and seeing a Broadway play, the family of three was returning to the subway, but they made one last stop before they left the city. Even though it was the middle of winter, the daughter said she just had to get something sweet to eat, so half way between the theater and the subway the family stopped for gelato.
Like any other place in the country through, a stop for gelato, frozen yogurt, or ice cream is not a quick one. Even in New York City, a stop for a sweet treat requires using mini tasting spoons and several samples before many people are able to make a flavor choice. This group finally settled on one mint chip, one chocolate raspberry, and one peach mango. Three paper cups for water and the group was ready to call it quits for the night.
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!
The saying used to be that nothing is as American as baseball, ice cream, and apple pie. Lately, however, gelato and frozen yogurt are giving ice cream a run for its money. While ice cream may have once been a universal language, it has had to learn to share its popularity with these other frozen treats.
Although June is the month when the most ice cream is sold, it seems nearly every night of every month will include a line of people at their favorite frozen yogurt shop. With paper cups in hand, customers love the adventure of serving their own frozen yogurt from the enormous refrigerated machines and then piling those paper cups to the top with a variety of their favorite toppings. Everything from gummy worms to fresh fruit and smashed chocolate cookies to pralines are mixed in with these frozen treats.
How Can Something Made of Air Taste This Good?
For dessert enthusiasts who do not like to assemble their own cold treats, a gelato bar might be a great option. Many of these locations also offer the adorable plastic tasting spoons, but once you pick your favorite flavor and mix-ins, the server actually uses large metal mixing paddles to combine the toppings with the gelato flavor or flavors of your choice. Still served in cones or plastic cups, gelato contains between 3% and 8% of milk fat and 25% to 30% air. Compared to the 50% air that is in most ice cream, the gelato tastes richer and more flavorful to many people.
Which Is Your Favorite–Gelato, Frozen Yogurt, or Ice Cream?
Ice cream, frozen yogurt, and gelato stores today are not only a tasty treat for your mouth, they are also a visual treat for your eyes. With matching shop supplies, interior seating and even paintings on the wall, most of the newest stores are an advertiser’s dream. With coordinated paper ice cream cups, tasting spoons that look like mini shovels, and cone wrappers, some of the largest franchises can be recognized simply by noticing a single wrapper or napkin.
While old fashioned ice cream may have been churned by the dad or grandpa at an outdoor picnic, today’s frozen treats are mixed, blended, and served by workers both young and old. Where were you the last time you had a chocolate and raspberry gelato? What is your favorite mix-in? Do you like the chocolate coated candies that turn rock hard when they are mixed with your ice cream? Or, do you convince yourself that if your family’s paper cups are filled with frozen yogurt and pieces of fresh fruit that this is really pretty good for you? No matter what your frozen passion is, you are not alone. America produces 1.5 billion gallons of ice cream and other frozen desserts a year!