There's something iconic and appealing about the shape of a soft serve ice cream cone. I spent last weekend in Chestertown, MD and after a fun dinner out with friends, we gravitated towards the local Rita's. I ordered a small vanilla custard cone and when it was handed to me, I stopped for a moment to gaze upon it and admire the curves of the custard and the familiarity of the cone. Then I dug in, as it was starting to melt.

If you too appreciate the classic look of an ice cream cone, you can now bring that style into your house year round. Fred Flare is selling an Ice Cream Lamp that captures the image of a cone without all the drippy mess. Best of all, it will light up the room with a soft white glow. It would be perfect for a kid's room or a themed den.

[via Ice Cream Journal]

Can you tell a Drumstick from a King Cone or a ID your favorite brand of chocolate eclair? Take our coolest quiz yet, and then come back to share your score, or reminisce about your favorite frozen confections.

Frozen Treats ID Quiz

Joe DiStefano goes kooky for Creamsicles.

Emily Matchar crunches into a Drumstick Sundae Cone.

Marisa McClellan is wacky about Philadelphia water ice.

Jonathan M. Forester dishes on New York shaved ice and driving a Good Humor truck.

Alanna Kaufmann camps out for Firecracker Popsicles.

Max Shrem keeps cool with frozen orange juice.

Shayna Glick licks the topic of Popsicles.

Stefani Pollack takes a bite out of homemade apple juice pops.

It's a good thing that this is just a picture of the Hand Dipped, Chocolate-Covered Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes that Lolo, from Vegan Yum Yum, baked, because if they were the real thing, they would have been long gone by now. They were made by baking a vanilla cupcake directly in an ice cream cone, the "cake cone" style that is flat-bottomed and easy to stand upright. Once the cupcakes were baked they were topped off with vanilla buttercream frosting (a vegan version, in this case) and chilled slightly so that the chocolate coating would be able to set up in a crisp, crackly shell. Lolo said she used Green & Black's organic baking chocolate for the shell, simply melting it in a double boiler and quickly dipping the frosted cakes.

As it happens, the only thing keeping me from baking a batch of these right now is the fact that I don't have any ice cream cones to work with. Perhaps a trip to the store is in order....

Ice cream cones are an American invention - at least, they were invented in America. The original source of the concept is up for debate. Generally the story goes that a waffle vendor was next to an ice cream vendor at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. When the ice cream vendor ran out of cups, the waffle vendor - a Syrian named Ernest A. Hamwi, who sold a crispy pastry actually known as zalabis - rolled his product into a cone to hold the ice cream.

This is not the first time an ice cream cone was seen in the US, though. The idea was patented in New York in 1903, a full year earlier by an Italian man named Italo Marchiony, who is said to have been making the cones since 1896. The ideas were independently conceived, but it is interesting to note that the time was clearly the right one for the ice cream cone.

St Louis, as a town, is the reason for the success of the cones. Bakeries with special equipment started to produce the then-named cornucopia cones. As factories looked for easier ways than hand-rolling to produce the cones, batter-based cones, which were poured into molds and are now often known as sugar cones, were developed. Sales of cones of all kinds took off and the rest, as they say, is history.

The way that Williams-Sonoma includes a picture of the finished cake with most of their bakeware is a nice touch, especially for the shaped pans. Seeing a lovely, frosted treat is obviously more appealing than simply looking at a piece of metal. For instance, I was not particularly impressed when I saw this Ice Cream Cone Cupcake Pan, a Williams-Sonoma exclusive, on its own, but once I saw the finished cakes in their catalogue, I was sold. They look fantastic, and are a great twist on a regular cupcake, reminding me of a different kind of cupcake cone without the crunchy shell. I think it's particularly impressive that they were able to proportion the cakes so they can stand on their own. The pan is a summer special, so check them out now, if you're interested.

When my girlfriend showed me pictures of knitted cupcakes in a book of knitting projects, I just sort of chuckled. Today, when I came across an enormous list of food-related crochet projects, like the eggs and bacon you see here, I was forced to grapple with the fact that this is an entire genre. I know that there's definitely some overlap between the food bloggers and the craft/knit/crochet bloggers, and I'm sure some of you fall into both categories. Personally, when I see a knitting needle I'd rather put some shrimp on it, but nevermind that. There are some pretty creative and bizarre projects out there. My favorite so far is, without a doubt, the Flying Spaghetti Monster Hat. Continue reading to see a picture of it, as well as a few others.

 

We mentioned this last week, but don't forget that today is annual Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! At all (which is most of them), customers who visit the store will get a free scoop of their favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor - whether it's the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or the new , a blend of coffee ice cream, cookie crumbs and little fudge cows. The promotion lasts from noon until 8 pm, which is plenty of time to stop in twice. But don't tell them we told you that.