"soft serve" news and stories

Happy National Soft Ice Cream Day!

Invented in 1938 by the father-son duo J.F. "Grandpa" McCullough and Alex McCulllough, "soft" ice cream is pretty much what it sounds like: a creamier, less frozen version of traditional ice cream. J.F. believed that ice cream mixes tasted better before going through the freezing process -- which tends to lessen the taste of the ice cream due to lower temperatures numbing the taste buds -- so sought to devise a softer ice cream that would highlight its own natural flavors.

To find out if customers favored their ice cream "soft-serve" style, they created a sale offering customers all the ice cream they could eat for a mere 10 cents. Within two hours, they had served 1,600 servings and were convinced of their product's appeal -- an appeal so broad that it spurred the creation of Dairy Queen in its honor.

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Blondie & Brownie

Local, organic, artisanal ice cream is great, but sometimes it's a Styrofoam cup filled with vanilla soft serve and topped with chunks and crumbs of a desecrated candy bar that really, truly answers the primal scream for ice cream.

That's why this portrait of a Snickers Sonic Blast, taken by Blondie of Blondie & Brownie, is so diabolically delightful. You can almost feel the cold, creamy rivulets running down your throat, and taste the sugary burn of caramel and chocolate on the back of your tongue.

The Blast's consumption undoubtedly results in a swift and unforgiving sugar coma, but what a fantastic way to surf the waves of the glycemic index.

[Via Blondie & Brownie]

Soft-serve gets a makeover at upscale ice cream joints. Think spiced cantaloupe topping, balsalmic cherries, a "creamsicle" of white nectarine granita and jasmine tea soft-serve.

The Slow Food movement plans a Labor Day Slow Food Nation festival, to be the "Woodstock" of food festivals. Hope they bring more porta-potties than the original.

The Rutgers Tomato Project brings back the Jersey tomato.

The Minimalist does a no-bake summer cheesecake with blueberries.

Some New Yorkers are apparently unable or unwilling to leave their own neighborhoods for dinner.

Wasabi fudge, lavender caramels, blue cheese truffles.