What Is Ice Cream? (2024)

  • Article
  • 2 min read May 22, 2017

Sweet. Creamy. Delicious. Yes, ice cream falls into all three categories, but what exactly makes ice cream, well, ice cream?

While ingredients can vary from recipe to recipe or brand to brand, ice cream (whether homemade or commercial) includes at least three ingredients: milk (and/or cream), sweeteners and flavorings/mix-ins. Commercially made ice creams also include stabilizers and emulsifiers. Here’s what all of that means:

Of course, the main ingredients in ice cream come from milk–and the most important part of that is milkfat, which gives ice cream its smoothness and creamy texture. In fact, in order to be called ice cream, the USDA requires it to contain at least 10 percent milkfat, which can come from milk or cream.

When it comes to sweetening ice cream, ingredients can range from cane or beet sugar to sweeteners or even honey. Stabilizers, such as plant-based gums (e.g. guar gum) are sometimes used to help prevent the formation of ice crystals and to give the ice cream its smoother texture. Similarly, emulsifiers (originally egg yolks) keep fat and water together and make ice cream more uniform as it freezes.

And ice cream just wouldn’t be ice cream without your favorite flavorings and mix-ins. From vanilla to green tea, there’s no limit to how you can flavor your ice cream!

As we mentioned, ice cream needs to contain at least 10 percent milkfat in order to be called ice cream, and there are similar guidelines for other frozen dairy treats. For example:

  • Soft serve includes the same ingredients as ice cream, but the soft serve machine adds air while freezing, which makes it “softer” than ice cream.
  • Like ice cream, frozen custard needs to contain at least 10 percent milkfat and also has 1.4 percent egg yolk solids.
  • Sherbets contain a minimal amount of milkfat – usually 1 to 2 percent. (Meanwhile, sorbets don’t contain any dairy ingredients!)
  • Frozen yogurt is similar to ice cream, but the ingredients have been cultured.
  • Gelato, Italian-style ice cream, contains less fat (milkfat) and is churned slowly, which results in a denser taste.
What Is Ice Cream? (2024)

FAQs

What technically is ice cream? ›

Ice cream is a colloidal emulsion made with water, ice, milk fat, milk protein, sugar and air. Water and fat have the highest proportions by weight creating an emulsion that has dispersed phase as fat globules. The emulsion is turned into foam by incorporating air cells which are frozen to form dispersed ice cells.

What is real ice cream made of? ›

Real ice cream is made from 100% dairy – milk, and products made from milk (including cream, skim milk powder, and whey powder). Frozen desserts are made with vegetable oils, like palm, kernel, or coconut oil.

How do you describe ice cream? ›

Ice cream is a very cold sweet food made from frozen cream or a substance like cream and has a flavor such as vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. What flavor of ice cream do you prefer?

What is ice ice cream? ›

ice cream, frozen dairy food and common dessert made from cream or butterfat, milk, sugar, and flavourings. Frozen custard and French-type ice creams also contain eggs.

What qualifies as ice cream? ›

Ice cream is a frozen food made from a mixture of dairy products, containing at least 10 percent milkfat. "Reduced fat" ice cream contains at least 25 percent less total fat than the referenced product (either an average of leading brands, or the company's own brand).

What is ice cream classified as in science? ›

Ice cream is an emulsion—a combination of two liquids that don't normally mix together. Instead, one of the liquids is dispersed throughout the other. In ice cream, liquid particles of fat—called fat globules—are spread throughout a mixture of water, sugar, and ice, along with air bubbles (Fig.

Why is ice cream two words? ›

However, ice cream is a compound noun because ice is not an adjective describing cream. The two words work together to create a single noun. To check the spelling of a compound noun, look it up in the dictionary.

What do you call a person who loves ice cream? ›

Then you are definitely a. Frigophill. Frigophilia is the love/obsession towards. cold or frosty stuff!

What is ice cream slang for? ›

Cream is a slang term for Methamphetamine, which is a highly addictive chemical popular for its excitatory effects. Sometimes called Blue Bell Ice Cream, Cream is a white crystalline substance available in the form of crystal shards to be smoked, liquid to be injected into veins, and powder to be snorted.

Why is it called ice cream? ›

The first ice cream parlor in America opened in New York City in 1776. American colonists were the first to use the term "ice cream." The name came from the phrase "iced cream," which was similar to "iced tea." The name was later abbreviated to "ice cream," the name we know today.

What is like ice cream but not? ›

Gelato is similar to ice cream but typically contains less cream and air. Frozen yogurt uses yogurt as its primary ingredient rather than milk and cream. Unlike ice cream, sherbet uses fruit juice or fruit purée as its main ingredient and typically only has a small amount of dairy.

What is ice cream classed as? ›

Although it is a frozen product that melts and turns into a liquid when exposed to heat, it is typically consumed with a spoon as a solid food. In addition, ice cream is made from a combination of ingredients, including milk, cream, sugar, and flavorings, which further classify it as a food.

What would you consider ice cream? ›

Ice cream must contain at least 10% milkfat (sometimes called butterfat). Since anything less than that isn't considered real ice cream, you may be interested to learn that your favorite fast-food chain's soft serve most likely does not make the cut.

Is ice cream heterogeneous or hom*ogeneous? ›

Ice cream is a heterogeneous mixture of a liquid and finely dispersed solids. That is why it is called a complex colloidal system. Each part in this system has an important function. Air bubbles typically make up about 30 to 50 percent of the mixture's final volume.

What state of matter is ice cream? ›

Answer and Explanation:

The ice crystals of ice cream are in a solid state of matter, while the milk and sugar solution created during the production process is a liquid. Finally, the air bubbles mentioned earlier are in a gaseous state of matter.

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