Waffles are often served for breakfast with syrup and fruit.
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Popular mouth-watering breakfast foods include doughnuts, french toast, pancakes, and sugary cereals. Typical savory breakfast items may include bacon and sausage, biscuits and gravy, eggs in any form, and hash browns or other potatoes. Few items can cross the divide of sweet and savory as well as the waffle.

The waffle is a crisp batter cake made from flour, eggs, and sugar. A waffle is made by baking batter in a grooved and heated press until it crisps. The press is a hinged appliance called a waffle iron that typically makes a gridlike pattern on the cakes. The waffle iron can be designed to produce a variety of shapes. People enjoy waffles for their golden color, crisp exterior, fluffy texture, and sweet taste.

In the United States, waffles are usually served with butter, syrup, and perhaps fruit for breakfast. They are also served in such savory dishes as the popular American combination of chicken and waffles. Waffles are also served in dessert dishes, commonly with ice cream.

Waffles can be traced back to the 1200’s in Europe. Dutch and German people brought waffle irons when they immigrated to the United States. In the 1700’s, many wealthy American families owned waffle irons and made waffles for special occasions. In the mid-1800′s, waffles became a staple of hotel menus for breakfast along with options topped with meat and gravy for dinner. The electric waffle iron was introduced in the early 1900’s and became a popular wedding gift.

Most waffles consist of flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, sugar, and butter or vegetable oil. The batter may be mixed with such sweeteners as honey, brown sugar, and chocolate chips, as well as such other ingredients as bacon, oats, nuts, and fruit. Toppings for breakfast waffles include butter, fruit, honey, jam, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and whipped cream.

In Hong Kong, egg waffles or bubble waffles are often served as a cone with ice cream.
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Many countries have different popular versions of the waffle. Perhaps the best-known is the Belgian waffle. The batter is baked in a hot iron grid to create a large, fluffy waffle. In Hong Kong, the egg waffle or bubble waffle is a popular dessert. It often is used as a cone to hold ice cream. In the Netherlands, the Liege waffle is made with sugar and paired with coffee. Also in the Netherlands, the Dutch stroopwafel is two thin cookie-like wafers with caramel sandwiched between.

A waffle is a type of quick bread. Other quick breads include corn bread, doughnuts, muffins, and pancakes. Most quick bread is baked at home or in local bakeries and supermarkets. Waffles are very similar to pancakes. Many types of waffles are sold in grocery stores and restaurants and made at home. At home, waffles may take about 20 minutes to prepare and about 5 minutes to cook. Ready-to-eat frozen waffles require only heating in the toaster or microwave. Eggo Food Products Inc. introduced frozen waffles in the 1950’s. At the time, freezers and frozen foods were gaining popularity in American households and grocery stores. Frozen waffles offered ready-made convenience for parents and kids. The product could be placed directly in the toaster for a few minutes.

Gluten-free and vegan waffles can be made with substitutes for butter, eggs, flour, and milk. Boxed mixes are sold in grocery stores ready to mix with just water or very few ingredients. Today, manufacturers fortify many ready-to-eat waffles with extra nutrients. Such waffles can include high-fiber and whole-grain varieties. Breakfast waffles consist largely of energy-producing carbohydrates and may contain added protein, depending on the ingredients.

Ice cream sandwich
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Today, August 2, 2022, is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! Ice cream is a versatile treat. Whether you play it safe and eat it in a bowl with a spoon to decrease the chance of unwanted dripping, or you mix it up by eating it on a cone, sandwiched between two cakey wafers, or in a cone shaped like a taco, ice cream is the perfect summer treat. Ice cream sandwiches are the cool snack of choice for a treat in the park, at a sports game, or anywhere else on the go!

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Ice cream consists chiefly of cream, milk, sugar, and water. Ingredients called emulsifiers and stabilizers hold the mixture together. All the ingredients of ice cream are carefully blended together in a large vat at the beginning of the manufacturing process.
Credit: WORLD BOOK diagram

Ice cream is a popular frozen dairy food. It consists mostly of milk products, sugar, and flavorings. Ice cream may be served by itself or with cake, pie, or other pastries. It also is used in making milk shakes, sodas, cake rolls, and sundaes. Manufacturers make ice cream in many flavors. About one-third of the ice cream sold in the United States is vanilla. Chocolate and Neapolitan (layers of different flavors) rank next in popularity.

Ice cream.
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The United States produces about 1.4 billion gallons (5.3 billion liters) of ice cream annually. Almost one-tenth of the nation’s milk supply is used to produce ice cream and other frozen desserts. These desserts include ice milk, sherbet, and frozen yogurt. About 7 quarts (6.6 liters) of milk are needed to make 4 quarts (3.8 liters) of ice cream. Ice cream is served in many parts of the world, but Americans eat more of it than do the people of any other country. Americans eat an average of about 23 quarts (21.8 liters) of ice cream annually.

When did ice cream become a sandwich? Vendors started selling ice cream sandwiches in New York City in the late 1800’s. The ice cream was served between two pieces of sponge cake as an affordable treat to eat on the go. Later in the 1920’s, a street vendor in San Francisco decided to make the treat with cookies instead of thin pieces of cake, introducing the world to the cookie ice cream sandwich.

In 1983, a man from Philadelphia invented the Choco Taco, an ice cream treat where the cone is shaped like a hard taco shell dipped in chocolate. Since then, many other versions of ice cream sandwiches have popped up around the world. In Iran, there is a popular frozen treat of saffron and rosewater ice cream between two wafers dipped in pistachios. In Vietnam, ice cream is served on a bánh mì baguette with peanuts.

July 6, 2018

Who wants ice cream? That question is usually answered by a unified chorus of “I do!” Well, now—the month of July—is the official time to indulge. Since 1984, the typically hot month has been National Ice Cream Month in the United States. To narrow it further, the third Sunday of the month is National Ice Cream Day. In 2018, that delicious day falls on July 15. So ready the bowls, spoons, and cones, and prepare to dig in.

July is National Ice cream Month in the United States. Credit: © Elena Veselova, Shutterstock

Ice cream consists chiefly of cream, milk, sugar, and water. (It takes 12 pounds [5.4 kilograms] of milk to make 1 gallon [3.8 liters] of ice cream!) The ingredients are blended together and then rapidly heated and cooled to destroy harmful bacteria. Next, the mixture is further mixed to break up particles of fat and smoothen the product. The mixture is then cooled and stored to allow it to solidify. After chocolate, nuts, strawberries, or other tasty additions, the mixture is frozen and packaged as ice cream.

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The ice cream process. Credit: WORLD BOOK diagram

No one knows when ice cream was first made. In 1295, the Venetian trader Marco Polo returned to Europe from China and may have brought recipes for water ices. During the 1600′s, Europeans used a combination of ice, snow, and a mineral called saltpeter to freeze mixtures of cream, fruit, and spices.

British colonists probably brought recipes for ice cream to America in the early 1700′s. Ice cream became a popular luxury food, but almost all of it was made at home until 1851. That year, Jacob Fussell, a Baltimore, Maryland, milk dealer, established the first ice cream plant. Ice cream became a national favorite during the early 1900′s after soda fountains introduced sodas, sundaes, and other new ways of serving it. Ice cream cones were first served at the 1904 world’s fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Ice cream bars appeared in 1921. Ice cream production increased greatly in the late 1940′s. During the first decade of the 2000′s, the United States produced about 1.4 billion gallons (5.3 billion liters) of ice cream yearly.

Ice cream is served in many parts of the world, but Americans eat more of it than do the people of any other country. Americans eat an average of about 23 quarts (21.8 liters) of ice cream annually.