Channeling Julia

This isn't just any ordinary chocolate cake, it's a chocolate ice cream cake!

This one is made with chocolate cake layered with ice cream. Some ice cream cakes are made from several flavors of ice cream shaped like a cake. Frozen confections like the ice cream sandwich are also summertime favorites.

The ice cream cake first became popular in the 1870's - about the same time that refrigeration became practical and ice could be purchased for the home at any time of the year from the roving iceman. Other variations of ice cream desserts include the Bombe

The commercial refrigerator was first used in the 1860's in breweries and in meat packing, but wasn't efficient until the 1870's when ammonia began to be used as the refrigerant. However, ammonia refrigeration units were found to have major safety issues and it was safer to produce ice and ship to the home as needed. Home refrigerators (introduced in 1911) used toxic coolants up until the 1930's when Freon was introduced.

Prior to the invention of practical refrigeration machinery, ice was cut from ponds in the winter and stored in nearby ice houses. There was also a thriving business in shipping ice from the Arctic to Northern Europe and North America up until the 20th century. The earliest known ice house dates from 1700 BC.