Time Travel Kitchen

Sweetening Life’s Rocky Road

I guess Prohibition wasn’t all bad. It ushered in plenty of swell ice cream.

Nature and the economy hate a vacuum, so in 1920 when the manufacture and sale of alcohol became illegal, ice cream and sugary drinks literally stepped up to people’s plates. Advances in refrigeration and manufacturing boosted the sale and consumption of these treats, along with pharmacies that added soda fountain counters. Ice cream float, anyone?

My affection for ice cream started when I was barely out of toddlerhood, in the late 1950’s. Day trips with my grandmother on the subway from Queens to Manhattan always ended up with a bowl of chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Our destination was Schrafft’s, the famous, now defunct chain restaurant known for its ice cream, candy counter and dainty sandwiches.

During the 1920’s, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry were the most popular flavors, sometimes packed together as a brick of Neapolitan ice cream. But in 1929, an innovation in ice cream born of the Stock Market Crash changed the possibilities of what ice cream could be.

Ice cream maker William Dreyer and candy maker Joseph Edy put their heads and products together and created what was to become one of the world’s iconic ice cream flavors. Dreyer took his wife’s sewing shears, cut up the large marshmallows made by Edy’s company, toasted and crushed some nuts and added them to his chocolate ice cream. They thought its texture reminded them of a rocky road. It was the first time that anything had been mixed in to an ice cream, and it opened the door to all the delicious additions that followed.

In a nod to both the ice cream’s appearance and in recognition of the tough times they named their new flavor ‘Rocky Road’. What really got me is a quote attributed to Edy that they just wanted “to give folks something to smile about.”

There are other origin stories for the creation of Rocky Road, most notably Fentons’s Creamery (still in existence) also based out of Oakland, California where Dreyer had his company. In 1929 there was a candy maker named George Farren who is said to have been experimenting with adding mix-ins to Fenton’s ice cream including pieces of candy bar. But Farren was also friends with Edy and Dreyer. The intrigue!

Next week it’s all about the history of brownies, along with a 100-year-old brownie recipe from a famous hotel in Chicago that still serves it.

But today, I’ve gone full tilt in assembling the Sundae pictured above, using products that would have been available in 1929 and are still around today. (It’s probably a good time to say that I’m not affiliated with or sponsored by any of these brands).

We’ve got Edy’s Rocky Road Ice Cream (west of the Rockies, it’s called Dreyer’s Ice Cream) topped with Marshmallow Fluff (established 1914) in homage to the sheared marshmallows, and a Famous Chocolate Wafer (established 1924) just because. And, of course, a cherry.

I hope it gives you something to smile about.

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!

Jolene

Photos 📸: Jolene

Sources: Edys.com; Dreyers.com; “Dreyers History” from PDF Archive 2006. Mashed.com; Wikipedia; Nabisco.com; Nestles.com; Marshmallowfluff.com; History.com