Ice Cream has been one of the most popular desserts in Europe and the United States since the late 18th century. Nowadays, ice cream is very popular worldwide. Modern ice cream is produced by continuously churning the dairy mixture while in a cold environment.

While the original frozen desserts leading up to the current ice creams did not contain milk, they are believed to be the first frozen treats enjoyed as desserts. These items, known as gellatos date back to the 1500s and are from French origin.http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamHistory.htm

Ice cream as it is known today, is originally attributed to the Europeans and is documented as early as the 17th century. U.S. documentation dates to the 700s, when Maryland’s Governor enjoyed ice cream made of milk and strawberries and recorded the information.http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/IceCream/IceCreamHistory.htm

Ice cream in its earliest satges was enjoyed just as it was made. However, over the years, the uses for the dairy treat have expanded. Store bought ice cream desserts may include ice cream sandwiches or other frozen delicacies such as a chocolate coated ice cream bar or mini ice cream bites coated in a flavored topping.

Fast food restaurants serve milk shakes and ice cream parlors may include ice cream sundaes or their own trademarked frozen dessert like the Dairy Queen Blizzard or the Baskin Robbins Clown Cones.http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Grabngo/noveltiesntreats.aspx http://www.dairyqueen.com/us-en/eats-and-treats/menu/treats/blizzard/

Made at home ice cream treats include making a freezer of the frozen dessert. Different flavors can be made in the home freezer including fruit flavored ice cream, copycat recipes of favorite flavors, or standard vanilla and chocolate flavors.http://www.topsecretcopycatrecipes.com/dairy_queen_ice_cream_recipe.html

An ice cream sundae bar may include a variety of toppings for the ice cream including items like candy pieces, crushed cookies, whipped topping and nuts.

Italian ice cream, called gelato, contains less than 10% milkfat, disqualifying it from being "ice cream" by the American definition. Many French brands of ice cream contain butter instead of cream, making the end product richer and thicker. The world's largest consumers of ice cream are the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-ice-cream-consumer-countries.html

There are hundreds of readily available ice cream flavors, thousands more created by smaller shops and nearly endless possibilities of flavor combinations. More than half of all ice cream consumed is vanilla, based substantially on its inclusion in ice cream products such as milkshakes and ice cream sandwiches.

Chocolate is the second most popular flavor, followed by Butter Pecan, Chocolate Chip and Strawberry. Ben and Jerry's has famously creative flavor names, including "Cherry Garcia" and "Phish Food."