I Scream for Ice Cream!

Which do you prefer, soft serve or hard scooped ice cream?
Hi it's Meghan Mongillo, AKA one of Cincinnati's biggest fans of soft serve ice cream. :-)

Don't get me wrong, I love scooped ice cream too. But not as much as a soft serve chocolate and vanilla twist cone. Mmmmmm. It's arguably my favorite dessert (and I do love desserts!).

I've been to soft serve ice cream stands all over the Tri-State. The Creamy Whip in Norwood is within walking distance of my home so it's one of my favorites. (That's where the picture was taken. I sometimes get my cone dipped in chocolate) Putz's Creamy Whip is also great -- there's a reason it's been a Cincinnati tradition since 1938!

I put on my investigative reporter hat to do some research on soft serve ice cream and found out some cool facts about this old fashioned treat. Not surprisingly, soft serve got its start at one of the most popular ice cream chains, Dairy Queen, back in the 1930's. What you may not know is that it's served at a higher temperature than scooped which gives it the creamy texture and allows your taste buds to detect the flavor better. I didn't know this, but when you eat hard ice cream, your taste buds are chilled to the point that the flavors aren't as easily detectable.

Oh and here's the best part -- soft serve is made with less butter fat, which makes it a bit healthier. That's just what I was looking for, another reason to enjoy this amazing summer time treat! :-)