Home / July

A little reason to celebrate

National Ice Cream Day

Food · The third Sunday in July

A summer day for ice cream in all its forms, from a plain vanilla cone to a homemade batch churned on the back porch.

National Ice Cream Day falls on Sunday, July 18, 2027. That is 264 days away.

Ice cream is a frozen mix of cream, milk and sugar, churned while it freezes so that air gets folded in and the ice crystals stay small. That churning is what makes it soft and scoopable instead of a solid block. National Ice Cream Day falls on the third Sunday in July, right in the stretch of summer when a cone melts faster than you can eat it.

The flavors run from the classics (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) to whatever a local shop dreamed up last week. Some people are loyal to one flavor for life. Others treat the menu board as a challenge. Toppings add another layer of decisions: sprinkles, hot fudge, crushed cookies, a cherry that mostly gets left in the dish.

Most people mark the day simply, with a trip to a neighborhood parlor or a carton shared out of the freezer. Families with an old hand-crank machine sometimes bring it out, fill the outer bucket with ice and rock salt, and take turns cranking until the arm gets hard to turn. The salt lowers the temperature of the ice, which is what lets the cream inside freeze.

A sundae, a float, a sandwich between two cookies and a milkshake all start from the same scoop. Vanilla, for all its reputation as the plain choice, gets its flavor from the cured pods of an orchid.

Ways to celebrate

• Try a flavor you have never ordered before at a local shop.
• Make a no-churn batch at home with cream and condensed milk.
• Build sundaes with friends using toppings already in your pantry.
• Turn a scoop of vanilla into a root beer float.
• Share your favorite flavor combination with someone who has not tried it.

Dates

All national days on July 18

Also on July 18

• National Sour Candy Day
• National Caviar Day

Categories: Food days