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Hokey Pokey Ice Cream

An Authentic Recipe For Hokey Pokey Ice Cream That You Can Make At Home

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Hokey pokey ice cream deserves a special mention in the history of ice cream. After the soldiers returned home from the American Civil War in 1865, it became difficult to find work in the American cities, and many unemployed immigrants living in those cities became ice cream vendors.

As in London, England, they were called Hokey-Pokey men because they often shouted "Ecco un poco" in Italian which means when loosely translated, "Here's a little piece."

The term "hokey-pokey" soon became identified with poor-quality ice cream, however, as it was sometimes made of questionable ingredients under very unsanitary conditions, and it was not uncommon for consumers to become ill after eating it. The way it was served didn't help either.

Hokey Pokey Penny Lick

Frozen hokey pokey was sold from pushcarts, and the customers either licked it out of a shallow glass known as a "penny lick" (pictured at right) or it was received in a small folded-paper box or hand-wrapped in waxed paper.

When customers finished eating their ice cream from a penny lick, the glass "penny lickers" were returned to the vendor who simply gave them a brisk wipe with his ever present rag before refilling them for his next customers.

Are you curious what the hokey pokey frozen treat tasted like? Published below is an original commercial recipe for making frozen treats from the 1890s.

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Hokey Pokey Ice Cream Recipe

This old fashioned ice cream recipe is taken from "The Bread and Biscuit Baker's and Sugar-Boiler's Assistant." by Robert Wells, practical baker, confectionery and pastry cook; published by Crosby Lockwood and Son, London, in 1890.

This is not an ice cream proper, but a species of frozen custard made of milk, eggs, sugar, gelatine, and flavouring:

Take 2 oz of gelatine, dissolve in 1/2 pint of milk or water, then to 4 quarts of milk and 8 eggs slightly beaten add 1-1/2 lbs of sugar and the thin yellow rind of 2 lemons, and a pinch of salt; put the ingredients into a clean, bright basin, place on a moderate fire, and stir constantly till it begins to thicken; then remove quickly, and pour it into an earthen pan and continue to stir it till nearly cold, then add and stir in the dissolved gelatine; pour all into your freezer and freeze as for other ices.

When frozen it may be put in small boxes about three inches long by two inches wide, or it may be wrapped in waxed paper and kept ready for sale in an ice cave. The office of the gelatine is to solidify the compound and assist its "keeping" qualities

Now, with the help of this old fashioned hokey pokey ice cream recipe from Grandma's recipe collection, you can capture the authentic taste of this historic ice cream.

Make the ideal ice cream lover's dessert and a real conversation piece.

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