How cool are you with ice cream nomenclature?

We have entered the dog days of summer.

Here in Texas, we fully expect it to be toasty this time of year, but this summer has been torrid. I walked outside after work yesterday, and even my eyes felt hot.

So begins our obsession with ways to keep cool: spring-fed swimming pools, cold saunas, smartphone fan attachments and ice cream—pounds upon pounds of ice cream.

The average American eats more than 23 pounds of ice cream each year. June is the highest production month, though production stays strong through August to meet the summer demand.

Along with demand comes variety. Ice cream makers have developed an abundance of flavors, types and variations of the cold treat.

So, as you’re eating most of your 23 pounds this summer, test your ice cream vocabulary with the list below. Definitions from icecreamhistory.net.

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Ice cream —made with no less than 10 percent milk fat, cream, sugar and eggs.

Dippin’ dots— made by flash-freezing ice cream mix with liquid nitrogen.

Dondurma— a Turkish ice cream made with milk and sugar, but with added thickening agents salep and mastic.

Frozen custard —contains at least 10 percent milk fat and 1.5 percent egg yolk and is made in a machine that does not let air in. Frozen custard is denser than ice cream.

Frozen yogurt— made with low-fat or non-fat yogurt, sweeteners, gelatin, corn syrup and flavoring.

Gelato— Italian ice cream made with more milk and less cream and no eggs. It is churned more slowly than ice cream, so less air is incorporated.

Granita— has a crystalized texture and is made with sugar, water and flavoring from fruit, nuts or herbs.

Italian ice —made with water, fruit and an egg white and has a velvety texture.

Kulfi— made in India, it is thick, dense and similar to custard, and is often served on a stick and flavors include rose, cardamom and saffron.

Mochi— from Japan, ice cream wrapped in sweet, sticky rice dough with flavors such as plum wine and red bean.

Rolled ice cream —popular in some Asian countries, rolled-up strips of ice cream with add-ins such as strawberries, chocolate chips or cookies.

Sherbet— made with 1 to 2 percent milk fat, sugar and flavoring. (Sherbet is often misspelled and mispronounced as “sherbert.”)

Snow cream— is described as a combination of shaved ice and ice cream, served in flavors such as cream, green tea or black sesame. Snow cream is shaved off large blocks and is served in ribbons.

Snow ice cream— snow mixed with milk, sugar and vanilla or other flavors.

Soft-serve— made with same ingredients as ice cream, but soft-serve is frozen at a higher temperature in a machine that keeps it soft.

Sorbet— contains no milk and is made from flavored fruit juice or flavored water and sugar.

A regular contributor to PR Daily, Laura Hale Brockway is a writer and editor from Austin, Texas. Read more of her work at impertinentremarks.

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