Darra Goldstein

Ice Cream Cones

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

ice cream cones are edible cone-shaped pastries designed to hold ice creams or ices. Although their origins are controversial, the most plausible explanation is one of simple evolution. Ice cream manufacturers, faced with the challenge of creating a container, at the lowest possible cost, turned their skills as confectioners to adapting wafers to a new use.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, ice creams were rare and served only in aristocratic or wealthy households. They were eaten by the wealthy out of small porcelain, glass, silver, and pewter cups on a small plate, frequently with a small spoon.