I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream...
Ice cream is one of the most popular desserts around the world.The American ice cream trade is dominated by white companies such as, Ben and Jerry’s, Baskin Robbins, Breyers, and Häagen Dazs. However, it was an African American inventor and chef who is known as “The Father of Ice Cream.” Augustus Jackson. Augustus Jackson was born on April 16, 1808, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began working at the White House in Washington D.C. when he was just nine years old. He worked in various capacities until he later worked as a chef there for twenty years, from 1817 until 1837. Jackson cooked for Presidents James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson. His presidential food preparation extended from cooking comfort food for the presidents’ families to preparing formal meals at state dinners for visiting dignitaries.

It was while the chef in the White House, Augustus Jackson, shaped the ice cream into elegant molds that were served on a silver tray. Ice cream, at that time, was an elite dessert, available to the wealthy. Dolly Madison, the wife of President James Madison had popularized ice cream in the white house, Augustus Jackson perfected it. One of Jackson’s big innovations was making ice cream more stable by adding salt to the recipe, which lowers the freezing temperature. It also enhances other flavors. While most early ice creams were frozen egg custards, Jackson developed a lighter kind of ice cream. HIs did not use any eggs, which continues today. Jackson is the reason why many ice cream recipes now do not have eggs. While Jackson was not the inventor of ice cream, nor the first person to serve it in the US, he is referred to as the “Father of Ice Cream” because he pioneered the products’ modern manufacturing methods. Augustus Jackson would later become the wealthiest African American in Philadelphia.

We can’t talk about the Black history of ice cream without mentioning Alfred Cralle. Cralle invented the ice cream scoop — specifically, the kind with the handy little pusher known as a trigger.
#augustusjackson #fatheroficecream #alfredcralle

**** Disclaimer: Some images used as portrayals are AI generated ****

SOURCES:
~ BLACK ENTREPRENEUR HISTORY, JULY 16, 2022: Augustus Jackson Known as the Father of Ice Cream For Making Ice Cream Better
~ ICE CREAM MAN: HOW AUGUSTUS JACKSON MADE A SWEET TREAT BETTER, Glenda Armand and Kim Freeman authors
~ THE NEW STATESMAN, June 21, 2023, by Felicity Cloake: The Black Dessert Maker Who Helped Bring Ice Cream to the Masses
~inmamaskitchen.com, Cliff Lowe: The History of Ice Cream, How to Make Ice Cream at Home, Ice Cream Makers Past & Present