You Only Need A Few Ingredients For Old Fashioned Snow Cream

Ice cream may have been around since the Middle Ages, but frozen desserts are even older than that. There is evidence that people were eating sweetened snow thousands of years ago. This means that snow cream, rather than being a relic of our grandparents' day, may be one of the oldest desserts of all. Apart from its ancient roots, some claim that the American version of snow cream is a Southern thing, while others say it has Midwestern roots. It also bears some resemblance to the maple syrup snow candy that's traditionally enjoyed in Vermont.

Just as snow cream doesn't seem to have a single origin story, nor is there only one way to make it. Many modern recipes call for mixing the snow with sweetened condensed milk, while others call for using regular milk or half and half and sugar. Vanilla extract is often included as a flavoring, although chocolate syrup can also be used. Some older recipes called for the addition of a raw egg, although a safer version involves combining the egg with milk and sugar to make a cooked custard that is cooled and mixed with the snow. However, you make it, it's true that it does not require more than a few ingredients to make this wonderful, traditional treat.

It may seem a little odd to debate the safety of using raw eggs in a recipe that contains snow. Sure, the United States Department of Agriculture says that unpasteurized raw eggs should be avoided because of the possible salmonella threat, but how safe is it to eat snow? Depending on where you live, and just how much and what type of snowfall your area receives, you maybe shouldn't be making ice cream out of snow at all.

For starters, you should never consider using any snow that isn't pristine white. Snow that is black, brown, or gray contains some type of contaminant, while yellow snow ... well, you know. City dwellers need to avoid snow that's been plowed or collected from a paved area as it might be tainted with chemicals intended to melt it. Those in the country aren't out of the woods either, since snow may have been exposed to animal feces or pollutants from groundwater. What's more, freshly fallen snow isn't the safest kind to use, since snow tends to absorb pollution as it falls.

If you dare to make snow cream, the safest way to collect the snow is to wait for it to have been falling for a few hours. At this point, set a bowl outside on an elevated surface like an outdoor table (or a tall mound of snow, in a pinch). As long as no birds or other critters stop by the bowl to do their business, go ahead and prepare your snow cream using this snow.