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Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist who’s worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.
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What Are Pennsylvania’s Favorite Ice Cream Flavors?
July is National Ice Cream Month, so PennStakes.com took a break from covering sports betting and Pennsylvania online casinos to determine the favorite ice cream flavors of the Keystone state.
We utilized Google Trends to determine the most searched ice cream flavors by each state of YouGov’s data on the Top 11 most popular ice cream flavors in 2018. After completing the trends over the past 12 months (from July 6, 2022, to July 6, 2023), we were able to find results to get the top five ice cream flavors in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania’s Favorite Ice Cream Flavors
Here is the top five list you won’t find on any PA sportsbook apps.
PA’s Top 5 Starts with Vanilla
As is true in most of America, Pennsylvanians like their vanilla. They like it so much Pennsylvania is something of an American hotbed for high-end vanilla extract makers.
A recent PennStakes.com story ranked Pennsylvania in the top 12 in the nation for their love of ice cream.
But back to the flavors. With an abundance of dairy farms, Pennsylvania has numerous creameries that specialize in their own flavors and recipes. And a trip to Penn State University isn’t complete without a visit to its creamery, which has been serving its own ice cream and cheeses for more than 150 years.
Second choice is Cookies and Crème, or Cookies and Cream to less snooty Pennsylvanians. At least five ice cream makers claim to have created the flavor, but based on timing, we’ve narrowed it down to three: 1) Was it ice cream consultant Malcolm Stogo in the late 1970s? 2) The South Dakota State university dairy in 1979? Or 3) Blue Bell Creamery in 1980? There might be a right answer, but we don’t know it.
The third most popular flavor in Pennsylvania is chocolate, which really should be first because vanilla is only delicious when chocolate – syrup, chips, M&Ms – is added to it. Chocolate stands on its own. But as Pennsylvania is also home to Hershey’s and numerous other fine chocolate-makers, maybe the state is just a little chocolate’d out.
In fourth place is strawberry, and if you want some of the sweetest, juiciest strawberries, hit up Pennsylvania Dutch Country in June when the crop ripens. Then take those strawberries home and make strawberry ice cream with them. You’ll never eat store-bought again. Note: They won’t make it home and your steering wheel and shirt will be stained red.
In fifth place is my personal favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip. It combines the sweetness and crunch of chocolate with the freshness of mint. I think it’s great with strawberry topping, but most people think that’s weird.
As for Pennsylvania ice creams, William Breyer sold his own ice cream out of a wagon in Philadelphia starting in 1866. Breyers became incorporated in 1908. For decades it was advertised as an all-natural ice cream with only a handful of simple ingredients. Then Kraft, who purchased the brand in 1926, sold it to Unilever in 1993 and Unilever turned it into a chemistry set.
Still going strong is Bassett’s ice cream, founded in Philadelphia in 1861 and considered America’s oldest ice cream brand. The company is headed by the founder’s great-great-grandson, Michael Strange, with a sixth generation in the management pipeline. Bassett’s still can be bought by the scoop at Philadelphia’s historic Reading Terminal Market, where it’s been available since 1892.
In Pittsburgh, Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor opened in 1923. It’s still there and making its own ice cream.
In addition to providing a great PA online casino sign up bonus and covering the state’s iGaming and sports betting, PennStakes.com occasionally reports on stories of cultural interest such as this.
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