National Frozen Custard Day

National Frozen Custard Day celebrates frozen custard. Frozen custard is made with milk, cream, and eggs—usually egg yolks—and commonly with sugar and salt. To be marketed as frozen custard in the United States, it must include at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids. If it doesn't have a high enough percentage of egg yolk solids, it is ice cream. The pasteurized eggs used to make frozen custard give it a richer flavor than ice cream, and it is smoother, creamier, and denser because it has less air than ice cream. Frozen custard is also served a few degrees warmer than ice cream. Vanilla is the most common flavor of frozen custard, with chocolate being close behind.

Frozen custard gained popularity at Coney Island in the 1920s, following its creation in 1919 by ice cream vendors and brothers Elton and Archie Kohr, who discovered that adding egg yolks to ice cream made it smoother and stay cold longer. Frozen custard then spread to traveling carnivals. One person who sold it at a traveling carnival was Ted Drewes, a tennis player who worked at a carnival in Florida during the winter off-season in the 1920s. He started his own custard business there in 1929, and then brought it back to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, the following year. Drewes opened a second location in St. Louis in 1931, and then a third in 1941, both of which are still in operation. The older location is the oldest frozen custard stand in the world, while the other is along old Route 66.

A frozen custard stand at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago brought the treat to a wider audience. Today, the largest concentration of frozen custard shops in the world per capita can be found 90 minutes north in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Three of the foremost, most long-standing shops in the Milwaukee area are Leon's, Kopp's, and Gilles. The largest frozen custard chains in the United States are Culver's, headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin; Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas; and Andy's Frozen Custard, headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

How to Observe National Frozen Custard Day

Enjoy frozen custard! You could get some at a national or regional custard chain such as Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Andy's Frozen Custard, Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, or Culver's. All of these have taken part in the celebration with special offers and deals over the years, so check if a location near you is participating this year. You could also get frozen custard from one of the most iconic local shops, such as Ted Drewe's in St. Louis or Leon's, Kopp's, and Gilles near and in Milwaukee. If you manage a frozen custard shop, make sure to offer deals on custard in honor of the day. Share pictures of your frozen custard treats online along with the hashtag #NationalFrozenCustardDay.

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