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Banana split is a classic dessert consisting of a lengthwise-cut banana topped with scoops of strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream. Typical garnishes include nuts, fruits, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. The dessert is traditionally served in a long dish called a boat.
It was invented in 1904 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania by David Strickler, who wanted to make something "different" for a college student who had one day entered the pharmacy where he worked as an apprentice. The pharmacies often featured a soda fountain where customers could indulge in a soda or a frozen treat for just a few cents.
MOST ICONIC Banana Split
View moreA mystery in the world of desserts, Blue Moon is an unusual, smurf-blue colored, sweet ice cream that tastes different to everyone who has ever tried it, and to make matters worse, its ingredients are trademarked and heavily guarded. There is a huge list of possible flavors: vanilla, lemon, pistachio, coconut, almond, marshmallow, bubblegum, pineapple, ginger, cotton candy, blue curacao, licorice, berries, or Froot Loops with milk.
Its flavor might be a mystery, but so are its origins. There are two theories - one claiming that the ice cream was invented in the 1940s or 1950s in Milwaukee, and the other places it in Michigan, crediting the Sherman Dairy Products company in South Haven.
MOST ICONIC Blue Moon
View moreIce cream cake is a dessert consisting of layers of ice cream and cake pastry. In some cases, the cake doesn't contain cake pastry, so layers of ice cream make up the entire cake. Most often, the cake is covered with soft-serve ice cream that acts as icing, although it can be covered with traditional icing instead of the ice cream.
The dessert is very popular at birthday parties and similar celebrations in North America, although some believe that it originated in England. Its popularity caught on during the 19th century, when ice cream was considered a luxurious item reserved only for the well-off.
MOST ICONIC Ice Cream Cake
View moreSoursop ice cream is a Caribbean dessert that is especially popular in Trinidad and Tobago. It is made with ripe soursop, water, cornstarch, condensed milk, salt, and sometimes a few splashes of bitters. After the combination has been churned, it is then stored in the freezer until firm in texture.
This unique ice cream variety is enjoyed throughout the year.
MOST ICONIC Soursop Ice Cream
Ice cream sandwich is an American dessert that dates back to New York City in 1899. It was allegedly invented by an unknown pushcart vendor in the Bowery who sandwiched vanilla ice cream between two thin wafers. The treat was so popular that the vendor didn't have time to make a change, so he charged a penny per ice cream sandwich.
Nowadays, ice cream sandwiches are not made with only wafers and cookies, there are varieties which are prepared with brioche, waffles, croissants, and even churros.
MOST ICONIC Ice cream sandwich
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Along with Banana Split, sundae is one of the most served ice cream-based desserts in the United States of America. A sundae is ice cream topped with a sauce or syrup, typically served in a bowl. The most popular varieties of sundae are chocolate caramel, butterscotch, and strawberry.
Cherries, dairy cream, and nuts are the most common additions to the popular treat. Food historians still argue about the origin of the ice cream sundae, but there are three theories which remain the most popular. The first one says it was created in Illinois, where the law prohibited the selling of soda water on a Sunday.
VARIATIONS OF Sundae
MOST ICONIC Sundae
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An ice cream float is a beverage consisting of ice cream that is placed in a soft, fizzy drink. One of the most popular varieties of the beverage is a root beer float. The origins of ice cream floats date back to the 19th century. It was invented in Philadelphia by Robert Green, a soda shop operator who ran out of cream and decided to use ice cream instead of it.
Shortly after, his daily earnings soared from $6 to $600. With the popularity of ice cream floats, it is no wonder that there are numerous variations such as chocolate ice cream soda, coke floats, purple cow, butterbeer, and Boston cooler.
MOST ICONIC Ice Cream Float
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Fried ice cream is a decadent treat made by coating a scoop of ice cream in crumbled cookies or cornflakes, then deep-frying it for a short period of time until golden-brown in color on the exterior. The scoop of ice cream should ideally be frozen below the usual temperature at which ice cream is kept, in order not to melt when fried.
If served in the most traditional way, frozen ice cream is placed on a cinnamon-sugar tortilla shell. This dessert became popular during the 1980s, and it was first adopted by a famous Mexican restaurant chain.
MOST ICONIC Fried Ice Cream
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “8 Worst Rated North American Ice Creams” list until April 19, 2025, 1,933 ratings were recorded, of which 1,743 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.