Samantha’s Ice Cream Snowballs

Written By Blake Changnon

We are so happy that you have joined us for our first program for both the Changnon-Piper Museum of Toys and Collectibles, but for our inaugural exhibit, American Girl: 35 Years of Strong Characters. 

For today’s program, we will be making Ice Cream Snowballs, a recipe brought to us by one of American Girl’s first characters, Samantha. Samantha’s story takes place in 1904 and for her tenth birthday, she visits a fancy ice cream parlor in New York City with her aunt's younger sisters, where they have some delicious ice cream. 

Today’s recipe can be found in Samantha’s Cookbook: A Peek at Dining in the Past with Meals You Can Cook Today. The following ingredients and directions make six snowballs. We hope you enjoy Samantha’s Ice Cream Snowballs. 

Ingredients

  • 1 quart of vanilla ice cream

  • 2 cups of shredded coconut

  • 12 ladyfinger cookies

Equipment

  • Measuring cup

  • Shallow bowl

  • Ice cream scoop

  • 2 large spoons

  • Freezer container with lid

Directions

  1. Put the ice cream into the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until it is soft enough to scoop.

  2. Put the coconut into the bowl.

  3. Scoop out a large ball of ice cream and drop it into the coconut. 

  4. Use the two spoons to roll the ice cream around until it is covered with coconut.

  5. Using a spoon, lift the ice cream snowball out of the bowl. Put it into the freezer container. 

  6. Repeat steps three, four and five until you have six ice cream snowballs. Keep the snowballs separated.

  7. Cover the freezer container tightly so the coconut doesn’t dry out. Freeze the ice cream snowballs for several hours or overnight.

  8. Take the container out of the freezer 15 minutes before you are ready to serve dessert. Serve each ice cream snowball with 2 cookies. 

Did You Know: Ice cream was the national desert in 1904, just as it is today? People of all ages flocked to ice cream parlors for this tasty treat. Children often bought frozen dainties from hokey-pokey men, or street vendors, who sold inexpensive ice cream. In Samantha’s time, a dainty was a small treat.

Photo of Samantha’s Ice Cream Snowballs | 1994 | American Girl, LLC., U.S.

Blake Changnon
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