After eating some tasty delicious Pennsylvania style meat, it would only be fitting to follow up with a Pennsylvania style dessert!
Since today is a hot summer day (heat index: 109 degrees Fahrenheit & only about to get hotter tomorrow!) we should start off with a cold treat – Italian water ice. Across the state there are several water ice vendors, but perhaps the most well known is Rita’s Italian Ice. The company is headquartered in Bensalem Township and has spread across the state and region. Rita’s Italian Ice was started in 1984 by a Philadelphia firefighter. It’s no wonder the cool flavored dessert treats took off with a wide selection of water ice flavors, custard, gelati, and Mistos to choose from. The first day of spring is when Rita’s traditionally opens each year, and to celebrate, all patrons receive a free small water ice in a flavor of their choosing. My favorite Rita’s treat: Banana (or Mango) & Vanilla gelati.
Another popular cold treat is one that can surely be found in any nearly Pennsylvania grocery store - Turkey Hill Ice Cream (different from Turkey Hill Minit Markets). Made in Lancaster County, you can count on this ice cream to be both local and delicious. There are many flavors of ice cream to choose from and you can be assured that every single one is worth the money. From classic Vanilla and Chocolate to Peaches ‘n’ Cream, there’s a favorite flavor in the making for everyone. If you live in Pennsylvania and find yourself at the Farm Show in January, you will find Turkey Hill giving out free ice cream samples to everyone in attendance. Who doesn’t love free samples?
There are also two famous ice cream inventions rumored to have Pennsylvania roots: the Klondike bar and the banana split. The Klondike bar originated in Youngstown, Ohio (and even further back to Switzerland) but they were also produced in Pittsburgh. Until the 1970’s you could only get Klondike bars in Ohio or Pennsylvania. The original Klondike bar was a vanilla ice cream square with chocolate coating, but now there are many varieties and flavors available in many areas of the country. The banana split is rumored to have been invented in 1904 in Latrobe by David Strickler. A traditional banana split has one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream, a banana (split in half), pineapple topping, chocolate syrup, strawberry topping, nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. The banana split is the perfect dessert concoction and it can be found as a speciality dessert in many diners across the country.
Now let’s say it’s not summer time anymore and you find yourself craving a warm dessert. Shoofly pie and apple pie are sure to hit the spot! Shoofly pie is considered to be a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert but it can be found across the country. It is a pie in which the filling is mainly molasses. It is sticky and sweet and sure to please even the most stubborn sweet tooth. Apple pie is not native to Pennsylvania or even to America, however south-central Pennsylvania is home to many large scale apple orchards. These orchards grow many different varieties of apples, and apple pie is always best when it is made fresh by mom or grandmom in the autumn months of any year.
Not a fan of pie? That’s okay, because we like cake here too. The most famous pie/cake/cookie that you can buy in Pennsylvania is the whoopie pie. There has been an ongoing (yet good-natured) argument over where the whoopie pie originated – Maine or the Pennsylvania. Since this is a Pennsylvania blog, my bias judgment is going to side with my own state. Pennsylvania Dutch tradition says the Amish created this sweet dessert, but it doesn’t really matter where it comes from. It can be made from chocolate, red velvet, or pumpkin cake batter. It is then cooked into cookie shaped pieces. These pieces are then made into a sandwich with sweet, creamy frost in the middle. Even though we’ll never know it’s origins, it is a definite must try treat, especially in the Lancaster County area.
The most famous brand name snack cakes to found in Pennsylvania have to be Tastykakes. Tastykake is a company based out of the city of Philadelphia and was founded in 1914 by Philip Baur and Herbert Morris. What made Tastykake popular was the fact that the individual sized cakes were easy to eat on the go. Just a few of the products they make are cream filled cupcakes, krimpets, kandy kakes, & mini pies. Everybody has a favorite Tastykake – mine is cream filled cupcakes. Tastykakes can be found in almost every major grocery store in the region, as well as in school vending machines. When I was a young kid we used to have to take Tastykakes with us up to New York for my grandparents so they could enjoy the snack cakes too. Tastykake has a powerful hold on those who have tasted them, and you can’t help but smile when the delivery truck drives past on the highway.
The final dessert to be mentioned in this post will be fasnachts. Fasnachts are a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition for Fastnacht Day (Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday). Fasnachts were invented as a way to use up all spare lard and sugar before Lent because the Amish typically fast from these and other ingredients during the 40 day period before Easter. Many people compare fasnachts to plain doughnuts, but buyer beware. These do not taste like your typical sweet doughnuts found in grocery stores or doughnut chains. They are an acquired taste, and they fill you (and your arteries) up much more quickly. If you happen to catch yourself in a part of Pennsylvania with a large German ancestry on Fat Tuesday, you just might get to try the Amish version of a doughnut.
For more information on the places mentioned in this blog:
* Rita’s Italian Ice.
* Turkey Hill Ice Cream.
* Klondike.
* Tastykake.
