Summer 2023 saw the début of ice cream sandwiches: all the major brand manufacturers embarked on this venture, which quickly developed into a real trend: Pan di Stelle, Baiocchi, Ringo, Gocciole, and Oreo to name just a few… all well-known biscuit brands in Italy were transformed into ice creams: cool sandwiches made up of two biscuits with a layer of vanilla, cream or chocolate ice cream in the middle to complement the taste of the original biscuits, wrapped individually or in multi-packs.
And at LAIeF, with our machines for the industrial production of ice cream, at a time when the ice cream sandwich was a true revolution, we designed and created a vast range of machines for the production of this type of ice cream.
Our current range of machines offer different levels of flexibility and capacity, ranging from 3,000 to 15,000 ice cream sandwiches per hour, to meet all production needs.
One of our strengths lies in our curiosity, in our ability to see beyond, to imagine new perspectives, and to offer our customers something we know they will need sooner or later.
Curiosity also means the desire to know… so let’s open our LAIeF-pedia and take a trip down memory lane!
Do you remember the name of the first ever ice cream sandwich that some of us enjoyed as children? We are talking about the product named ‘Camillino’ in Italy, produced by Eldorado. It was 1966 and it consisted of a layer of vanilla ice cream sandwiched together by two simple biscuits. Some of you may even remember the old TV advert with the legendary Cocco Bill, a gunslinger who spoke with a hiss, based on an Italian comics character created by the equally legendary Jacovitti. After defeating his three rivals, he would then offer a ‘Camillino’ to the whole village…
But who invented the very first ice cream sandwich? We bet you too are itching to find out! After all, as the saying goes, curiosity is the mother of knowledge…
Well, the inventor of such a tasty treat was Alessandro Tortoni, an ice cream maker from Naples. In 1803, he took over the Café Napolitaine on the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris, which had failed to flourish under the previous owner. With creativity and curiosity, in his hands, it soon became a landmark in the entire city, so much so that it is believed to have been a favourite haunt of Napoleon (when he was not busy fighting somewhere) and artists such as Alexandre Dumas, Gioacchino Rossini, Honoré de Balzac, Manet and many others…
It was even mentioned by Dumas in The Count of Monte Cristo, in the part where the shipowner Morrell goes to the Café Napolitaine.
The first product launched by Tortoni was his famous tranche napolitaine, a hearty slice of ice cream with three flavours. But his most famous creation was ‘le biscuit Tortoni’, two biscuits with a filling of cream or rum-flavoured ice cream and amaretti biscuits, which immediately won over the entire Parisian aristocracy and was soon copied all over the world, including Italy.
Once again, the Italians were ahead, and history often proves it. It is nice to rediscover outstanding products that are sometimes misunderstood or forgotten.
So, today, it is mainly to Tortoni that we owe the existence – and success – of the ice cream sandwich.
The LAIeF-pedia will now close until the next curiosity. And remember, for any information, curiosity, or piece of advice, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Happy ice cream to all!
