On a hot day, there's nothing like an ice cream cone to help keep you cool. That is, until it starts to melt and drip all over your fingers! 

But what if it didn't have to be that way? Scientists are working on a way to keep your ice cream from melting… but you might not like the results (so far!). 

Reports of Japanese manufacturer Kanazawa Ice's ice pops, and, later on, soft-serve ice cream, holding up to numerous heat-based assaults without melting, went viral some years ago. Turns out that the scientists behind this ice cream had pumped it full of polyphenols, a class of antioxidant molecules found in many fruits. The result was a curious stability, and a notable lack of creamy liquid running over fingers. How did it work?

Other researchers saw higher concentrations with more distinct fat globules. The tannic acid, they surmised, was interacting with the proteins in the cream, creating a supportive network or barrier to the merging of the fat globs.

That would explain why ice cream made from such a substance is resistant to melting: the liberated fats from the melted crystals of cream would not be able to run down, thanks to the addition of the polyphenol.

That said, this chemical trick is not a way to freeze time and break the physical laws of the Universe. Unfortunately, as the hours pass ice cream made this way acquires a pudding-like texture, although it will continue more or less in its previous shape. And polyphenols do not, of course, keep the ice cream cold.

Ice cream that does not melt, that instead warms up into a rubbery monolith, is not really what most of us expect from a frozen dessert. Expectation matters more than you think when it comes to food. If you expect vanilla ice cream, and discover upon taking a bite that it is mashed potatoes, it is a profound readjustment.

So, until scientists figure out these ‘shortcomings,’ it would be best to keep a stack of napkins handy while enjoying your ice cream on a hot day. Or… Just eat it faster! 😉