[2] Though in 1894, a Philadelphia company was given credit for its invention describing: "A small, solid [cake] of the ice cream is enveloped in a thin sheet of pie crust and then dipped into boiling lard or butter to cook the outside to a crisp.

"[3][4] It may be derived in part from Baked Alaska, originating earlier in the 19th century, which puts ice cream under a quickly broiled meringue.

[1] The dessert is commonly made by taking a scoop of ice cream frozen well below the temperature at which ice cream is generally kept, possibly coating it in raw egg, rolling it in cornflakes or cookie crumbs, and briefly deep frying it.

[5] In the United States, fried ice cream has been associated with Asian cuisine, appearing in reviews of Chinese, Japanese, and Polynesian restaurants in the "Dining Out" section of the New York Times in the 1970s.

It also came to be associated with Mexican cuisine, in large part due to national chain Chi-Chi's adopting a fried ice cream made with tortillas and cinnamon as its "signature dessert" when it opened in 1975.