An ice cream scoop is a specialized serving spoon designed to mold and deposit large, round scoops of ice cream without the dessert sticking to the metal surface as it does with more traditional spoons. The original utensil, called the Ice Cream Mold and Disher, was created by African-American inventor Alfred L. Cralle in 1896 and patented on February 10, 1897. This original scoop included a built-in scraper to allow it to be operated with one hand and more easily place the ice cream in the desired dish. This genius feature is still included in many modern ice cream scoops.
