First, let me say I have nothing against regular ice cream. I love the stuff. I’ve been eating it since I cut teeth.
But not all frozen treats are created equal, and recently I’ve come to the realization that the best ice cream isn’t really ice cream at all.
Frozen custard rules. There, I said it.
These days, you’ve got choices when it comes to creamy delicious frozen treats. Lots of choices. Maybe too many choices. Used to be, you basically had ice cream . . . or ice cream. Maybe frozen yogurt. You might have had to choose between your local ice cream shop and Dairy Queen. Now you’ve got those plus gelato, that melty Italian ice cream that has moved from Taylor Street to Main Street. You’ve got ice cream made to be mashed with M&Ms, peanut butter, cake, cookie batter and a squirt of caramel. And, of course, you’ve got frozen custard.
Mmmm.
Take a look at just one neighborhood: Southport Avenue in Lakeview. There you can choose the soft-serve at Dairy Queen, the made-for-smooshing Cold Stone Creamery, the “homemade” ice cream at Bobtail or even the title treat of Anthony’s Homemade Italian Ice. (Italian ice is beyond the purview of this story, but it certainly can hit the spot.)
Head west on Belmont, and you’ll find lines at Scooter’s Frozen Custard. Jog a little north to Addison for Baskin-Robbins’ 31 flavors. (For gelato, you’ll have to go a little further, perhaps to Caffe Gelato on Division.)
Who can decide?
I already have.
Frozen custard it is.
It’s just more of all of the things you love about ice cream. It’s creamier. It’s smoother. It’s richer.
Although lots of elements can make or break an ice cream, to me it comes down to two ingredients: Air and eggs.
All ice cream is made up of the same basic ingredients. They all have milk fats, milk solids, sweeteners, emulsifiers and air.
Plus, of course, all of the crazy stuff we add to ice cream, like marshmallow, fudge, Gummi Bears. The stuff that could turn it into Marshmallow Fudge Gummi Bear Ripple.
Simply put, most regular ice creams have more air than frozen custard.
So do most gelatos, which contain less butterfat than regular ice cream and are usually served sort of semi-frozen. And so does Dairy Queen, which is actually reduced-fat ice cream.
Folks in the frozen treat business call the measure of this air “overrun.” Adding air to ice cream helps stretch the product, turning one gallon of ice cream mix into, say, two gallons of fluffed-up ice cream, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.
Air’s not altogether a bad thing–it also gives frozen desserts their lightness, according to the Washington, D.C.-based industry group.
“Air is what gives ice cream its softness and its ability to be scooped, shaped,” said ice cream specialist Doug Goff, a professor of food science at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. “Ice cream needs air.”
But too much air can give ice cream a rough texture. And it can detract from that chewiness that good ice cream has.
Too little air can be a problem too, Goff said, because it can lead to a heavy product.
And who wants heavy ice cream?
Regular ice cream can have up to 100 percent overrun, meaning one gallon of mix can make up to two gallons of ice cream, although premium ice creams may have less, Goff said. Gelato has less overrun, as does soft-serve ice cream.
And frozen custard? Just 20 percent, said Denny Moore, who, as owner of Scooter’s, is admittedly partial to the stuff. “That’s what gives it its dense and creamy texture,” he said.
Frozen custard also has one other leg up on some other frozen desserts: egg yolk.
While many frozen desserts have some kind of emulsifier, frozen custard uses good, old-fashioned egg yolk to make the ice cream smooth and to give it a richer taste.
Thanks to Culver’s, frozen custard stands are becoming more prevalent around Chicago, but they’re still harder to find than ice cream shops. Among them are Gramp’s Frozen Custard, 1 W. Illinois St., St. Charles, 630-762-9480; Greg’s Frozen Custard, 1490 S Lake St., Mundelein, 847-837-4175; Julie Ann’s Frozen Custard, 4817 N. Northwest Highway, Crystal Lake, 815-459-9171; Main Street Frozen Custard, 1185 Main Street, Antioch, 847-395-0800; and of course, Culver’s, which has five dozen locations in Illinois, www.culvers.com.
“I would take this over ice cream any day,” said Cynthia Prawdzik as she strode into Scooter’s for a custard sundae.
Prawdzik’s daughter Allison nodded before heading in. “Nothing else comes close,” she said.
Yet not everyone agrees with the ice-cream wisdom of the Prawdziks and myself. Overruns and emulsifiers aside, some people stubbornly persist in preferring different forms of ice cream.
Just ask Dore Sobel and her two kids. All three were awaiting Blizzards on a recent sweltering weekday afternoon at the Dairy Queen in Lakeview.
“This is so refreshing on a hot day,” said a still-slim Sobel, who estimated her family visits DQ three or four times a week. “It’s the kids’ favorite. We love this place.”
Think I’m nuts? Tell At Play what your favorite ice cream is, and why. See details below.
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The crop of the creams
So many ice creams, so little time. Which are the best deals? Which taste best? Are the fancy gourmet ice creams really better than good old DQ?
At Play headed to the ice cream-dense Southport Avenue corridor (with a detour to Division Street) to taste-test ice creams, ordering two scoops of vanilla at each store (or a medium if that’s the way they serve it). To make it more interesting, we brought along a cheap kitchen scale and weighed them too.
Our (decidedly unscientific) results:
–Trine Tsouderos
BASKIN-ROBBINS
1755 W. Addison St.
773-248-4777
www.baskinrobbins.com
Cost: $2.99 for two scoops
Weigh-in: 7 ounces; 43 cents per ounce
The scoop: Not the smoothest of the bunch, this mega-chain ice cream does boast a mellow vanilla flavor. And because it’s served very cold and very hard, it lasts a long time on a cone on a hot day.
BEST BET
SCOOTER’S FROZEN CUSTARD
1658 W. Belmont Ave.
773-244-6415
www.scootersfrozencustard.com
Cost: $3.49 for a medium frozen custard
Weigh-in: 8.5 ounces; 41 cents per ounce
The scoop: Swoon-worthy. With its velvety smooth texture and luxuriant creaminess, the mild vanilla flavor is almost beside the point; this almost soft-serve frozen treat can’t be beat. And, as a bonus, it’s relatively cheap.
DAIRY QUEEN
3811 N. Southport Ave.
773-857-7039
www.dairyqueen.com
Cost: $2.19 for a medium ice cream
Weigh-in: 8 ounces; 27 cents per ounce
The scoop: You get your money’s worth with this almost 70-year-old ice cream giant. Creamy, smooth and almost blindingly white, the refreshing vanilla hits the spot but not your wallet. And it’s reduced-fat.
COLD STONE CREAMERY
3755 N. Southport Ave.
773-348-0779
www.coldstonecreamery.com
Cost: $3.99 for a Love It (medium) ice cream
Weigh-in: 8.5 ounces; 47 cents per ounce
The scoop: Almost gelato-like in its pillowy softness, this ice cream boasts a strong vanilla flavor and a satisfying chewiness. Made to be mashed with other stuff, this rich ice cream is tasty enough to be eaten on its own.
BOBTAIL ICE CREAM COMPANY
3425 N. Southport Ave.
773-248-6104
www.bobtailsodafountain.com
Cost: $3.50 for two scoops
Weigh-in: 7 ounces; 50 cents per ounce
The scoop: Speckled with tiny vanilla bean seeds, this ice cream is the prettiest of the bunch. But its flavor is bland and its texture rough. And its price? Too high.
CAFFE GELATO
2034 W. Division St
773-227-7333
Cost: $3.50 for two scoops
Weigh-in: 5 ounces; 70 cents per ounce
The scoop: Served in a dainty flower-shaped cup, this ice cream is soft and rich and served almost melting. Flavorful with a soft, velvety texture, this plain vanilla feels indulgent. And it should at 70 cents an ounce.
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The Perfect Scoop: Tell us your favorite — and win!
Share your passion about your favorite frozen treat and tell us where to find it. The most persuasive, creative entry will win a $50 gift certificate (or a Visa gift card, if no certificates are available) to the ice cream shop (or gelato booth or . . . ) of your choice.
Here are the rules: The favorite frozen treat must be available for purchase at a specialty shop, not just a grocery store, in the Chicago area.
Send your 50-word essay, along with your name, hometown and a phone number where we can contact you, to atplay@tribune.com, or The Perfect Scoop, At Play, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611.
Deadline: Thursday, June 15
We will print the winner and other entries in a future issue of at play.
