Sadly, milkshakes seem to be waning a bit. It’s a smoothie and cappuccino world. I like a tall, cold beverage and I do visit my neighborhood smoothie joint. I never take the offer for a “free boost.” I’m too old for recreational drugs and too young for life support.
At Starbucks, I avoid any long line. I don’t want to hear a dozen people ordering before me. All those long, long names for drinks. “Double, decaf, half-this, low-fat-that, dopo, dopey,…” I refuse to drink any beverage that needs more than 4 words to describe it. And if it does take 4 words, the last 3 had better be “on the rocks.”
I grew up on milk shakes: tall, uniformly smooth, appropriately thick. Chocolate and vanilla. You remember them. I don’t think current fast food shakes can compare, and you should check the ingredients in the modern “constructed” versions. Remember that childhood favorite shake of yours? The one at the burger place that is now gone, replaced by a strip mall. Where they used to fry real burgers, you now rent videos or do pilates. Stand alone burger joints are the real endangered species.
How can you get a great shake now? I suggest Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries & Shakes. This new volume has a three page intro to making shakes that is packed with key information and instructions. Here are some important steps to a great shake:
- Use a premium ice cream, not a light one, to get a dense shake instead of a fluffy mess
- Only add a little milk [at least a 3 to 1 ratio of ice cream to milk]
- Use real milk, kept icy chilled
- Add the ice cream last in the blender to avoid unproductive “blade whirl with no progress”
- Allow your ice cream to soften to make it easy to scoop, get it into the blender, and then put the blender back in the freezer for a few minutes to return to very cold ingredients
Here’s is Flay’s recipe for a classic chocolate shake made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I’ve already blogged Flay’s recipe for chocolate syrup and you’ll find it delicious: https://cookingbythebook.com//blog/recipes/chocolate-syrup/
Black and White Milkshake
Yield: 1 16-ounce shake or two 8-ounces minis
Ingredients:
⅓ cup whole milk
¼ cup chocolate syrup
11 ounces premium vanilla ice cream [about 1 ¾ packed cups]
Preparation:
Combine the milk and chocolate syrup in a blender and blend for 5 seconds. Add the ice cream [rechill if necessary] and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Source: Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries & Shakes