Shake it up before the end of summer
Don’t let summer slide by without a shake — a creamy, dreamy milkshake that makes you want to twist and shout.
We’re talking about one that is thick enough for a spoon to stand in, but still drinkable. And it’s not a difficult feat.
“In fact, it’s hard to screw up making a good milkshake at home,” says Dana Edwards Manatos. “It has two basic ingredients — ice cream and milk.”
She should know; she is the owner and CEO of The Milkshake Factory, which has nine area locations.
The first one opened on South Side’s Carson Street in 1978, but her family’s story goes back to 1914, when her great-grandparents started a small soda fountain and chocolate shop in Lawrenceville. It carried only classic flavors, she says, but it was the inspiration behind The Milkshake Factory.
Milk is sourced from multiple dairy farms in Western Pennsylvania for the ice creams made daily in the stores. The shake chain features classic, gourmet, dairy-free shakes and the popular Jake’s Shake named after the Penguins’ Jake Guentzel. Red velvet was recently added to the menu and come September, pumpkin pie will be added to the list.
Ms. Edwards Manatos offered tips to make the ultimate milkshake at home before bidding farewell to summer. The Q&A has been edited for length.
Q: Where do you begin for a perfect milkshake?
A: You’ll need ice cream and milk. Pick any flavor ice cream, use whole milk, preferably, and inclusions like Oreos or chocolate chips. And you’ll need a blender.
Q: What should the proportion be between ice cream and milk?
A: It’s always good to have around 10 to 12 ounces of ice cream, which is two big scoops, and about 2 to 4 ounces of milk. It all depends on how thick you want your milkshake to be.
The amount of air in the ice cream is another factor. Some ice creams are more dense and some are more fluffy. When making a milkshake, you are actually whipping out the air. So if you have a fluffy ice cream, you’ll need a lot more ice cream than if you use a dense ice cream.
Q: Should it always be a premium ice cream or can it be low-fat?
A: I always recommend a higher-end premium ice cream that has a butterfat content between 10% and 14%. But if it is too high-end, like a gourmet one that has 16% butterfat, it will become almost too heavy and custard-like. The milkshake won’t be as refreshing.
Q: So avoid going down the low-fat road?
A: Oh, you definitely could for a healthier milkshake that cuts the calories by half. That being said, you are not going to get the rich and creamy flavor of a traditional shake. It will be more like a smoothie.
Q: Should the ice cream be frozen rock solid before it goes into the blender?
A: It should not be straight-out-of-the freezer rock solid. I let my ice cream carton sit on the counter top for about 5 minutes. Once it softens a bit, it will be easier to scoop and blend. If the ice
cream is too cold, it will take extra minutes to mix in the blender.
Q: Will skim and dairyfree milk work as well as whole milk?
A: Yes. At the Milkshake Factory, we use almond milk. This is what is so much fun about a milkshake. You can add in whatever ingredient you love.
Q: Is using milk powder instead of milk a good idea?
A: That’s not a good idea. Milk helps to smooth down an ice cream and milk powder won’t do that.
Q: What is an ideal consistency?
A: It should be thick but thin enough to use a straw. I recommend using a thicker straw like a bubble tea straw, especially if you are adding things like chocolate chips.
If a milkshake comes out too thin, pour it from the glass back into the blender, add a few more scoops of ice cream and blend them together. It will thicken up.
Q: What about adding ice to a milkshake?
A: Don’t. Keep it to milk and ice cream.
Q: When should the mix-ins be added and what is the ideal size?
A: Actually, everything can go into the blender at one time — ice cream, milk, cocoa powder, any syrup or other inclusions — and give it a whirl. When cookies like Oreos, vanilla wafers and Nutter Butters are put into a blender, they will break up in large bits and small ones. And that’s what you want.
Chocolate chips won’t break up in a blender. If they are big like the ones you use in baking, they will only settle in the bottom of the shake. So use the tiniest ones you can find.
Q: What’s a good speed on the blender?
A: Use the lowest setting that your blender has because you don’t want to overwhip the shake. You are blending the mixture to beat the air out of the ice cream and so you always want to use the lowest setting. It might take you up to 2 or 3 minutes.
Q: What happens when you overwhip the shake?
A: The shake will turn into a thin milk consistency. Essentially, you’ll be beating out too much of the air.
Q: Should we keep anything in mind when adding syrups, sauces or extracts?
A: As long as flavors pair well together, you can be creative with them. My go-tos are hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, caramel and marshmallow fluff.
When adding chocolate sauce you need to remember that it is a liquid. This means that you need to add a little more ice cream or a little less milk to balance the solids and liquids.
Similarly, if you add espresso for a coffee shake, don’t add milk. Grind coffee beans if you want some texture or use chocolate-covered cacao beans. That will be unique.
Q: So the milk acts like a thinner?
A: Exactly. Take hot fudge and chocolate sauce, for instance. If you add chocolate sauce, you are probably not going to need much milk at all. But you will need to add milk if it is hot fudge. At the Milkshake Factory, when we make spiked shakes we use alcohol instead of milk. In our chocolate-dipped bourbon strawberry milkshake, there’s no milk — only bourbon.
Q: What about adding jams and preserves?
A: You can definitely do that but recognize that they are liquids going into the shake. Don’t add any milk in the beginning but add it later if the shake is too thick. For a strawberry shake, I use frozen strawberries I keep in my freezer that are sitting in a syrup. The syrup and the berries work just like a good strawberry jam.
Q: Do you have an opinion about spices?
A: We use cinnamon quite a bit, specifically in our bananas Foster shake. It is amazing how the cinnamon flavor goes through the entire shake. It is not overpowering but is enough to give it the caramelized cinnamon flavor.
A unique spice is cayenne and it pairs well with chocolate. If you add cayenne when making a chocolate shake, you get this subtle heat in a cool milkshake. It works very well.
Q: Whipped cream and a cherry on the top is a classic finish to a shake. What are some other delightful toppings?
A: When I make shakes at home for my kids, I add whipped cream and sprinkles that complement the shake. For an Oreo shake, I will add crushed Oreo cookies. For a birthday cake, I will add sprinkles. You can use little pieces of whatever candy you have, too.
Q: Once a shake is whipped up, how soon should it be served?
A: Immediately. It should be made to order. I would not like it even to sit out for 5 minutes because then the ice cream will start melting and the shake will get watery and turn almost into a flavored milk.