Chemisty + Math + Spreadsheets = A Lot Of Fun!

I often find fun things to do through people I follow on Instagram. Sometimes, the things I find to do are "not so fun" and sometimes they're way more fun than any of us expected. This past Saturday fell into the later category. Our favourite ice cream shop (which I've written about a time or two (or twelve!)) advertised that they were offering a "Behind The Scoop" ice cream workshop. I thought it would be a fun date night for Dave and I around his birthday but the kids wanted to join in so we made it a family event.

Since the only way to sell ice cream to other vendors in Canada (and not just have an independent ice cream shop) is to become a dairy, there were certain protocols we had to follow like wearing hairnets and white aprons. Our shoes also had to have covers on them.

 

The evening started with ice cream tasting which was such a treat! I had about five different flavours including Blueberry French Toast, Cran-Strawberry Smoothie Bowl, Gluhwein (which I thought tasted like my mom's peppernuts), and a few others I can't remember.

 

Then we got a tour of the ice cream making equipment, the kitchen, and a history of how the owner got into making ice cream. Her end goal is to make ice cream which isn't filled with chemicals and which everyone can enjoy. So she makes some vegan ice cream, a lot of gluten-free ice cream, and uses different ingredients to try and cut as many chemicals as possible out of the process.

 

She has a background in chemical engineering so it was interesting to hear her talk about how chemistry, percentages, and a big spreadsheet are all involved in coming up with different kinds of ice cream. I thought it was very interesting that fruit ice cream is the hardest to make because fruit has a lot of water and sugar which throws off the "ice cream equation."

After the tour, and the lesson, it was time to make our own ice cream. Rachel and I got to pour the mixture into the ice cream making machine. Another interesting fact is that the owner will hire kids as young as 14 to work for her so now Rachel has a new dream job! Notice how Rachel didn't spill any of the mixture as she poured but I made a bit of a mess :)

We made a vanilla base and then could add in toppings and sauces as we chose. We each got to make four pints of ice cream. We had fun naming our ice creams too! I made one that has sprinkles and M&Ms and I called it "Rainbow Explosion." Dave made one with salted caramel sauce and waffle cone pieces and called it "Waffle Wonderland." Sam made one with sprinkles, and one each of an M&M, a cookie dough chunk, and a sponge toffee piece, and called it "Scavenger Hunt." As you can tell, we had a lot of fun coming up with different combinations and names.

All of the ice cream is mixed by hand at this shop so we mixed our small batches by hand as well. Here is my "Rainbow Explosion" in the bowl.

Ice cream makers hard at work!

So much fun!!!

This is just half of what we came home with. (We learned that when ice cream is freezing for the first time, you should store it upside down for some reason having to do with air and sealing it.) We shared some with Dave's family, have enjoyed some with Tim & Janice, and still have lots left to eat. If you want some ice cream, come on over!

We had a really fun evening, learned some interesting ice cream facts (way more chemistry and math than I ever would have guessed!), and enjoyed making our own creations. Look for Scavenger Hunt and Waffle Wonderland coming soon to a store near you! Hahaha!!!