I like to ask the tough questions here on Kara in the Kitchen, and one question that’s been on my mind deals with Dairy Queen. I’ve eaten a lot of ice cream in my life, specifically soft serve ice cream, and it seems like no one knows soft serve better than Dairy Queen. I wanted to know why Dairy Queen’s soft serve tastes like pure heaven, so I did some investigating to find out.
(Photo courtesy of fastfoodmaniacbook.com)
The first surprising fact I learned is that Dairy Queen’s soft serve doesn’t even qualify to be called ice cream! According to Dairy Queen’s website, their soft serve only has five percent butterfat content. To be categorized as ice cream, the minimum butterfat content must be ten percent.
An interesting detail about Dairy Queen’s soft serve is that it used to be categorized as “ice milk.” Imagine asking for an ice milk cone the next time you go to Dairy Queen…sounds unappetizing. The Food and Drug Administration eventually eliminated this category so companies could market their frozen dairy products as “reduced-fat.”
Dairy Queen’s soft serve is technically “reduced-fat,” but that term doesn’t mean its healthy. The infamous DQ soft serve contains five percent butterfat, which is not the same as 95 percent fat-free. What does butterfat do to ice cream in this case? The five percent butterfat makes the soft serve light instead of dense.
(Photo courtesy of thrillist.com)
Dairy Queen also has their soft serve recipe locked in a safety deposit box, so no one is getting into that anytime soon. DQ’s chief branding officer Michael Keller said once in an interview that only a few people have keys to the safe. It seems like the best solution for your soft serve cravings is to either franchise a location and have the time of your life, or simply buy a quart on your next DQ visit.
To answer the original question, Dairy Queen’s soft serve is so unique because of its secret recipe and butterfat content. Try to remember that the next time your taste buds beg for one more spoonful of soft serve!
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