Seward’s Day is at the end of this month (commemorating the signing of the Alaska Purchase treaty in 1867), and we started asking ourselves what various events in Alaskan history would look like in the form of ice cream. This month’s pints are along the theme of the discovery of oil.
Prudhoe Pretzel
Even during the winter, there’s no such thing as a slow day at Wild Scoops. Here in the Test Kitchen we’ve been searching for a flavor that captures the essence of hard work and rich rewards. While assembling this husky, heavenly ice cream, we couldn’t help but think of those at work on the North Slope oil fields. Prudhoe Pretzel is a dark and indulgent treat that’s chock-full of intoxicating pleasures. Girdwood Brewing Company’s Hippy Speedball stout lays the foundation with notes of chocolate and roasted coffee. We add some crunch to the beer base with our addictively sweet-salty pretzel toffee. Lastly we pipe in our homemade Kahlua fudge, whose lucre and liqueur emulate the allure of natural crude oil. The result is a lightly boozy, rejuvenating dessert, the perfect welcome home after a long day’s (or week’s) work.
Olive Oil Lemon
Italy, like Alaska, is a region that owes a considerable amount of its fame and its economic development to oil. But instead of the dark sludge up here, the oil that Italians have made their name on glints golden and trickles like sunshine—it’s olive oil, of course! This month, we worked with the local branch of Oil & Vinegar, a gourmet shop that sources high-caliber culinary staples from around the world. Their owners helped us select a varietal of extra virgin olive oil from the Puglia region of southern Italy. It’s made from Coratina olives, a cultivar that is known for both fruity and sharp notes. A spoonful of this precious oil (called “green gold”) is a complex tasting experience—you might pick up the flavors of black pepper, fresh-cut grass, or perhaps artichoke. To complement this full-bodied olive oil, we added fresh-squeezed lemon juice and zest. The final component of this ice cream is a handful of pumpkin seeds, which we roasted and salted in our kitchen, sprinkling onto each pint for a satisfying top crunch.
Bonus: Fig-Orange Baby Cones
You’re going to fall in love with these figlets! We add grated orange zest and orange extract to our homemade waffle batter and hand-roll these darling miniature cones. Each one is topped with a tiny scoop of fig ice cream, dipped in homemade chocolate magic shell and finished with a candied orange slice. The treat is a medley of different flavors and textures, elegant and adorable all at once.