Week 7 of the Armstrong Ice Cream Challenge took us back to the original. If you trace the invention of soft serve ice cream back to it’s roots, you’ll end up at 1950’s Dairy Queen. Since then, soft serve ice cream shops have popped up all over America, so it’s pretty cool that we get to pay homage to this legendary franchise. DQ is also based in my home State of Minnesota. I grew up visiting their old-style walk-up ice cream stands, so I have a lot of nostalgia with Dairy Queen. Even though they’ve changed a lot since then, they still make some pretty incredible ice cream.
At each shop we travel to, we ask to try three ice cream treats: The Classic, The Crowd Favorite, and The Craziest Creation. For more details on the categories, check out this intro video: https://youtu.be/ZQ2LE8x9AyA.
These were Dairy Queen’s entries for the challenge:
The Classic – When I was little, I would always get a crunch cone, but when I was done, I’d always steal some bites from my mom’s favorite, The Peanut Buster Parfait. Our classic creation was a Buster Bar, which is basically the parfait frozen on a stick. It’s a layer of Spanish peanuts with hot fudge, topped with vanilla soft serve and dipped in chocolate. The older version I remember looked like a cup, but the newer style is truly shaped like a bar. In my opinion, the newer one is better. The flavors are all captures in each bite and the peanuts and fudge take me right back to childhood in Moorhead, Minnesota. My whole family loved this take home treat.
The Crowd Favorite – The Blizzard is synonymous with Dairy Queen. They continue to come up with new options all the time, but one blizzard or another is almost always on the list of favorites. This month, the favorite was the Frosted Animal Cookie Blizzard. I LOVE frosted animal crackers (maybe a little too much…), so this was right up my alley. Generous portions of cookies and three small scoops of secret pink frosting are mixed in to make this fun creation. If that sounds good to you, you’ll have to go get one soon, because the blizzards are always changing with the seasons and this one might not be around for long.
The Craziest Creation – DQ is a limited with how crazy they can get with their creations since they are regulated by their corporate office. I was expecting something a little bit more subdued from them, but we still ended up with something wonderful. They call it The Brownie Cupfection. It’s layers of chocolate sauce, Oreo cookies, marshmallow crème, and soft serve topped with a large cup shaped brownie. It was a chocolate lovers dream. Down to the last bite, it was rich and well balanced. I never knew this existed, and I might have just found my new favorite item at this nostalgic shop.
Dairy Queen might be just another fast-food place to you, but for me, it is full of memories. I was glad they agreed to be a part of the challenge because the reality is, probably none of our other shops would exist without them. They pioneered soft serve, blizzards, ice cream cakes, and so many other things that everyone else has copied and tried to improve upon for decades. Next time you’re at your favorite ice cream place, say a little Thank You to DQ.
The next video comes out on Sunday, June 27th, at 7PM, so check back next week as we continue the Armstrong Ice Cream Challenge!
If you want to vote for Dairy Queen as your favorite ice cream place, you’ll be entered to win the $25 gift card to their shop. Make sure to fill out the quick form here to be entered for the giveaway at the end of June! 8 lucky winners will receive a gift card for their favorite shop, and one lucky winner will receive $10 to all 8 shops so they can create their very own Armstrong Ice Cream Tour. Thanks for participating and good luck!
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