When Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling assigned me this article, I said, “Ice cream and beer? What will they think of next?!” Letting out a deep sigh while rubbing her forehead, she replied, “No, idiot. It’s not Blue Moon beer. It’s just blue ice cream.” Well, paint me surprised! Here I was thinking I’d finally get to try ice cream that combines my two favorite drinks: milk and a Belgian white. Anyway, what’s the deal with this stuff? What is blue moon ice cream? Here’s the deal.
What is blue moon ice cream?
I grew up with Breyers ice cream, a Philadelphia staple, and I just assumed that everywhere else it was the same. Imagine my surprise to learn that people in the Upper Midwest United States have been going hog-wild on some blue moon stuff.
Blue moon ice cream looks like the kind of ice cream Smurfs would eat; its bright blue color immediately draws you in for a taste. A man named Bill Sidon is often credited with its creation. He worked for Milwaukee-based Petran Products in the 1950s, and they were the first company to trademark the recipe. However, several sites across Wisconsin and Michigan claim to be the originators of blue moon ice cream.
Blue moon ice cream is also tied to something called Superman ice cream, another flavor I never heard of before, despite my home state’s Hershey’s Creamery having it in their roster. It’s believed that blue moon ice cream is one of the three ice creams in the mix, along with red (some kind of cherry) and yellow (either vanilla, lemon, or banana).
What is blue moon ice cream made of?
Much like Coca-Cola, the official recipe for blue moon ice cream is shrouded in secrecy. But homemade recipes for blue moon ice cream (such as this one from Serious Eats) call for raspberry and lemon flavorings along with vanilla pudding mix, egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and blue food coloring.
What does blue moon ice cream taste like?
It’s apparently difficult to really nail down the precise flavor of blue moon ice cream. Since I’ve never had it, I’ve resorted to an internet search, and the responses are all wildly different. Here are all the things that people claim blue moon tastes like: marshmallows, vanilla, amaretto, black cherry, vanilla pudding, bubble gum, cotton candy, and Froot Loops.
There was even a suggestion that blue moon ice cream was originally flavored with castoreum. What’s castoreum, you ask? Oh, it’s just a yellow liquid that beavers spray out of their castor sacs to mark their territory. It tastes like vanilla.
