Thursday, April 30, 2009

Ted Drewes Frozen Custard: There's egg in it.

Another item that, as far as I can tell, is unique to St Louis is the people's love of frozen custard over the more traditional ice cream. Not to say they don't like ice cream or that other places don't like frozen custard. People here just LOVE frozen custard. And although there are other purveyors, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard is the staple down here. St Louisans crave it all winter long it seems. One person after another would close their eyes as they described how awesome this frozeny goodness is. Admittedly skeptical, (I'm a huge ice cream fan) I finally ventured down to the Chippewa stand on a Tuesday night around 8:30 pm.
It was effing packed. And it wasn't even what most would consider warm outside. This brought my hopes up. And then they were dashed. My friend Meg was with me and I asked her for some recommendations. She started shooting off toppings and I began to get the sneaking suspicion that what we're talking about here is a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Yep... Confirmed. The only difference is Blizzard's are made with soft-serve ice cream. Meh. Hopes now officially dashed as I've never been a big fan of Blizzard's, I stepped in line. I looked around at all the peeps in line with me and shook my head a little. I mean, a Blizzard is one of the most lazy frozen desserts out there! It's always just sitting around... being all vanilla and soft... and then, Bam! Add some Butterfingers to that lazy bastard. No matter how you dress it up it's still just vanilla soft-serve with crumbled up whatever mixed in. Get off your lazy ass and stop hanging on other candies coattails, Blizzard! Get some culture for Jezabelle's sake.
Wow. That was rough. I kinda feel bad now, but he had to know. Anyway, I was going down the list of things I could add to my vanilla frozen custard when I stopped at apple pie. I like apple pie, and at least it's a mix of a bunch of different flavors to make one universally recognizable flavor. I ordered it "regular" size which I guess is medium. It looked like a creamier version of a Blizzard just as I had suspected.
The good news? It was delicious! It made for a much tastier treat than a Blizzard ever could although I took issue with the fact that it made my mouth stickier than normal. I have a feeling these frozen custards are possibly worse for you than ice cream. Then again, I'm no scientist. No, really. Do not Google it.
I get it. It's a tradition and I'm a fan of tradition. And truth be told it's pretty good stuff for a Blizzard-like treat. Let's chalk this one up to personal preference. I'd still take a flavored ice cream over it any day. Plus I went to high school with Cold Stone Creamery so I get discounts. I'm so glad it doesn't remember how much I used to pick on it for singing those stupid songs every time someone tipped. Thanks for not singing at me Ted Drewes!

11 comments:

Brian said...

I remember the whole frozen custard fade that swept NWI about 10? years ago. I'm with you on this one though, although I would never turn down a frozen custard, I would definitely not go out of my way to indulge on one.

Brian said...

Ahhhh dang it. I meant to say fad... not fade. Fade is the type of haircut I love.

Liz said...

I am a fan of the ted drewes ice cream sandwich... frozen custard sandwiched between two Dad's Oatmeal Cookies. This is my version of heaven.

Also, for future reference, this custard fan prefers hers dressed is a sundae rather than a concrete. :) Happy Eating.

Jackie said...

I must say, Jim, that I love custard and you know that. But I would say that if I had never managed a frozen custard shop, eh em, Sheridan's which was not mentioned (don't worry, i won't hold it against you:) I would only be a huge ice cream fan. I have experience the apple pie concrete(blizzard) and enjoyed it very much! You picked a good one. Through out my years at Sheridan's, I did notice that St. Louisans love custard at all times of the year. I don't know if it's in the air, the way the moon lies, or just that we're all crazy b/c we like an ice cold treat when it's zero degrees. Either way, custard does have egg in it, and maybe that's what makes it sticky?

Yours Truely,
Jackie

Anonymous said...

If you're ever in the Indianapolis area, try Ritter's frozen custard. They offer (last time I counted) 32 different flavors.

-J

Anonymous said...

Oh... and just fwiw, Ted Drewes sells nice Christmas trees.

Where else can you get a Christmas tree and an apple pie concrete at the same time?

-J

Meg G. said...

awwww, name recognition??? wow, I feel touched jimbo! I am glad I was able to pop your STL custard cherry! But never ask me to go again...I can handle Mr. Wizzards or Fritzes, but Ted Drewes is not my cup of tea! I can only say that and get away with it as I am not officially from STL!!
:P

Angie said...

I live right behind Ted's, and probably go there too much for my own good. I'm a fan of the banana chocolate concrete with pralines mixed in. I also love the Big Apple and during fall they have one with a piece of pumpkin pie mixed in. I def like regular ice cream alot too. I like em both. I don't like people throwing their empty bowls on my lawn jockeys head. That's happened quite a few times.

Mary I said...

You should try the tiramisu sundae. I have no idea what is in the topping, but it really hits the sweet spot. I either get that or a raspberry chocolate chip concrete.

State Streets said...

You should give the gelato place on South Grand a try. It works much harder than lazy frozen custard.

Dellvt said...

As I understand it, Ted Drewes was the (or at least one of) first stand to develop the "concrete." DQ was located in Illinois and stopped by to see what the fuss was about, and thus came the "Blizzard."

Alton Brown did a spot there in his first season of "Feasting on Asphalt." Worth checking out in my opinion.