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Monday, June 1, 2009

Old School Frozen Custard Opens on Saturday

Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 12:31 PM

9428/1243884347-seattle-storefront.jpg

...with free single-scoop cones for everyone from 3 to 10 p.m. Their new shop is at 1316 E. Pike on Capitol Hill (their Bonney Lake branch has been open for a couple years). As they say:

Frozen custard first originated on Coney Island as a carnival treat in the early 1920s, and its popularity quickly grew. Across the country today, particularly in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and parts of the East Coast, faithful customers travel great lengths to satisfy their craving for frozen custard. In 2007, we brought this old school frozen custard to the greater Seattle area!

The other local option is Peaks Frozen Custard out on 65th. (Stranger reader-reviewers are silent so far on the quality.)

I've only ever had frozen custard once, from a stand in Austin that made soft-serve, which didn't seem all that different from regular soft-serve. My main recollection is that it melted all over my hand in short order. Wikipedia says frozen custard is like ice cream, but with egg yolks, less air, and higher butterfat content, which sounds pretty good. So, is frozen custard all that?

Capitol Hill Seattle Blog got the (sorry) scoop. Photo from Old School's website.

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Comments (22) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
Yes, Frozen Custard is great. Buttery and fattening and delicious. Whenever I visit St. Louis, I go to Ted Drews for some great custard.
Posted by clearlyhere http://clearlyhere.livejournal.com on June 1, 2009 at 12:36 PM
2
yelp reviews > stranger reviews
Posted by duh on June 1, 2009 at 12:47 PM
3
Some places make it in a soft-serve machine, but from what I hear Old School does it right with a real frozen custard machine. If made right, it is dense, smooth and surprisingly creamy. Frozen Custard also has about half the butterfat of tradition ice cream.... the pasteurized egg allows it to be creamy and smooth without all the butterfat that ice cream has.

As you can probably tell, I grew up on this stuff and it is WAY better than regular ice cream if done right!

One of my friends is a new employee at the Cap Hill shop and she says Old School is making authentic Midwest frozen custard..... CANNOT WAIT!!!!

Posted by Seesaw on June 1, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Julie in Eugene 4
It's been ages since I've had frozen custard... Culvers is the big chain outfits in the Midwest. I've only had their custard once or twice, but it was pretty decent. Ritters is another big chain in Indiana... also not too bad. Not sure if either of them make it the "right" way or not.
Posted by Julie in Eugene on June 1, 2009 at 12:55 PM
5
YES! And you can hardly find it in NYC. We had it everywhere in Oklahoma; we really liked our buttery, fattening frozen desserts there.
Posted by Joey The Girl http://rosellajo.wordpress.com on June 1, 2009 at 12:57 PM
6
St. Louis is supposed to be big for frozen custard, but it has clearly made all of their citizens big as well. That said, Ted Drewes is good, but Mr. Wizard's is even better! But seriously, why is a small the size of a pint of ice cream?
Posted by copilotcrash on June 1, 2009 at 12:59 PM
7
We've got an Old School down here in Bonney Lake (don't ask why I live in Bonney Lake...) and I can confirm it rocks. Creamy, firm but not hard like ice cream, great options for stand alone or mixins, and simple, pure ingredients.
Posted by el ganador on June 1, 2009 at 1:02 PM
8
I used to work at a frozen custard shop in Wisconsin. A soft-serve machine would have been heresy. Real frozen custard is slightly yellow and the creamiest thing you'll ever taste.
Posted by mm...yummy on June 1, 2009 at 1:04 PM
9
Of course, part of the reason I love Old School is that they have a combo called "the Locker Room" which contains "nuts, nuts, and more nuts". Yes, please!
Posted by el ganador on June 1, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Carollani 10
Custard is amazing. I'm only sad that I'll be out of town this weekend!
Posted by Carollani http://www.carollani.com/wordpress on June 1, 2009 at 1:16 PM
scharrera 11
Copps Custard (Milwaukee) is. all. that. And more! Can't wait to try Old School. I fear for my waistline.
Posted by scharrera on June 1, 2009 at 1:18 PM
12
#11 - Kopps...

But you are right it is all that, though you could say it of Oscars or any number of places in MKE. Good burgers as well.
Posted by UniBlohmer on June 1, 2009 at 1:33 PM
13
I'll also throw my support behind MKE's Kopps. Totally legit. And in reference to the custard place referenced by this posting's original author, I'm pretty sure I've been to the custard place you're talking about in Austin, and yeah, that's not real custard. Not even close.
Posted by Hosono on June 1, 2009 at 1:58 PM
scharrera 14
Sorry - Kopps! I'm used to hearing it more than seeing it in print - my mom grew up with Karl Kopps (son of Elsa, the founder of the custard stand). Also rumored to be the model for Al's in Happy Days!
Posted by scharrera on June 1, 2009 at 2:06 PM
15
Um, yes, it is all that and a bag. I am a STL native and Ted Drewes is no joke amazing frozen custard. Peaks is pretty lame, as custard should only be vanilla and either served plain or mixed in with stuff to make a concrete (essentially it is a blizzard but a 1,000 times better).
Posted by ag on June 1, 2009 at 2:15 PM
kj 16
Sometimes it's really nice to live in the boonies, where delicious, fattening stuff like frozen custard are not available. There's a Culver's about an hour away from me, and the one time I had the custard, it was amazing. @15 is right: a concrete is so much better than a blizzard!
Posted by kj on June 1, 2009 at 2:19 PM
meowmeowkitty 17
Yummy frozen custard! I'm just amazed at how vibrant and livable Capitol Hill is becoming!

Barf.
Posted by meowmeowkitty on June 1, 2009 at 3:45 PM
mr. herriman 18
I might try if it weren't for the eggs. I'm not allergic, or a vegan, I just have a thing about eggs, especially if they're raw. I know it wouldn't be custard without eggs, so I'll just have to go without. I bet it is awesome though. Sounds right up my alley. Enjoy!
Posted by mr. herriman on June 1, 2009 at 5:15 PM
19
The eggs are not raw they are pasteurized. It is funny someone would say barf when frozen custard is basically ice cream's big brother. It is called a custard because of the pasteurized egg, but it is like a minuscule amount and is the reason it has like half the butterfat of ice cream.

Posted by Seesaw on June 1, 2009 at 8:44 PM
lizzie 20
Wrong way people! Frozen custard is basically milky mayonaisse. Gross. Rich people have the means to be progressive and not harmful, why choose to eat frozen blended eggs, milk, and sugar?
Posted by lizzie on June 1, 2009 at 10:38 PM
marc 21
Culvers is to frozen custard what McDonalds is to fine dining - Milwaukee has some awesome custard stands - Kopps (as noted above), Leon's, Gillie's, Oscar's.
Posted by marc on June 2, 2009 at 6:33 AM
22
What the hell are you talking about. Frozen custard is not mayonnaise. Frozen custard is a premium ice cream that has been around since like the 50's.... would you called gelato a form of mayonnaise? It has egg in it too....

Why don't you try it before you knock it. It will knock your fricken socks off it is THAT much better than ice cream...

Posted by Kindness on June 2, 2009 at 9:41 AM

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