made to ordeR We all remember that unforgettable ice cream truck jingle – the jingle that once upon a summer made you jump out of the pool and, I’ll bet, still turns your head. You may not remember your first bite, but you never forget your last or the warm feeling you get when eating something that recreates innocence. Well, BRINK found the secret to the scream for cream. The spoonful of childhood is MilkMade. By Anais Vaillant Photos Betsy Hansen
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t started in the summer of 2009 with a Cuisinart ice cream machine and an imagination Willy Wonka would envy. Diana, founder of MilkMade, began her New York City handcrafted ice cream business with two concepts in mind: mouth watering sophisticated flavors and local ingredients. Handdelivering her made-from-scratch pints of ‘scream to its members, MilkMade introduces two flavors each ice cream enthusiast can pick from every month, makes it a few days before delivery, and sends to your doorstep. Don’t believe us? The lid provides the date of conception. “I never imagined I’d start an ice cream business,” says Diana. As a 18 brinkmagonline.com December 2012/January 2013
business, MilkMade is considered one of the first monthly membership models, as well as food subscription delivery models. The model provides seasonal memberships of three months. Due to their primary values of hand-delivering fresh pints made with local ingredients, the three-month membership enables members to taste what local New York farmers have to offer. It’s about making connections between farmers and members. Although ice cream may look like an easy task of mixing milk, sugar, and yolk, creating the proper consistency, ratios, and flavoring poses a tremendous challenge. Each flavor the Milkmaids produce undergoes various experiments in proportions and ingredients in order
to create that mouth-watering sensation that defines ice cream. For example, Two Snaps and a Hay – an homage to In Living Color and consisting of chunks of gingersnaps and hay ice cream – involved research on various types and cuts of hay. The result was an ice cream that “tastes just like autumn,” a MilkMade member states. The hay creates a Sugar Smacks cereal sweetness that blends perfectly with the gingery snap from Baking for Good, an online bakery originating in the Big Apple. Inspired by the farmer’s market (Honey Roasted Honeycomb), desserts (German Chocolate), cocktails (Grady’s Manhattan), quirky names (Two Snaps and a Hay), takes on the classics (Rock Rock Rockaway Road), childhood memories