Frozen Custard Concrete with Cookies and Fudge, Inspired by Shake Shack
A rich vanilla frozen custard, churned and frozen firm, then mashed with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and fudge into a concrete so thick you can turn the cup upside down.
Inspired by Shake Shack's Concretes. Not an official Shake Shack recipe: the custard below is House & Home's home-kitchen tweak of the chain's published master custard. A concrete is frozen custard blended so thick it will not fall out of an upside-down cup. Mental Floss traces the idea to St. Louis: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard made its concrete in 1959, and the upside-down trick began there, when Ted Drewes Jr. flipped one for a teenage customer who wanted a thicker shake. Dairy Queen franchisee Sam Temperato, who had stores around St. Louis, credited Drewes as the inspiration for the Blizzard, which Dairy Queen launched nationwide in 1985. Frozen custard is a legal term: US rules let ice cream with at least 1.4% egg yolk solids be sold as frozen custard (21 CFR 135.110). By our arithmetic, five yolks in this quart put it well above that line.
🇺🇸 This one is American
A rich vanilla frozen custard, churned and frozen firm, then mashed with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and fudge into a concrete so thick you can turn the cup upside down.
🇮🇹 The original
Italian gelato is churned slowly from milk with less cream and less air than American ice cream, so it is denser and served a little warmer. See the Fior di Latte Gelato (Italian Milk Gelato) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Extra yolks
Five yolks in a quart make a dense, silky custard that stays thick when it is worked, which is what lets a concrete hold its shape.
Mashing, not blending
Working firm custard with a spoon in a cold bowl mixes in the cookies without adding milk or air, so it stays spoon-thick.
Step by step
- Step 1
Whisk the yolks and sugar in a heavy medium saucepan until smooth, then whisk in the cream and milk.
- Step 2
Cook over medium heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the custard reaches 170 to 175°F and thickly coats the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Strain into a bowl, stir in the salt and vanilla, and set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water. Stir often until cool, about 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate about 4 hours, until fully cold.
- Step 4
Churn in an ice cream maker until thick, 20 to 25 minutes. Pack into a lidded container and freeze at least 2 hours, until firm.
- Step 5
Chill a mixing bowl and 4 cups in the freezer for 15 minutes. Scoop the custard into the cold bowl.
- Step 6
Add the crushed cookies and the fudge and mash everything together with a sturdy wooden spoon just until streaky, about 1 minute. Do not let it melt.
- Step 7
Pack into the chilled cups and, if you dare, turn one upside down to prove it is a concrete. Serve with spoons.
Frozen Custard Concrete with Cookies and Fudge, Inspired by Shake Shack
Serves 4 · about 1 quart custard, 4 concretes · 30 min total
Frozen custard
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mix-ins
- 8 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed into rough pieces
- 1/4 cup chocolate syrup or hot fudge (our Hot Fudge Sundae recipe), at room temperature
Method
- Whisk the yolks and sugar in a heavy medium saucepan until smooth, then whisk in the cream and milk.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the custard reaches 170 to 175°F and thickly coats the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Strain into a bowl, stir in the salt and vanilla, and set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water. Stir often until cool, about 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate about 4 hours, until fully cold.
- Churn in an ice cream maker until thick, 20 to 25 minutes. Pack into a lidded container and freeze at least 2 hours, until firm.
- Chill a mixing bowl and 4 cups in the freezer for 15 minutes. Scoop the custard into the cold bowl.
- Add the crushed cookies and the fudge and mash everything together with a sturdy wooden spoon just until streaky, about 1 minute. Do not let it melt.
- Pack into the chilled cups and, if you dare, turn one upside down to prove it is a concrete. Serve with spoons.
Custard adapted from House & Home's "Shake Shack's Frozen Vanilla Custard" (January 24, 2020), described there as a tweak of Shake Shack's master recipe for Concretes and shakes: (5 yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 1/2 cups milk, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp vanilla; cooked to 170°F; ice bath; about 4 hours chilling; churned; frozen at least 2 hours; keeps up to a month). The concrete method (custard and mix-ins mashed together) follows Shake Shack's California Cold Rush Concrete as published by Sunset. The cookie and fudge mix-in amounts are ours. House & Home. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- House & Home says the custard keeps up to a month in the freezer but is best within a day.
- Freeze the crushed cookies for 15 minutes first so they stay crunchy.
- Other mix-ins from the sources: dulce de leche, spicy roasted peanuts and crushed chocolate-covered pretzels (House & Home), or salted caramel and pastry pieces (Sunset).
- Store-bought frozen custard or a rich vanilla ice cream works when you are short on time.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- This is Shake Shack's recipe. Folklore: it is a copycat inspired by Shake Shack, built on House & Home's tweak of the chain's master custard; inspired by, not official.
- The concrete was invented at Ted Drewes in 1959. Disputed wording: Mental Floss reports 1959 and the flip story from a 2009 interview, but no menu or ad was checked. Louis custard stands".
- The DQ Blizzard copied the concrete. Documented as Sam Temperato's own account, as reported by Mental Floss: he credited Ted Drewes for the thick base and another custard shop, Huckleberry's, for the candy mix-ins.
- Frozen custard is just ice cream. Documented as false for US labeling: frozen custard must have at least 1.4% egg yolk solids (21 CFR 135.110).
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