Review: Adrian's Frozen Custard of Burlington, Wisconsin

Adrian's Frozen Custard of Burlington, Wisconsin, is a true institution to frozen custard. Having a history of over 30 years, Adrian's is a mom-and-pop run establishment and has fans that first started going there as kids. Many folks make the drive over to Adrian's from nearby Milwaukee, and some even from Chicago.

If you're not sure what frozen custard is, it's actually a type of ice cream made with at least 1.4% egg yolk and at least 10% milk fat (or butter fat). By comparison, typical ice cream can contain no egg yolk and much less milk fat. In fact, if ice cream does contain significantly less than 10% milk fat, it enters the category of being ice milk. McDonald's soft serve ice cream, for example, is actually ice milk.

However, the ingredients are not the only difference between frozen custard and ice cream. As frozen custard is made, it will travel from a refrigerated hopper to a freezing container that is lined with beaters. Afterwards, it is quickly pushed out into a serving bucket. The process goes rather quickly, resulting in a product that does not have much overrun (air); typical frozen custard has about 20% overrun. This results in a product that feels creamier and has fewer ice crystals. In contrast, ice cream is made in batch freezers, which keep the product much longer and typically add as much as 100% overrun to it.

Likewise, because frozen custard is made so quickly, it is served at a higher temperature than regular ice cream. Typically, frozen custard is served at about -8 C (18 F), while ice cream is served at -12 C (10 F).

Adrian's offers frozen custard from the months of April through November. Typical flavors are chocolate and vanilla, and then there is the flavor of the day, like cherry, butter pecan, peanut butter, Oreo, etc. Adrian's offers its frozen custard in cones (small, medium, and large) or in quarts to take home. There are also sundaes, which come in flavors of hot fudge, strawberry, caramel, butterscotch, chocolate, Wisconsin Cherry, pineapple, peanut butter, and marshmallow. In the summer months, special sundae flavors, like fresh raspberry, are also offered. And there are also flurries, made with candy bar ingredients such as Heath, M&M, Butterfinger, or cookie dough, strawberry, and pineapple.

You can also choose from one of Adrian's special sundaes, such as the Peanut Butter Fudge (made with two mounds of vanilla frozen custard, then topped with hot fudge, peanut butter, peanuts, whipped cream, and a cherry), the Bavarian Black Forest (made with two mounds of vanilla frozen custard, then covered with Wisconsin sweet cherries, hot fudge, chopped nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry), and the Tulip Time (made with two mounds of vanilla frozen custard, then topped with fresh strawberries, sliced bananas, crushed nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry).

On my recent visit to Adrian's Frozen Custard, I went with a rather plain stand-by: a regular sized cone of frozen custard in twist flavor (chocolate and vanilla flavors twisted on one cone). The price for the cone was $2.35. I sat down and tried out my cone: the custard was velvety smooth, with the vanilla side giving hints of cream and the chocolate side tasting like a cold mousse. I tried to let these flavors linger on my tongue, but the stuff was too good. All too soon, it was gone.

Maybe next time I'll bring my cooler so I can take some of Adrian's Frozen Custard home with me.

Here is some additional information about Adrian's:
Adrian's Frozen Custard
572 Bridge Street
Burlington, WI 53105
Phone: (262)763-8562