New Flavor Featured At UConn Dairy Bar ... But Get It While You Can

STORRS, CT — There's a new ice cream flavor at the UConn Dairy Bar and it's full of alliteration, fitting for the accommodating academic atmosphere through which is was created.

It's Brown Butter Brickle.

The flavor was developed in Dennis D'Amico's dairy technology class at the University of Connecticut. He posed a challenge to students — invent an ice cream flavor and make it in the UConn Creamery. As part of the challenge, D’Amico, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, had the class vote for its favorite flavor, which would then be added to the selections at the UConn Dairy Bar.

D'Amico said after the votes were counted, a clear winner emerged and the Brown Butter Brickle created by Charlie Parchen, a nutritional sciences major with a minor in food science, is now available at the UConn Dairy Bar for scoops and in half-gallons to take home.

Parchen says the inspiration for Brown Butter Brickle came from another sweet treat — his favorite cookie. He said he fashioned a "homemade" base mix to flavor the ice cream. Parchen said he browned butter, which involves slowly cooking it on low heat until it turns amber in color and develops a "nutty flavor" and then carefully added brown sugar to sweeten the mix.

According to Parchen, the flavor tastes even better as it freezes, with the brown sugar continuing to seep into the ice cream, creating "unexpected spots of sweetness."

Previous classes created yogurt using Aronia berries, tying the course into other research on Aronia occurring in other school departments. Another year, a class researched the best type of chocolate chip for the Dairy Bar’s Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and another spearheaded the creamery branching out into cheeses.

While Brown Butter Brickle ice cream will be a limited time offering, developing new flavors has become an annual tradition with a new winning ice cream to be crowned this spring.

"This was so fun," says Parchen. "How many schools are there that not only have a great ice cream place, but then you can take a class where you get to make ice cream for that great ice cream place?"

See more about the flavor on the UConn Today site.