Every summer for almost 15 years, I’ve ditched the cold San Francisco weather for a few weeks on Cape Cod to visit my husband’s family. There are lots of tasty traditions I look forward to like lobster dinners and fried clams, but the best one of all is a trip to Sundae School, the local old-fashioned ice cream place with ice cream so good the line can stretch out the door. While my family goes straight for their hot fudge sundaes, I steadfastly order the same thing every single time: a raspberry-Oreo frappe (New Englanders’ term for milkshake). It’s so thick with raspberry ice cream that I always start with a spoon since I’m impatient, then sip with the straw after it softens up.
I wanted to recreate this at home, so I made a goal to perfect the method. My criteria? A perfect milkshake is thick enough for a spoon to stand in but still drinkable. Any mix-ins should still be in little pieces, and there should be a really pure ice cream flavor that’s not diluted with too much milk.
