Question: What is Blue Moon ice cream?
Answer: Blue Moon was created in the Midwest but specifically where is a mystery. It is a popular ice cream flavor in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and other surrounding states. Blue Moon is often found in a carton form at the grocery store or featured as a flavor in Midwestern ice cream parlors. It is also commonly used as one of three flavors found in another favorite Midwest ice cream known as Superman.
The flavor of Blue Moon ice cream is difficult to distinguish. If you gave a bowl to ten people who never had it before, you would likely get ten different answers on what it tastes like. Its flavor is not straightforward like other ice cream products such as chocolate or strawberry. We like the way the Chicago Tribune described it as, “Smurf-blue, marshmallow-sweet and tasting remarkably like Froot Loops”.
Several different manufacturers make Blue Moon so the ingredients likely vary slightly from brand-to-brand. The ingredients listed on the cartons are vague in regards to the flavoring used to create the ice cream. The ingredients will typically reflect “natural and artificial flavors”, but do not indicate the actual flavors used.
There are few recipes out there that do a good job replicating the taste of the stuff you find in stores or parlors. They use a combination of vanilla, lemon, and raspberry flavoring or extract to create Blue Moon. We would guess the ice cream manufacturers use these same ingredients or something pretty similar. This would explain its complex taste and “Fruit Loop” characteristics.
As a closing note, its famous blue color comes from food coloring and is not derived from a magical combination of natural ingredients. Although, that would be cool if it did. The common food coloring used for Blue Moon is Blue #1 or “brilliant blue”.
Photo Credit: Tanya Dawn
