Thick, velvety caramel lines running through creamy cold chocolate ice cream amidst a sea of pecans sit next to raspberries, strawberries and blueberries scattered around a classic vanilla backdrop. Close by is the signature chocolate flavor with a twist of smooth peanut butter to keep your tongue alert. Take your pick; all are offered through Madison's unique, homemade ice cream and dairy company, the Babcock Hall Dairy Store.
Located at 1605 Linden Drive, the store is easily overlooked, but once you have had the experience (and tasted the ice cream), the store is hard to forget. The Dairy Store itself is student run, and in 2001 was renovated and now has a new, modern feel.
The store makes for a great place for students to relax and study in between classes, while eating great food.
The store's history started in 1889 when the University of Wisconsin offered a short course on the manufacture of butter and cheese in order to improve instruction in dairy skills.
One year later, Dr. Stephen Babcock announced his now famous butterfat test and in a short time, the University had the nation's first dairy school.
60 years later, Babcock Hall was constructed and since then, teaching and research about dairy products has become the Department of Food Science. Babcock Hall houses the store as well as 21,000 square feet of research space and offices.
Eileen Karre, the store manager and supervisor, mentioned there was a time when the store was a stand outside that employees could open for students to get free buttermilk.
'Then, when it came over here it started as a plant, and then eventually a store was added to use up the extra products that was an overflow from campus,' Karre said.
The store only carried ice cream until Karre came in 1987. Since then, the store has grown into a place to get lunch, or buy gifts and candy. The store sells meat and cheese sandwiches, nachos and chili among other items. The recent cold temperatures have had little or no effect on sales.
'If we see any dip at all, it won't come until January because of the Christmas season. We have eight different cheese gift boxes, and we sell about 2,000 of them for gifts,' Karre said.
Tiffany Harper, a UW-Madison senior who has worked at the Dairy Store for a little over a year, said she was surprised by all of the different types of cheese that were produced at the store.
'Before I worked here I thought there was . . . Swiss, American, cheddar cheese. Now we have over 20 different types, it's very interesting,' she said. The store produces pesto and dill havarti, brick, monterey jack, colby and gouda to name a few varieties.
Harper was also overwhelmed when she started to help at the plant with the actual process of making the cheese and ice cream, and bottling the milk.
What is her favorite flavor? 'Definitely chocolate peanut butter,' Harper said, which is also currently the most popular flavor. The parlor has seasonal flavors, giving the store its uniqueness. Some of the flavors for November are, 'Berry Alvarez,' made of berry ice cream with blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, and 'Wisconsin Cranberry Cheesecake,' cheesecake ice cream with a cranberry swirl. There are also old favorites that cannot be missed such as 'Chocolate Turtle,' made with chocolate ice cream, caramel swirl, chocolate chips, and pecans.
To celebrate the Student Union's anniversary, The Dairy Store created 'Union Utopia' a vanilla ice cream with peanut butter, fudge, and caramel swirls. Karre said the flavor was created from a student contest.
'Someone might ask us to make an ice cream, then we make small batches of it, and taste it to see if it comes out all right, or if it's any good. We go from there. After we try and think of a name...we kind of all work at it,' Karre said.
What makes the Babcock Hall Dairy Store different from any other ice cream store is, hands down, the ice cream. It is made from an original method without a lot of the fillers that are used in processing.
'When our ice cream melts, its like cream. When you buy ice cream at the store it globs, so it tastes richer and has better flavors on top of that,' Karre said.
Harper admits that one of the best reasons for working at the store is the free ice cream, but she also loves the environment.
'I like working in the atmosphere because it's student run so I work with a bunch of other students here on campus. It's a great way to meet people,' she said.
Andy Steinhauer, a UW-Madison sophomore, agrees, 'Just being involved with the University is definitely a plus. I transferred here, so just getting involved with it is great,' he said.
Whether it is the environment, the history or the great food, everyone can agree that the ice cream is what keeps customers coming back again and again.
