For the Tomahawk Leader
MERRILL – A Merrill 4-H Club recently took the top spot in a statewide ice cream flavor creation contest.
Cedar Crest Ice Cream and the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, announced that the Pesobic Pathfinders 4-H Club was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2023 Cedar Crest Ice Cream Flavor Creation Contest.
A release from the 4-H Foundation said that as the competition winners, the Pesobic Pathfinders, led by Ann Jaroski, will have an ice cream party and will be awarded $500.00. All other finalists will also have ice cream parties.
The Pesobic Pathfinders’ winning flavor, called “Paul Bunyan,” features vanilla bean ice cream with double-dipped pretzel “logs,” maple syrup and swirls of Butterfinger “sawdust.”
The release said Paul Bunyan will be produced by Cedar Crest for the 2024 summer season as a Feature Flavor for the month of July.
“The flavor will be available in ice cream parlors and scoops shops across the state of Wisconsin and beyond,” the release stated.
Other finalists included the Cloverview 4-H Club of Waterford’s Peanut Butter Brownie Boom, the Lakeview 4-H Club of Fredonia’s Oreo Cheesecake, the Beloit 4-H Club’s Wake Me Up and the Pella Eagles 4-H Club of Caroline’s Heavenly Cheesecake.
Entries were judged by a panel of ice cream experts chosen by Cedar Crest. The family-owned company, based in Cedarburg, Wis., manufactures more than 80 flavors of ice cream, along with frozen custard, sherbet and sorbet at its Manitowoc, Wis., plant. Cedar Crest distributes products in several Midwest states and beyond.
Brenda Scheider, Executive Director of the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation, said the contest is a “great opportunity for 4-H youth to work together to develop and name their flavor.”
“The most exciting part of the contest is the winning flavor will be available through Cedar Crest this summer,” Scheider stated.
“We are proud to support the Wisconsin 4-H organization through our annual flavor contest,” said Cedar Crest Ice Cream President Ken Kohlwey. “The project requires collaboration, teamwork and creativity to create the next best ice cream flavor. Every year, we look forward to reading the entries that come in and sharing the winning flavor with our customers.”
The release noted that some past winning flavors were so popular among ice cream lovers that they became a part of Cedar Crest’s scoop shop flavor lineup, including Wisconsin Campfire S’mores, created by Springbrook 4-H Club of New Richmond, and Haystack, created by Knellsville 4-H Club of Ozaukee County.
Learn more about all the flavors at www.wis4hfoundation.org/cedar-crest-ice-cream-flavor-creation-contest/.