How Blue Bunny's Strawberry Shortcake Bars are Made _ Unwrapped _ Food Network

Unwrapping the Secrets Behind Summer Snacks: The King-Sized Strawberry Shortcake Bar from Blue Bunny Ice Cream

Welcome to Unwrapped, I'm Mark Summers, and today we're going to explore the world of summer snacks that are perfect for beating the heat. One of our favorite treats is the king-sized Strawberry Shortcake bar from Blue Bunny Ice Cream. This frozen dessert is a game-changer when it comes to satisfying your sweet tooth during the warmer months.

What sets this ice cream bar apart from a plate of Mom's homemade strawberry shortcake? The answer lies in its unique combination of flavors and textures. As you bite into the King-Sized Strawberry Shortcake bar, you get a tangy-sweet strawberry taste, followed by creamy vanilla ice cream, and then it's completely surrounded with shortcake pieces. This perfect blend of flavors and textures makes this ice cream bar an ideal solution when the mercury starts to rise.

People really enjoy eating the Strawberry Shortcake bar in the summer because it's naturally refreshing with the strawberry and vanilla ice cream. The king-sized bar itself is a large size, measuring four and a quarter ounces, making it the perfect treat for those looking for something bigger than your average snack. But what you might not know about this ice cream bar is that Blue Bunny makes over 6 million bars every year. That's a staggering number, and if laid end to end, it would cover Mount Everest approximately 700 times.

So, how does Blue Bunny create such an impressive amount of these extra-large bars? The process begins on the production floor at their factory in Le Mars, Iowa, where the ice cream mixes are made. The company uses 300-gallon flavor tanks to mix the ingredients, and then pumps them into ice cream freezers for each flavor: vanilla and strawberry. The key to keeping the two different flavors separate lies in dispensing them at different temperatures and using different nozzles.

Vanilla is dispensed on the outside of the bar, while strawberries are on the inside. This clever trick creates an illusion that keeps the two flavors from mixing together. To achieve this, chilled brine runs underneath the molds, lowering the temperature of the ice cream as they rotate around. With the molds partially frozen, it becomes possible to insert a stick into each one.

Over 14,000 Shortcake bars march through the stick machine every hour, and giant robotic arms pull them out of the molds and dunk them into warm brine, preparing them for their crunchy cookie topping. The shortcake pieces fly through the air, covering every inch of the bar in a colorful coat of crunchiness.

Once wrapped in their wrappers and sealed up tight, the bars slide into boxes and are placed into deep freezers at minus 40 degrees Celsius. Although they can't be purchased at your local grocery store, these frozen treats are available exclusively at convenience stores. One of the best parts about this ice cream bar is that it's completely spoon-free.

As we take a closer look at the King-Sized Strawberry Shortcake bar, we can appreciate its unique design and production process. From the way it's dispensed to its crunchy cookie topping, every detail has been carefully considered to create an irresistible frozen treat for hot summer days.