Famous Last Meals / Modern companion recipe

Small-Batch Strawberry Milkshakes

Commercial strawberry ice cream and cold pasteurized milk make two small shakes without a syrup or raw-fruit step. Strawberry milkshakes appear in contemporary reporting of Simmons’s meal request. This two-ingredient ratio and modest household yield are new choices, not a copy of the reported large drinks.

2 small milkshakes; about 11¼ oz/320 g mixture in total before blender residueActive 5 minCooking 0 minTotal 10 min

Read Gary Carl Simmons: A Long Order, a Short Dispatch →

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Exactly two plain clear short wide glasses, each containing the same modest serving of smooth pale pink strawberry milkshake with fine strawberry specks, no whipped cream, straw, syrup, fresh fruit, candy, mint or garnish. Glasses have generous clean empty headroom and stand together on a plain cream tabletop. One small household batch, not giant restaurant servings.
Original modern recipe illustration: Small-Batch Strawberry Milkshakes. See the measured recipe for portions and cooking instructions.

Ingredients

  • 7 oz commercial ready-to-eat strawberry ice cream (200 g), kept frozen until preparation
  • ½ cup pasteurized milk (120 ml), chilled at 40°F/4°C or below

Set out

Blender with jug capacity at least 1 qt/1 L, Kitchen scale, measuring jug and clean spoon, 2 clean glasses, each holding at least 12 fl oz/350 ml to allow for variable aeration, Refrigerator and freezer

Allergens

Milk. Milk is required in the base recipe. Strawberry ice cream may also contain egg, wheat, soy or other labeled allergens, depending on its formula and mix-ins. Read the complete actual containers; the short recipe name is not an allergen guarantee.

Make it

  1. Check that the ice cream is a ready-to-eat product and read its full ingredient/allergen label. Put the empty glasses ready. Measure the cold milk into the clean blender jug.
  2. Weigh the ice cream. If it is too hard to scoop, leave its covered container out only about 5 minutes, just until workable, then return the unused ice cream promptly to the freezer. Do not let the whole tub melt. Add the measured 200 g to the milk.
  3. Fit the lid securely. Start on low speed for about 10 seconds, then blend in short bursts only until smooth. Stop the motor before scraping with the clean spoon, refit the lid and blend briefly again if necessary. Keep utensils out while the blades move.
  4. Divide the complete shake evenly between the 2 glasses, using weight if convenient: about 160 g each before blender residue. Different ice creams aerate differently, so no exact finished volume is promised. Serve immediately. No raw egg, syrup, cream, extra fruit or garnish is included.

A useful detail

The 10-minute total allows a brief softening interval if needed and 5 minutes for measuring, blending and serving. Commercial ice cream density varies; the household yield is therefore stated by weight, not a claimed historical cup size. Do not add unmeasured milk to the base formula.

Keep it well

Make only what will be served. Refrigerate any untouched spare shake promptly at 40°F/4°C or below and use within 24 hours; its texture will soften. Discard partly drunk glasses. Discard milkshake left at room temperature beyond 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Do not pour a prepared shake back into the ice-cream tub or refreeze the partly melted tub as a storage method.

How this recipe relates to the story

ABC News’s 22 June 2012 report lists two large strawberry milkshakes among foods attributed to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. It supplies no recipe or measured drink size. Commercial ice cream, pasteurized milk, this ratio and the small two-person yield are original modern choices.

Another way

Cooking and storage references