Nashville Food Blog

Mark your calendars for February 2009, when Purity Dairies will release Coco Loco, a specialty ice cream inspired by the winning entry in this year's Miss Martha's Ice Cream Crankin'. Conner Finnegan and Nick Veith swept the teen category and won best in show for their over-the-top recipe of chocolate ice cream, caramel swirl and Take 5 candy bars, which the boys at Purity will endeavor to translate into a mass-market flavor next year.

“We'll try to contact Hershey's to find out if that candy bar will actually work if it is submerged at 20 degrees,” said Tim Tracy, who manages ice cream sales for Purity.

I don't know about 20 degrees, but I do know that in 90 degrees on the lawn of First Presbyterian Church, the combination of rich chocolate, thick caramel and salty bits of pretzel and peanut worked just fine. Long after we had filled out our score sheets--Coco Loco got top marks in taste, texture and appearance--the other judges and I kept digging in. (Of course, we did it all in the name of the Martha O'Bryan Center, which benefits from the annual fundraiser.)

Last year's Miss Martha's winner, Mango Madness, recently hit the freezer section. Meanwhile, I'm waging a campaign to get last year's runner-up, Spiced-Up Chocolate, onto the Purity flavor roster. If you want to join the crusade for a dark-chocolate ice cream infused with cinnamon and red pepper, chime in below in the comments. The Purity team is hesitant to launch such an unorthodox product, so let's show them there's widespread appetite for the slightly edgier flavors.

And if you're not up for Spiced-Up, what flavors would you like to see Purity create?