Who wants ice cream? Purdue debuts Boiler Tracks for Purdue’s 150th anniversary

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue Dining & Catering debuted a new ice cream flavor in honor of Purdue University’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, 150 Years of Giant Leaps, on March 1.

Known as Boiler Tracks, the vanilla ice cream includes a mix of chocolate pieces, toffee and caramel. The ice cream was developed as part of a partnership between Dining & Catering and students in a capstone class in the Department of Food Science. Boiler Tracks will be served in residential dining courts as well as Harrison Grill, and will be available for purchase at Pappy’s Sweet Shop, as well as in select retail locations. Pappy’s, which is located in the Purdue Memorial Union, will serve Boiler Tracks, available for purchase in single or double scoop sizes. Half-pints will be sold for $3.89 at 3rd Street Market, Tarkington Market, Stewart Market and Urban Market. Location information is available here.

“We came to students with this challenge to create a flavor for us to serve in the dining courts and at Pappy’s for Purdue’s 150th anniversary,” said Greg Minner, director of Dining & Catering. “The students who created this flavor rose to the challenge magnificently. We’re proud to be able to serve an ice cream that is a true Purdue production to the Boilermaker community.”

Boiler Tracks was developed by students in Dharmendra Mishra’s Food Science 443 Food Product Design class during the 2018 spring semester. Mishra is an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science. Seven teams of students developed ice cream products from concept through marketing as part of the project. Their work included developing a sensory profile, creating a recipe, preparing samples, product testing, packaging and branding. The winning submission was the brainchild of FS 443 students Deklin Veenhuizen, Joel Mohring, Yiwen Bao, Luping Xu, Molly Powell and Cameron Wicks.

Student groups presented initial concepts and final products to Dining & Catering administrators as part of their classwork. Boiler Tracks initially began as a reimagining of the popular Moose Tracks flavor before evolving into its final form.

Boiler Tracks will be produced by Round Barn Creamery, a family-owned homemade ice cream company based in Kewanna. The company is owned by Purdue alumni Craig and Christy Coon, making the entire production from start to finish a true product of the Purdue community.

Boiler Tracks is the latest product to come out of the partnership between the Dining & Catering and the Department of Food Science. The two departments previously worked with the Boilermaker Butcher Block to develop apple bratwurst that is served in Wiley Dining Court and have teamed up to offer internships to food science students and work on plans for food storage.

Purdue Dining & Catering’s mission is to nourish and inspire the Purdue community. The organization embraces a focus on co-curricular education and leadership development as an integral part of the Purdue experience. Dining & Catering offers more than 100 internships and intentional learning opportunities as part of its commitment to partnering with Purdue students.

Writer: Matt Vader: writer/social media coordinator, Purdue Student Life Marketing, mvader@purdue.edu 

Media contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, Purdue News Service, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu 

Source: Greg Minner, director, Purdue Dining & Catering, gminner@purdue.edu