Serious Eats: Sweets
Dippin' Dots: Still Whimsical, Still Delicious
At the Museum of Science Boston last weekend, I tried Dippin' Dots for the first time in years. I used to eat them as a kid at sidewalk fairs and beach town boardwalks, usually paired with a towering cone of cotton candy and paper cup filled with fruit punch.
As far as I remembered, Dippin' Dots were only available in such "flavors" as rainbow and bubble gum. But evidently, times have changed. The museum cafeteria was serving tiny beads of chocolate chip cookie dough, Oreo, and Moose Tracks. According to the official Dippin' Dots website, that's just the beginning: there's also Tropical Tie Dye, raspberry sherbet, and no sugar-added fat free fudge.
Curt Jones, who studied microbiology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, founded and invented Dippin' Dots in 1987. The pebbly treat is made by flash freezing ice cream in liquid nitrogen and then storing the dots at extremely low temperatures (-20 to -70°F).
Eager to relive my childhood—and always eager for ice cream—I decided to give Oreo a try. The cafeteria lady served me a plastic cup brimming with tiny, cool gray beads and chunks of chocolate cookies. The Dippin' Dots tasted deliciously eerie, just as I remembered. At first it felt like chewing pebbles, but the dots melt into cream once they hit your tongue. I was impressed by the pronounced Oreo taste, almost more so than in many cookies 'n cream ice creams.
The only problem with Dippin' Dots—they're very difficult to eat. Spooning up the little orbs is like trying to balance pearls in a ladle. They started spilling out and bouncing all over my lap. Ten minutes after eating them, my tongue was overcome by a strange, leathery, numb feeling.
Regardless, everyone should take a walk (or bite?) down memory lane with the Dots. They remain one of the most whimsical desserts out there.