This Should Be Vermont's Official Food, According To Reddit
One of the best things by far about hitting the road and visiting other states is getting a taste of the foods and drinks that you've never tried before, dishes that you may never have heard of because they're so unique to one region or another. When a massive road trip across the country wasn't possible for one Redditor, she found another way to experience these foods: By cooking one dish from every state at home. User u/Emilou09 sent her idea out into the Reddit-verse asking for the recipes that best represent every state, and her post brought in over 24,000 responses. There were fantastic food suggestions for every state, but we're here to focus on the food that most represents the little Green Mountain state of the Northeast, Vermont. That dish is the maple creemee.
The maple part of this dessert comes as no surprise, since Vermont is famous for its pure maple syrup, and in fact maple is the official state flavor for Vermont according to State Symbols USA. However, if you've never heard of a creemee that's because it's a term pretty much only used in Vermont (via The Travel). At first glance a creemee looks like a regular soft serve ice cream cone, but as Vermonters will tell you, it's much more special than that.
Here's what's different about this frozen treat
While Vermont's creemees may resemble normal soft serve ice cream, they are a far more delicious and unique treat. Soft serve ice cream has more air in it than hard ice cream and less fat, as low as three percent milk fat (via The Daily Meal). Vermont creemees tend to have a higher level of milk fat — anywhere from five to 12 percent. It's still lighter than hard ice cream, but this higher percentage of milkfat makes creemees extra creamy and richer. New England Dairy also says that the best creemees are made with milk from local cows. (Did we mention that milk is Vermont's official state beverage, according to State Symbols USA?) "Cream travels from several local dairy farms to the top of a creemee cone in less than two days!" says New England Dairy.
The other crucial ingredient is the maple syrup, of course. As New England Today notes, pure maple syrup harvested every spring in the state is added to the sweetened cream base before it's swirled into a silky, sweet ice cream. So how does it taste? The Travel describes the maple creemee as having notes of caramel, a touch of smokiness, and the perfect level of maple flavor and sweetness (and calls out fake, maple-flavored syrups for being way too sugary). Hello Burlington suggests you try a favorite Vermont variation: the maple-black raspberry creemee twist!