Andy's Frozen Custard moves beyond summer with seasonal flavor innovation

Summer may be peak season for frozen custard, but Andy’s makes sure the craving doesn’t stop when the weather turns chilly. The Springfield, Missouri-based treat chain has a pipeline filled with seasonal flavors created to entice fans all year long.

Andy’s Frozen Custard has been turning out its signature product for 40 years, ever since Andy’s parents, John and Carol Kuntz, founded the brand in 1986 and named it after their son. For this writer at least, frozen custard has typically been soft serve, but Andy’s uses different machines that whip in less air and produce a denser, creamier texture, explained Ann Burge, vice president of innovation and training for the 190-unit concept. And Andy’s frozen custard contains more egg than most ice creams or soft serves, resulting in a richer flavor and mouthfeel.

Each location makes the product from scratch every hour to keep the texture scoopable and the flavors fresh.

Andy’s frozen custard is not only scooped into cones and cups, it goes into the brand’s signature Jackhammers, Concretes, and even lattes and sodas. Over 54,000 flavor combinations are possible, with the brand’s nostalgic fall flavors, available now for a limited time through Nov. 25, are some of the most popular.

Pumpkin spice overload begins every year in August, when menus are glutted with the flavor. But Andy’s doesn’t just add a flavored syrup or even pumpkin purée to its menu items to tap the trend. “We bake anywhere from 10 to 60 pumpkin pies a day at each store,” said Burge, “and our recipe has a little extra spice, so when it’s blended into the custard, you still get that pop of cinnamon and nutmeg.”

The Pumpkin Pie Concrete demands a spoon.

The Pumpkin Pie Concrete combines a whole slice of that house-baked pumpkin pie with vanilla frozen custard for a very thick, dense dessert that’s eaten with a spoon. Andy’s also sells a Pumpkin Pie Quart to keep in the freezer for at-home scooping.

While Andy’s is not the only frozen custard or ice cream concept to sell concretes, the Jackhammer is the brand’s own invention. It’s a concrete with an additional hole “drilled” in the middle to add more flavor.

“Andy actually came up with the concept of Jackhammers,” said Burge. “He just thought, what if you want more topping in the center of your concrete, and it’s perfect for those pumpable items like hot fudge or caramel.” The “Jackhammer” name is even trademarked.

For fall, the chain is offering a S’mores Jackhammer, featuring vanilla frozen custard blended with hot fudge and graham crackers, then drilled with a hole and filled with marshmallow crème. One of the most famous is the signature James Brown Funky Jackhammer — vanilla frozen custard blended with house-baked brownie pieces and creamy peanut butter, then “jackhammered” with hot fudge filling the core, said Burge.

For the Jackhammer, the Concrete is "drilled" with a hole to hold a pourable topping.

“Both the concretes and Jackhammers tend to sell better than our sundaes,” she added.

Another fall special is Andy’s Caramel Apples, an item that doesn’t have even a smidgen of frozen custard. The chain plays up its roots by using tart, Midwest-grown Granny Smith apples hand-dipped in Andy’s small-batch buttery crème caramel, then coated with Reese’s Pieces, Roasted Pecans, or Classic Caramel.

Andy’s also offers a selection of seasonal lattes, sodas, freezes, shakes, and malts that are sippable rather than spoonable. This fall, the Butterscotch Brew is a limited-time item, a beverage that combines Sprecher Cream Soda with vanilla frozen custard and butterscotch. Sprecher is a small batch soda company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and known for its craft approach and local ethos. Huckleberry, Smoky Maple Root Beer, and Peaches & Cream are some of its unique flavors.

"Yummy" Sodas like the Butterscotch Brew are on the Andy's Soda Shoppe menu.

Butterscotch Brew is featured on Andy’s Soda Shoppe menu, a retro-inspired line of custard-infused drinks with nostalgic flavors that celebrate soda fountain culture. “We call them ‘yummy sodas’ instead of dirty sodas,” said Burge, adding that they are newer to the menu, having rolled out earlier this year. Every location has cream soda and root beer on tap.

Coffee fans can get the same flavor profile in the Butterscotch Latte, made with espresso, vanilla or chocolate frozen custard, and butterscotch.

To live up to its claim of 54,000 flavor combinations, Andy’s is always experimenting with new tastes and ingredients. Recent hits were a Strawberry Matcha Shake and inclusions of gooey butter cake, cookie butter, strawberry shortcake, chocolate cake, and carrot cake as concrete ingredients or toppings. “We continue to add one or two a year,” said Burge.

But the brand won’t follow a trend just because it’s trending. “We did go down the route of trying to find a Dubai chocolate that we liked, but we didn’t feel confident enough about its flavor profile to put with our custard,” she said. “And we haven’t done energy drinks or bubble tea or anything like that yet.”

Burge has some thoughts on what she’d like to see added to the menu, especially as the holidays approach. “I'd love to see a different type of cookie, like a gingerbread cookie for Christmas,” she said. “Blondies are a good option too.”

Right now, Andy’s is working on making a really good pineapple treat and calling out its name on the menu. And dark red cherries soaked in Bordeaux wine are on the supply list. “They’re really good, and we could come up with something like a Black Forest Cake version using those cherries,” Burge said.

Pat plans and executes menu, food and drink stories for Restaurant Business and hosts the weekly Menu Talk podcast. She provides in-depth coverage of chefs, trends and menu innovation.