Ice cream flavor contest open to Nebraska students

The UNL Food Processing Center is giving Nebraska high school students the chance to craft a new ice cream flavor.

The contest is open to sophomore and junior students, and offers a $1,500 scholarship for the winning flavor. The entry deadline is April 2, with the winner announced by April 30. The award-winning flavor will be featured during the Food Processing Center's 30th anniversary open house on June 9.

The winning student will have the opportunity to visit UNL to participate in the final production run of the winning flavor. The scholarship is contingent on the student enrolling at UNL in a declared food science and technology major.

Participants may use extracts, colors, sauces and purees alone or in combination. Solid additions, such as chocolate chips, cookie pieces or nuts, are allowed, but not required. Additions may be varied and multiple, but items with a high moisture content – fruit, for example – must be stabilized so they have a good texture. Fruit can be stabilized by cooking it in a sugar base. For more information, go to http://fpc.unl.edu/contest-fresh-fruits. One swirl is allowed, but not required. Making the flavor prior to recipe submission is not required; however, if you choose to do so, a base mix recipe is available at http://fpc.unl.edu/contest-base-recipe.

All submissions will be assessed by a team of experts and only a limited number will be further developed by the Food Processing Center for evaluation. Final product development will be performed by the Food Processing Center. The winning recipe will become the sole property of UNL.

While considering ingredients, participants should keep in mind there will be financial restrictions to ready the recipe for commercial production. Entries will be evaluated on the basis of uniqueness of concept, overall appeal and feasibility. The current flavors should not be replicated; the Dairy Store website lists those flavors: http://dairystore.unl.edu/ice-cream.

Participants must provide a list of ingredients to be used in the recipe. A list of commercial ingredients is available at http://fpc.unl.edu/contest-ingredients. Those who use a "homemade" ingredient recipe should supply instructions on how to prepare the ingredients from scratch.

An application and agreement form is available at http://fpc.unl.edu/ice-cream-contest. For more information, contact Jonathan Hnosko at jhnosko2@unl.edu or 402-472-2267 or Lori Byrne at lbyrne1@unl.edu or 402-472-3991.