Black-and-White Banana Malted Milk Shake

We adapted this recipe from one in Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes, by Adam Ried. Unlike the classic black-and-white, in which chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream are blended together, this shake has alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, with ripe banana and malted milk powder mixed in to add body and rounded sweetness.

½ cup cold milk

1 tbsp. malted milk powder, such as Horlick’s

1¼ tsp. vanilla extract

½ ripe medium banana

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1 pint chocolate ice cream

Serves 2

1. Place ¼ cup milk, malted milk powder, 1 tsp. vanilla, and banana in a blender and blend until smooth. Add vanilla ice cream and blend, pausing once or twice to mash the mixture with a rubber spatula, until smooth, about 45 seconds. Pour mixture into a pitcher and set aside in the refrigerator.

2. Place remaining milk and vanilla extract along with the chocolate ice cream in the blender and blend, pausing once or twice to mash the mixture with a rubber spatula, until smooth, about 45 seconds.

3. Layer vanilla and chocolate shake mixtures in 2 large chilled milk shake glasses, beginning and ending with vanilla. Serve immediately with straws.

Precious Powder

We love milk shakes of all sorts, but we’re especially ardent devotees of the malted version. Malteds get their toasty, rich flavor from malted milk powder, a combination of malted barley, wheat flour, and whole milk, mixed together and evaporated to a fine dust. There are several brands to choose from, including Carnation and Kitchen Krafts, but we’ve always preferred Horlick’s malted milk powder, which has a wonderfully rounded, mildly sweet taste. The late founders of the company that makes it, James and William Horlick, also happened to be the inventors of the ingredient itself, which they conceived of as a digestive aid and fortifying food for babies. They patented their invention in 1883 in Racine, Wisconsin, where their company was based. In 1890, James brought the company to the brothers’ native England. Over there, Horlick’s powder mixed with hot milk became a popular bedtime treat. Stateside, however, the malted milk powder went on to inspire the early-twentieth-century milk shake craze. It’s often cited that a soda jerk named Ivar “Pop” Coulson invented the malted milk shake at a Walgreens store in Chicago in 1922 when he blended together scoops of vanilla ice cream with Horlick’s milk powder and chocolate syrup to create a chocolate shake called “Horlick’s Milk Shake.” Prior to that, malted milk drinks were made by mixing milk, chocolate syrup, and malted powder in a glass. Coulson’s invention went on to become Walgreens’ signature shake, and it has inspired countless variations around the world.