How to make a milkshake

Milkshakes are a decadent and creamy drink. Classically drunk with burgers and fries, these beverages aren’t just a meal accompaniment, they are a delicious treat. Making a milkshake is quick and easy, and can be as down-home-good or as over-the-top-decadent as you want to make it. This article shows you how to make a milkshake.

The basics

The basics of a milkshake are simple. Ingredients - Two scoops of ice-cream - Half a cup of milk. Method - This mixture will make a decent sized milkshake with a thick consistency. - Simply place the ice-cream and the milk in the milkshake blender (a smoothie maker or standard blender will also work), and blitz together until completely combined. - Add more milk for a smoother texture, or more ice-cream for a double thick milkshake.

Adding flavour

Some popular milkshake flavours are vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. To flavour your milkshake, simply add a flavoured syrup to the ice-cream and milk before you start blending. You could also use milk flavouring powders instead of syrups. How to make a chocolate milkshake - To make a chocolate milkshake,, you could simply use chocolate ice-cream as your base ingredient. - If you are using vanilla ice-cream, you could add a generous dollop of Nutella to your milkshake recipe. - To make a bitter sweet chocolate milkshake, use raw cacao to add flavour. You may need to sweeten this flavour as cacao is quite bitter.

Alternative flavourings

You could use natural flavours to your milkshakes, if you prefer.
Fruity milkshake - Make a naturally flavoured strawberry milkshake by using one scoop of ice-cream instead of two and add a handful of strawberries before you blend. - Make a banana milkshake by using the same principle, simply throw in some banana chunks before blending. Try some more exotic flavours like Turkish delight, honey or malt.
Additional flavours - Throw in your favourite candy bar for a different take on a chocolate milkshake. - Blend some tinned caramel into your vanilla ice-cream milkshake base for a creamy toffee flavoured drink. - Add some chunks of banana to the toffee milkshake to create the classically English flavour, banoffee. - Banana and peanut butter is another flavour combination that is worth a try.

Topping

For added decadence, top the milkshake with whipped cream. You could take it a step further by adding chopped nuts, flavoured syrup or the classic red cherry. Co-ordinate your topping with the flavour of the milkshake. Add chocolate sprinkles to a chocolate milkshake, or candied orange peel to a bitter sweet chocolate milkshake for a grown up treat. Swirl caramel over the cream to top a banoffee milkshake, or crushed dried banana.