No More Sweetheart Shake Withdraw!

First off, I'd like to wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  Whether you are celebrating this "Love Out Loud" day with friends, family, your sweetheart, or with a Game of Thrones marathon, I hope your day is full of love.

Now, for those of us who have a Sonic Drive-In nearby, you have probably become painfully aware of something different this February...Sonic is NOT serving their traditional Sweetheart Shake this year.  I know!  I don't usually eat at Sonic, but I look forward all year to February so that I can enjoy a delicious cherry and chocolate shake - all month long! So when I went to Sonic for my annual milk shake binge on February 1st, there was there was no "Our Sweetheart Shake is Back!" lettering on the marquee.  Instead there was something about pretzel buns for their hot dogs (which I'm sure is fine and dandy) and the Valentine's special treat this year is apparently this:

I'm sure this cake is tasty, but a Sweetheart Shake this is NOT.  The Sweetheart Shake has become a February tradition over the years, but Sonic has taken that tradition away for the 2014 Valentine's month. But see, I look at these sorts of obstacles as opportunities after I freak out for a couple of days. Since I couldn't get my Sweetheart Shake fix at Sonic, I decided to try it at home.

Sonic Sweetheart Shake

Sonic advertises that they use "REAL ice cream."  The fact that restaurants have been starting to say that now they use "real" ice cream freaks me out, I mean, what the crap were they using before?  But even if this "REAL ice cream" is in fact real (still not sure what that means), I'm betting that it isn't all natural and especially not organic.  I'm also positive that the cherry syrup, chocolate bits, and whipped cream have something bad in them, like high fructose corn syrup at the very least.  But sometimes there are certain things that taste so good, I'm willing to ignore these notions so that I may enjoy a brief dalliance.  But after being denied this Sonic slice of heaven, I realized that I didn't need them, and that I could not only make my own Sweetheart Shake, but that I could make it with ingredients that I was sure about.

So, here's what I used:

Some of it is organic, some of it isn't, but at least I know what is in it and I make sure that I use products that I am comfortable with.  Cherry pie filling can be tricky, because many name brands use high fructose corn syrup, but Duncan Hines Comstock Wilderness does not use it, and neither do the Target Market Pantry or Walmart brands.  So just check the label.  I usually keep a container of Alden's Organic Vanilla Bean Ice Cream on hand - but I eated it.  So I had some Breyers natural Homemade Vanilla for my shake, and since I will be using half a container of ice cream for 2 shakes, it is the cheaper choice.  Oh, and I always recommend making your own whipped cream because it is AMAZING!  You've never had whipped cream until you've had homemade whipped cream, and it is really easy.  I usually use Horizon heavy whipping cream, but they were totally out, so I got Target brand.

Make the whipped cream first.  I take a heavy glass bowl and my mixer beaters and put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes.  This helps the cream set up faster.  Get them out, and pour 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in the bowl.  Add about 1-1/2 to 2 Tbls. of sugar (depending on how sweet you like it), and a tsp. of pure vanilla extract.  Put the beaters in your mixer and whip on high speed going around the bowl continuously until the liquid firms up into a nice creamy whipped cream texture. Yup, that's it.  Set to the side.

Alright, let's put it together.  In a blender, put a little milk in the bottom, just to get the mixture going.  I put in about 1/4 cup.  Add more for a thinner shake, less for thicker.  Then scoop half of a 1.5 quart container of vanilla ice cream, then 1/2 of a 21 oz. can of cherry pie filling, and half of a 3.5 oz. bar of dark chocolate (crush it up into bits first).  Be sure to save a little crushed chocolate bits for the topping.  Blitz it until all is blended smoothly.

Get out two thick glass glasses and distribute the shake evenly between them.  Heap on some of that awesome whipped cream you just made, then sprinkle with the extra chocolate bits you saved.  Put in a straw and viola'!  You now have two splendid "Sweetheart Shakes" and you know exactly what's in them.  Not to mention, you still have enough ingredients to make another round ;)

Homemade Sweetheart Shake

My whipped cream stack fell over, but you get the idea.

So there you go.  No more Sonic Sweetheart Shake withdraws this February!  Enjoy, and have a very happy Valentine's Day weekend! <3

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