UDairy food science intern Sydney Tankard.

Food science intern Sydney Tankard helps come up with new ice cream flavors at UDairy Creamery.

Taste maker

This UDairy food science intern has one sweet gig

Diane Stopyra July 09, 2024

Ice cream made with crab meat and Old Bay Seasoning? UDairy has done it. A chicken-and-waffles flavor? That, too.

The Creamery—with a recipe book 350 entries strong—has a reputation for inventive offerings.

Inspiration stems partly from one food science intern per year tasked with conceiving new ideas.

In this role, Sydney Tankard, ANR23, pictured above, dreamed up an homage to the Philadelphia Phillies (Phanatic Food, made with red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting).

The job is definitely as fun as it sounds."
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Student mixing ingredients for ice cream.

The Creamery has a recipe book 350 entries strong.

“The job is definitely as fun as it sounds,” says Tankard, now studying ice cream for her sensory science master’s program at Penn State.

Other ideas have been born from campus collaborations.

Botanic Berry was inspired by the UD Botanic Gardens. All Nighter developed from a student content, in which the coffee flavor that beat out 300 entries. And Delaware River Mud Pie, an initial attempt at cookies and cream gone awry, proved that—in ice cream—even the mistakes are happy.