Prohibition Creamery’s Laura Aidan talks STEM and shares her recipe for a sangarita.
Story and photo by Courtney Runn
At Prohibition Creamery, owner Laura Aidan fuses her background in STEM with her love for ice cream. The result is a delightful menu of alcohol-infused concoctions and intricate frozen treats.
After graduating with a degree in computer science and spending a decade in software development, Aidan returned to school to pursue a different side of STEM: ice cream. While food had always been both a hobby and passion, she never dreamed it would become her career. When Aidan’s husband suggested bourbon-flavored ice cream, Prohibition Creamery came to life.
The budding mixologist attended Pennsylvania State University’s 126-year-old ice-cream program, the oldest and most prestigious of its kind in the country. The experience reminded her of high-school chemistry, with lessons about fat molecules, sugar types and the properties of refrigeration. After completing the course, Aidan experimented with adding alcohol on her own, learning to adjust the percentage each time for the perfect texture of ice cream. She also pasteurizes her own ice-cream base for maximum creativity and precision.
When she opened her prohibition-themed ice-cream shop, Aidan worried about leaving the traditional STEM world but quickly discovered she was simply representing and empowering women in a new way.
“Every day,” she says, “is like a science experiment.”
Prohibition Creamery’s Sangarita Recipe
Serves one
Ingredients
7 ounces store-bought or homemade sangria sorbet
4 ounces Lambrusco wine (Laura Aidan recommends using a semidry Lambrusco.)
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
1 lime wheel
Directions
1. Place approximately two scoops of sorbet into a blender.
2. Top it with the Lambrusco wine.
3. Serve the sangarita in a wine glass garnished with a lime wheel and enjoy