A new dessert, a combination of two fan favorites – ice cream and warm donuts, has made its way into Southside Market. The freshly installed Shake & Smash machine allows students to satisfy their sweet tooth by customizing their own donut ice cream sandwich.
The donuts are custom-made in order to fit into the machine, sliced in half and filled with students’ choice of ice cream and toppings. Once the donut has been customized, it is pressed together and warmed, creating a unique treat, both fun to make and satisfying to eat.
Although the machine is still new, early reactions are positive, and students stopping by the Southside Market remain curious to experiment with flavors and toppings.
All of the ice cream available for the milkshakes offered at Southside Market is available to use in the donuts. Additionally, there are constantly rotating seasonal flavors in order to keep the selection process interesting. Solon Pietila, associate director of culinary at WSU, said they’re hoping to continue to expand on Shake & Smash.
“We plan on expanding flavor and topping range, expanding our freezers so that we have more on hand, and more in the future,” Pietila said.
The donut ice cream machine is a Southside Market exclusive, with no plans of expanding to other parts of campus. The new machine at Southside Market allows for more options when it comes to grabbing a snack.
“With the market being open so late, the Shake & Smash machine is convenient for students if they wanna get a sweet snack with their friends,” Pietila said.
Chloe Keldsen, a kinesiology major at WSU, gave the new sweet treat a try and created her own custom dessert.
“It’s fun to make it my own flavor palette. Milkshakes and donuts isn’t something I would’ve ever paired, but the combination is good! Sweet, but good,” Keldsen said.
The idea originally came last spring and has been a work in progress up until now. The culinary team at WSU wanted to provide students with something that would stand out from the usual milkshake offered at the market.
As students continue to discover the option to order this dessert, it will be seen if Shake & Smash is something that will have overall positive feedback from students.
For those looking for a customizable, convenient and indulgent snack, Shake & Smash at the Southside Market offers a new dessert to enjoy on campus.
