THE INSIDE SCOOP ON DESSERT TECH

A lab in Denmark works to make the perfect ice cream. Bring on the fava beans?

- ALEX CHRISTIAN

Plastic models demonstrate the wide variety of ice cream shapes Tetra Pak can produce for its customers.

ICE CREAM IS deceptively simplejust a few ingredients mixed together and frozen, how hard can that be? But making it actually involves a finicky science of water, fat, and air.

Tetra Pak may be most famous for its packaging business, but it also takes a sizable scoop of the estimated $113 billion ice cream industry. One of its continuous freezers, which it sells to ice cream brands all around the world, can pump out 4,000 liters every hour. Its production lines churn out 2 million ice cream sticks every day. The company's Product Development Center in Aarhus, Denmark, is where major clients experiment with new concepts. "We're in the Silicon Valley of ice cream," says Elsebeth Baungaard Andersen, a product manager.

No offense to the nondairy varieties out there, but let's be honest: To make the perfect scoop of ice cream, you need a dairy base-its natural proteins, fat, and sugar provide the dessert's rich, distinct texture. Then comes sugar, which isn't just for sweetness: It also lowers the freezing point, minimizing ice formation. Now the company adds flavor, from the quintessential (chocolate chips or vanilla) to the more daring (spices, salt, or booze).