YOU SCREAM, I SCREAM FOR

Necessity, the proverb goes, is the mother of invention. Leslie Zoerb, of Buffalo, NY, just needed a dessert. Unable to bake a birthday pear tart due to a winter storm power outage, Leslie created a luscious impromptu dessert to use her quickly melting Hagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean ice cream. Taking advantage of her gas stove, she caramelized pears in butter, sugar, and rum and added toasted pecans for a crunchy surprise. The result was Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan, now chosen as the 2007 winner of “Scoop: The Hagen-Dazs Flavor Search” and the next limited edition added to the premium ice cream makers lineup. Video, photo, written and illustrated entries were received from contestants across the country vying to become the next mouth-watering H?agen-Dazs ice cream flavor, and those entries were narrowed down to three finalists. Americans had the opportunity to weigh in on the decision, voicing their opinions on both the selection of the final three and the winner online or at taste-tests at select H?agen-Dazs Shops. The two other finalists were Christine from Ewing, NJ, who created Blueberry Belgian Waffle from a love of H?agen-Dazs Vanilla Bean ice cream atop fluffy waffles, and Ken from Lafayette, CA, who channeled his obsession of coconut ice cream and chocolate to inspire his flavor, Coco y Cacao.??Join Gourmet Magazine’s Sara Moulton in a fun interview to discuss this years winner and other flavorful details about Americas favorite dessert.??Sara Moulton is an accomplished chef, author and television host and is currently executive chef at Gourmet magazine, food editor for Good Morning America and host of the Food Networks Saras Secrets. She is the author of two cookbooks, Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals and Sara Moulton Cooks at Home.