Commercial ice cream has a long history in Juneau. Starting in the early 1900ʼs, settlers raised dairy cows to provide milk for the gold miners and other community members. At its peak, there were five commerical dairies operating in Juneau. These dairies combined their efforts, creating a processing facility near what is now Harborview Elementary, where they produced dairy products, including Juno Maid ice cream. Once Darigold started selling their milk in Juneau, they undercut the local dairiesʼ prices and drove them out of business.

After finding Mrs. Kendler’s recipe, I spent weeks in the kitchen adapting it to a commercial formula. To gauge its authenticity, I brought a test batch of the ice cream to the Juneau Pioneer Home in 2018, where Mathilde’s daughter-in-law, Betty, was living out her retirement years. Betty’s daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and great-grandson all joined in to sample the ice cream. Four generations of the Kendler family came together to share a cherished family memory and some delicious ice cream. Betty couldn’t tell if the recipe was an exact match. But it didn’t really matter.

Marc with Betty and the Kendler clan. Photo by Scott Spickler

Mathilde Kendler was the matriarch of the Alaska Dairy, one of the first of these dairies that existed in Juneau’s early territorial history. She had met her then-to-be husband Joe, on the freighter from Germany in the 1920s. After marriage, Joe cleared stands of timber and claimed tidelands which were once productive wildlife habitat and foraging areas of the Áak’w Kwaan people. Where once bears roamed and berries grew abundantly, cows ranged to produce milk for workers in Juneau’s mines. These former pastures now host strip malls and airport runways. But back then, every Sunday, Juneau residents would drive their Model Ts out the dirt road to Kendler's rural outpost, to wait in line for Mathilde’s ice cream. There was one line for children, and another for adults (who received an extra splash of something in theirs).

I found this recipe in the Juneau-Douglas City Museum while researching Juneau’s ice cream history. It’s a little different from my Vanilla Bean ice cream, requiring more egg yolks. I also assume that Mrs. Kendler used Mexican vanilla, as Mexico dominated vanilla production at that time. Mexican vanilla is smoke-dried and can have a slightly smoky flavor. Finally, although she didn’t have salt in her recipe, we couldn’t resist adding a bit to bring out the vanilla flavor. Maybe Kendler’s milk was naturally saltier, given that the cows ranged out onto Juneau’s tideflats to graze back then.

The Smiths were one of Juneauʼs historic dairy farm families.

A refillable ice cream carton from Juno Maid

This recipe uses a classic custard-style ice cream base, also known as a Creme Anglaise. The egg yolks help emulsify the fats in the cream, creating a smooth texture and reducing the likelihood of clumps of fat developing in the churned ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c cream

• 1 c milk

• 3/4 c sugar

• 6 egg yolks

• 2 t vanilla extract (Mexican if you can find it)

• 1/2 t lemon juice

• 1/2 t kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth.

2. Prepare an ice-water bath in a larger bowl for chilling the base before refrigerating.

3. Combine the cream, milk, and salt in a medium saucepan.

4. Heat over medium-high heat until simmering. Remove from heat.

5. To temper the egg/sugar mixture, stream in 1/2 cup of warmed cream mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat with another 1/2 cup of warmed cream mixture.

6. Slowly stream in tempered egg/cream mixture into the cream mixture in the saucepan stirring with a heatproof spatula.

7. Continue to heat over medium, stirring constantly, gently scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir, until thickened. (The mixture should coat the back of a spatula or wooden spoon, holding a clear path when you run your finger through it. The base should be thick like tomato soup but no thicker, roughly 165F.)

8. Pour the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a container for chilling. Carefully set the container into the ice-water bath, and stir the base with a clean spatula or wooden spoon until cool. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract and stir until combined. Remove base from ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture reaches 40F.

9. Once mixture is cooled, add ice cream base to machine and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. (Remember to be careful to avoid over-churning).

10. When ice cream is ready, remove ice cream and place in freezer safe container (chill ahead of time in freezer so ice cream doesn’t melt on contact).

11. Cover, and freeze for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).

Mrs. Kendler's Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe