WW Homestead Dairy commissioned to develop cinnamon ice cream for King and Queen of Norway

by Lissa Blake

It sounds like a pretty tall order.
But when WW Homestead Dairy of Waukon was asked to make ice cream fit for a king, owners Tom and Paul Weighner and Tom Walleser jumped at the chance.
“It’s definitely an honor,” explained Tom Weighner.
Weighner first met Wayne Tudor, director of dining services at Luther College in Decorah, at a local food producers’ meeting at Northeast Iowa Community College last spring. At the time, he and his WW Homestead Dairy colleagues had a general conversation with Tudor regarding the possibility of Luther carrying the dairy’s products.
Tudor said Luther purchased more than $300,000 in local meat and produce last year, and he is always interested in expanding the college’s local offerings.
Then about mid-summer Weighner received a call from Tudor, asking if his plant might be interested in supplying some cinnamon ice cream to accompany homemade apple pie which would be served to King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway during their upcoming visit to Decorah, which actually took place this past Thursday, October 13. In an effort to showcase local producers, Luther was planning an all-Iowa foods banquet. Other local producers invited to participate included Grass Run Farms of Dorchester, who provided pork tenderloins and bacon, and Peake Orchards of rural Waukon.
“At the time, we were just up and running and our creamery was just starting to make ice cream,” said Weighner.
Tudor and fellow Luther representatives took a road trip to Waukon to sample a test batch of WW Homestead Dairy’s premium ice cream. The group was impressed and gave the go-ahead to proceed with formulating the cinnamon.
Two weeks ago, Weighner delivered samples to Luther and received the “thumbs up” from Tudor.

WHY CINNAMON?
Tudor said he first was served cinnamon ice cream with apple pie many years ago at the Kahler Grand Hotel in Rochester, MN. Since then, he’s had the opportunity to enjoy cinnamon ice cream from a variety of different companies.
“But none of them compares to this ice cream. It’s absolutely wonderful. It tastes kind of like a homemade cinnamon roll,” commented Tudor.
Evidently, King Harald V of Norway agrees. When asked about the cinnamon treat during a press conference at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah Thursday, October 13, the King simply replied, “It was very good!”

WHAT’S NEXT?
Tudor said working with the WW Homestead Dairy group has been wonderful, and he hopes to continue the partnership by offering a variety of their ice cream flavors at the school’s convenience store.
“We are interested in having them become our premium ice cream vendor,” said Tudor.
Closer to home, Weighner said the cinnamon ice cream is available at the creamery’s retail store on Rossville Road in Waukon.
“We’re messing around with a bunch of flavors. We might offer this one on a yearly basis as a seasonal flavor,” said Weighner.
With regard to a name for the royal treat, Weighner said it will definitely be something regal. “We’re talking about Royal Cinnamon or the King’s Cinnamon,” he said.
For more information, contact WW Homestead Dairy at 563-568-4950 or visit their retail store at 850 Rossville Road, Waukon.