Maria Hickman | Staff Writer
I scream, you scream, we all scream for – milkshakes?
Duquesne students will be shouting from the rooftops over Moonlit Burgers’ new milkshake, “the Frosty Duq.”
The shake consists of Millie’s soft serve vanilla ice cream, blue raspberry syrup and red and blue jimmies.
The cup gets a drizzle of strawberry syrup and once the blended shake is added, it’s topped with whipped cream and more red and blue jimmies. And of course, the classic “cherry on top.”
But coming up with a new milkshake is not an easy feat.
To draw upon organic inspirations, Moonlit Burgers collaborated with alumni to help brainstorm ideas.
Moonlit Burgers’ General manager Wayne Saward said that the whole process took about a month, and they had many other ideas before they came up with their new debut.
“[The alumni] approached us back in August,” Saward told The Duke. “They came by and sampled a couple times…I went through some [recipes] that weren’t so great.”
After trying strawberry syrup, cherry juice and even blueberry compote, Saward landed on blue raspberry as the focal ingredient, which gives the Frosty Duq its blue hue and its sweet, cotton candy-like flavoring.
Aside from using Duquesne property for their Uptown location, Moonlit Burgers is proud to accept Flex and DU meal swipes in order to accommodate the student body.
As they strengthen their new roots on Forbes Avenue, Saward is eager for the restaurant to stay involved with student affairs.
Moonlit Burgers is always willing to lend a helping hand to different organizations on campus to assist with various projects and fundraising.
“This semester so far, it’s almost double [the amount of Duquesne affiliated fundraisers] we did last year…We’re good to the Duquesne community, we’re willing to give them space for free, donate things, [and] help them out in whatever way we can,” Saward said.
The venue has hosted luncheons for freshmen orientation, multiple gatherings for faculty, staff and students in addition to catering school-sponsored events.
Moonlit Burgers is also actively developing a food truck to present at Food Truck Fridays on A-Walk, cleverly named “The Patty Wagon.”
As the project comes to its close, Saward shared that the Patty Wagon may be ready to serve by the end of the month.
“We do these things for the Duquesne community,” Saward said. Leading up to Homecoming, Moonlit will encourage school spirit through their new Spiritan-themed offering.
The new shake was created in honor of Duquesne’s upcoming Homecoming and will be available Oct. 9-21.
“If [the shake] is popular enough, I think it’s something we’d keep on the menu…I have five pounds of red sprinkles and five pounds of blue sprinkles. I don’t know that we’ll go through all those,” Saward laughed.