Magic Turtle Shell

For some reason, earlier in the week we had ice cream in the office. Someone brought in several flavors of ice cream and various toppings. One of the toppings caught my eye. It was Smucker's Magic Turtle Shell.



It's a chocolate syrup that's liquid and when you pour it on your ice cream it hardens in seconds. There's something about it that just doesn't seem right. It's like it defies physics of candy and anything sweet. I always thought the whole point of syrup is that it's supposed to be liquid so that it gets into all the crevices of the ice cream and you can get a little bit of syrup with each bite.

I decided to look up what makes this syrup so special. According to Wikipedia, the "shell" effect is done via a combination of paraffin and oil. For you curious cats, Paraffin is mostly found as a white, odorless, tasteless, waxy solid. Food-grade paraffin is used in some candies to make them look shiny. Although edible, it is nondigestible; it passes right through the body without being broken down. Liquid paraffin is also excellent for helping bowel movement in persons suffering chronic constipation.

I'm so glad now I decided to try some with my ice cream. Mmmm...I better wash that dessert down with a nice chilled glass of Olestera and strap on my NASA certified diaper.