Dole Whip is a non-dairy frozen dessert. The most popular flavor, pineapple, can be found at Disneyland and precious few other places. The first time I went to Disneyland (or possibly Disney World), my dad ordered a Dole Whip from the unassuming Dole stand near the entrace of Adventure Land. It was the ideal refreshing treat for a hot waiting-in-line sort of day, and I was pleased to find Dole Whip readily available back home in Rochester at the ice cream shop in Marketplace Mall.
Can’t wait to make your own Dole Whip at home? Buy authentic Dole Whip mix on Amazon!
The plentitude of Dole Whip in my youth turned into a cruel drought when Rochester’s poor economy caused the Dole Whip to disappear (it’s always the first sign) and no other sources emerged. The occasional trip to Disneyland during college certainly helped, and our Honeymoon in Hawaii (conveniently set on islands that were known sources of Dole Whip) got me through some tough times. I’m very grateful to the woman at the “Send a Pineapple Home” shop in Kauai who made a special batch of Dole Whip for me and anticipated my return every day that week. But I knew that to really be content in life, I needed a reliable local source of Dole Whip.
For several years, I’ve had recurring dreams about Dole Whip. I’m usually in a mall or walking down the street and I see an ice cream shop. As I get closer, I think that maybe I see something that looks like Dole Whip. I start walking faster and I can clearly read the sign now, but I’m still cautious. I casually ask, “Excuse me, do you have Dole Whip today?” And they do. And it’s pineapple. And they give me a free cone. And here it was all this time, just around the corner from the house.
I’ve made several attempts to make pineapple ice cream based on recipes that claim to taste just like Dole Whip. I’ve dragged my wife to ice cream shops that sell pineapple sorbet because some girl said on her MySpace page that it was just like Dole Whip. I’ve even compiled a list of known Dole Whip locations based on quarterly extensive Google searches that are frustratingly polluted with pages about Bob Dole when he was Majority Whip. So just in case I ever find myself in Chesapeake City, MD, I know that I can stop in to The Real McCoy and feed the Dole Whip monkey. I’ve always held out hope that one day I’d find it locally. Any time we’re at some street fair or walking down a main street in a town we haven’t been to before, I say to Marni, “It’ll be a day just like this, at just some random ice cream shop when I’ll find it.” But such hopes were finally concluded recently when Marni called the Dole Whip distributor to try to find a local vendor for my birthday. I had called the distributor myself years ago, but they wouldn’t give me any information at the time. Marni had better luck. It turned out that there were no current customers in the Bay Area, but Great America had placed an order earlier in the summer. Marni called Great America and they said that they had some on-hand, but didn’t know if or when they would serve it.
During a routine Dole Whip Google search, I discovered that a distributor in Hawaii was selling Dole Whip on eBay (I had previously been told that only ice cream businesses could buy the mix and that Dole Whip could not be made at home). I placed an order and tossed our Cuisinart ice cream maker bowl in the freezer to prepare. I tried five times to make Dole Whip, all ending in failure. The stuff simply wouldn’t freeze. So I put the Cuisinart machine aside and bought some heavier iron — the Lelo 4070 Gelato Junior. This 45 pound beast of an ice cream maker has a built-in compressor, so there’s no freezer bowl that will quickly defrost and leave me with Dole Mush.
I’m very pleased that after about 45 minutes in the Lelo, Dole Whip mixed at home turns into something very closely resembling Dole Whip purchased at Disneyland. It’s a tiny bit icy and the consistency is a bit off, but it’s close enough to shut me the hell up about Dole Whip for a while. Here are the pictures showing the creation of the Dole Whip, including the Cuisinart disaster and the Lelo success. Here’s the eBay Member who sells Dole Whip regularly.
David Borough
Great story! We might try out the Gelato Junior if we don’t get a Taylor Machine first 🙂
By the way, this seller on eBAY can be found here ALL THE TIME: http://www.uec-hawaii.com/products2.html
David Borough
Thanks for your tips. By the way, in talking, my wife and I thought SOMEONE HAS GOT to make a soft serve machine for under $1000 that really does a good job. We found one product: http://www.zippyfreeze.com/
Also, a tip — maybe try using PINEAPPLE JUICE for your water (or a diluted mix) to see if it brings out that HAWAII spark to the Dole Whip flavor ???
David Borough
Factory Reconditioned Frozen Dessert Maker
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Tacymevol
A company called Ice Cream Depot has developed a wonderful soft serve machine for the home. They even provide a video on their website to explain how the machine works. Unfortunately they are not at the point of selling the machine to the public yet. There is a link on the Ice Cream Depot site that sends you to their survey. Maybe if enough people vote that they would be interested in buying this product, the company will start selling these wondering machines to the public. Here is the link if you’re interested. http://www.icecreamdepot.com
Heidi
Hey! I stumbled on this site about Dole Whip. There is a great new place in Fairport, NY serving Dole Whip – Moonlight Creamery (opens this month). If you’re in Rochester, check it out!
Lia
What about Houston? I had Dole Whip this summer (I went back for seconds within 20 minutes!) and I don’t know where to find it down in the South 🙁
klep
None in Houston that I know of, but if you want to drive 3 hours, there *might* be Dole Whip at Baylor University in Waco, TX. Worth the cost of tuition? Maybe.
Donna
I recently went to the island of Oahu and we visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation. There I had my first expericence with soft serve pineapple ice cream. It is AWESOME! I am sad to find out that I will have to return to Oahu if I want anymore of this delicious treat! I was hoping to find it somewhere close by as you were. There is a demand out there you would think that they would get smart and meet their demand! Let me know if you find any more sources of this treat! Thanks… Mahalo ; )
Ashleigh
Hi. My sister’s and I are leaving for Kauai on Friday and have been desperately scouring the internet in hopes of finding a location we can purchase Dole Whip. The last time we were on Kauai we were able to purchase it as these little roadside kiosks, specifically hawking Dole Whip. I’m wondering if Kauai still has these or if these is another location on the Garden Island where we can satiate our Dole Whip need????
Thanks!
Gee
Hi do you know where I can find a distributor for this product? I live in California–
Peter
Does anyone know where to find Dole Whip in the San Diego area? I can report that on my last trip to Honolulu, there is an ice cream shop at the International Market that sells at least 3-4 flavors of Dole Whip at the same time! Vanilla, Chocolate (my favorite), and pineapple, rasberry, or strawberry. Yum!
klep
Peter — I’ve had Dole Whip at the San Diego Zoo, but it was probably 15 years ago…
Greg
I just called the Fairport, NY Moonlight Creamery. They do not carry Dole Whip any more 🙁
klep
Oh no! What would cause someone to stop serving Dole Whip? My guess: hoarding it for the impending food shortage. After all our corn is turned into ethanol, the only food left will be Dole Whip powder.
Mary
I to have been on the dole whip hunt for about 3 years. I purchased dole whip mix on E-bay and bought my ice cream maker that had a built in conpressor but had little success in making it. However I am one of the lucky few that has a place locally that sells Dole Whip from Memorial day to Labor Day. The place is named A’s Sweets and Treats and is located about 5 miles south of Canadaigua NY in the little hamlet of Cheshire NY. They always have 2 different flavors. They always carry vanl. flavors and then they change the other flavor weekely. The portion sizes generous and there prices reasonable. If you find yourself in the Finger Lakes area in Westren NY it is well worth the time to stop and have a wonderful Dole whip. You can contact A’s Sweets and Treats directly by calling 585-394-0060.
MARIA
NYS Thruway exit at Canandaigua, 1 mile on left is an icecream/burger stand that sells dole whip. 2 flavors a day, they do not always have the pineapple flavor though : [ yesterdays flavors were orange and chocolate. Always visit after a day at fingerlakes racetrack!
Samara
Hey
I love your passion for the whip! On a whim today I decided to look it up and found out alot of people really love the dole whip! I had gone to Disneyland a few times in my tweens and once at 18ish I am now 35 so it’s been eons since I have indulged.It is great having the internet as it is so amazing at the infinite information you can get from people whole love whips to how to make an item that could fly you to Disneyland lol!!
I hope one day to go back at least once before I die
Dragona aka Samara
Rebecca
We just had Dole Pineapple Whip for the first time at the Texas State fair in Dallas. It was soooo good, but ours was white! We immediately wanted to find out how to make it ourselves as well, and thoght it was hilarious when we came across your blog 😉
Mike
Just ran accross this old post so you might not get it. The real deal is made by Precision Foods. It comes in 6 other flavers besides pineapple. For it to be exactly right you will need a soft serve machine. The company will send you samples to try.
Darlene
There is a small ice cream stand in Dover, NH that sells Dole Whip. The name is Go Licks and is run by students of the University of NH from Mid April until October. They have 3 or 4 flavors that they rotate. It always is great.
kit
I am staying in Seekonk MA (about 15 minutes from Providence) and just had dolewhip for the first time. it was delicious. i have to give a shout out to the place selling it; in freaking flavors! its called
“Sundaes” on route 44.
Oh yeah.
Kara
We have been on a hunt for Dole Whip in Pentwater, MI. Unfortunately, we found out that it is no longer served at the “Whippy Dip.” I’m not sure if that is what it is really called. Hopefully we will find some soon!