[Photographs: Lacey Muszynski]

I love fall flavors, and here in Milwaukee, it's gotten downright chilly in the last two weeks. That's all the reason I need to start eating as many apple- and pumpkin-flavored foods as I can. Lucky for me, Babe's Ice Cream in Bayview has started carrying their seasonal flavors, including caramel apple pie and pumpkin.

The ice cream at Babe's is made by Chocolate Shoppe, a Madison-based company that's been around since 1962. It's classified as super premium with a negligible 35 percent overrun and 14 percent butterfat. The richness carries through into their shakes—these are some of the smoothest, richest, most luxurious shakes I've had.

The caramel apple pie has a light cinnamon base with swirls of caramel and apple. It makes for a chunky shake but the extra-wide straws at Babe's mean that nothing gets stuck. This milkshake tastes more like an apple-studded cinnamon cake than something made predominantly with apples, but that's not really a complaint.

The pumpkin shake is a mellow orange color, it packs a punch of cinnamon and cloves. It's one of the more assertive and spicy pumpkin ice creams I've had, and it makes a wonderful, creamy and flavorful shake, perfect for celebrating this cooler season.

Babe's Ice Cream

2264 S Kinnickinnic Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53207 (map)
414-482-4000; babesicecream.com