Why is a basic chocolate milkshake called "a black-and-white" in fountain parlance? Because it's made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

That's right: vanilla. A milkshake made with chocolate ice cream tends to be too much of a good thing (although the most serious of chocoholics might disagree). As every soda-fountain veteran will tell you, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream are the classic way to make a chocolate milkshake.

Of course, it's your call as to how much chocolate syrup to use. Start slowly, keep tasting as you add a bit more syrup, and stop when you have reached your idea of chocolate perfection. You don't have to go too dark. A pale-brown shake usually tastes great.

If ice cream is very hard from the freezer, allow it to soften slightly. Combine all ingredients. Mix by hand or with a blender (on slow to medium speed).

Taste, add more syrup as necessary, and mix until desired consistency is achieved. If milkshake seems too thick, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time, until creamy.

Makes 1 milkshake.

VARIATIONS

Vanilla milkshake: Use vanilla ice cream and flavor it with vanilla extract.

Strawberry milkshake: Use vanilla ice cream and strawberry syrup with a shot of vanilla extract, or Blue Bell Strawberries & Homemade Vanilla, strawberry syrup and vanilla extract, or strawberry ice cream with a shot of vanilla extract.

Place ice cream, milk, syrup and peanut butter in blender container. Cover; blend until smooth. Garnish with whipped topping and cherry, if desired. Makes 2 servings.

SOURCE: hersheys.com

Proportion is important. Use about twice as much ice cream as whole milk, plus enough flavoring to get the flavor you want.

Don't skimp on the milk, because whole milk will be better-tasting than low-fat. Face it: Milkshakes, by definition, are not low-fat. If it has yogurt and crushed ice and fruit in it, it's not a milkshake, it's a smoothie.

Some decadent types may use cream or half-and-half, instead of milk, for an even richer consistency. Some also like to add whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top of the finished milkshake, but that's optional.

If your preferred ice cream is very hard when taken straight from the freezer, you may need to let it soften slightly before hand-blending a shake. You can use a pitcher-style kitchen blender or an immersion blender, but be careful not to overmix. Some milkshake aficionados think a blender works too quickly and liquefies the shake past an ideal consistency.

A Hamilton Beach Classic DrinkMaster, a home version of the milkshake machines used at soda fountains, usually costs less than $40 (in the single-head version) and is ideal for shake mixing.