The $10,000 milkshake

One cup of milk, eight scopes of ice cream, pie, syrup, a blender and 10,000 parts delicious.

Amateur cook Robert Gadsby, of Hayden, took the top prize in Below Zero Hero Milkshake Recipe Contest netting $10,000 for creating a delicious concoction that improved upon an already delicious concoction, the milkshake.

"It's a spin on a good old-fashioned chocolate milkshake," said Gadsby, who recently retired to North Idaho with his wife from Great Falls, Mont. "Of course, I like my own cooking, but I always thought it had a chance of winning."

The dairy company Meadow Gold /Dean Foods sponsored the contest, which saw 2,000 entries vying for the crown to call their own the tastiest . Of those 2,000, the top 25 were judged by professional chefs. From there, 'Chocolate Cream Pie Milkshake' was selected by the pros in the top 10. The top 10 recipes were then posted online, said Jamaison Schuler, spokesperson for Meadow Gold, and milkshake lovers took it from there, voting in their favorite.

So chocolate gold turned into real gold for Gadsby. That's 10,000 big ones for experimenting in the kitchen.

"We kind of had an inkling, because they narrowed it down to the top 10," Gadsby said of expecting the win. "So, it wasn't a total surprise."

Make one for yourself

Ingredients:

* 1 cup of milk

* 8 scoops vanilla ice cream

* 1 or 2 slices of frozen chocolate cream pie, thawed;

* 1/3 cup chocolate syrup

* Toppings: Whipped cream, shaved chocolate, cherry

Combine milk, chocolate syrup, pie and ice cream in blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses. Garnish with whipped cream, shaved chocolate and a cherry.