The Leader • Saturday, June 20, 2020 • Page 1B
Ice cream options abound in area By Zarah Parker zarah@theleadernews.com
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1214 W. 43rd St. Suite 1200
Baskin-Robbins 1354 W. 43rd St.
W 43rd
Bubble Egg Garden Oaks
1717 W. 34th St. #900
Juice Girl & Over the Moon 238 W. 19th St.
3444 B Ella Blvd.
610
512 W. 19th St.
Sweet Bribery
250 W. 19th St. Suite E
W 18th Fat Cat Creamery
1901 N. Shepherd Dr.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
375 W. 19th St.
W 11th
4721 N. Main St. Suite H
Cloud 10 Creamery
711 Heights Blvd.
Aqua S
Studewood St
Yale St
610
Cavalcade St Dolce Neve Gelato
Heights Blvd
718 W. 18th St.
Ice Cream Shops
in St N Ma
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt
SMOOSH Cookies
Airline Dr
W 34th SweetCup Gelato & Sorbet Originale
N Shepherd
REVIEW:
SweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt
Ella Blvd
It’s never a sad day when a new ice cream shop opens to share its creations with the community. But the more that open, the more competition there is. Five ice cream shops are located near 19th Street between Yale Street and North Shepherd Drive in the Heights, counting Fat Cat Creamery, 1901 N. Shepherd Dr., and SMOOSH Cookies, which is one block over at 718 W. 18th St. Marco Silvestrini of Dolce Neve Gelato, 4721 N Main St., said when they decided to bring the shop into Houston, they intentionally stayed away from Shepherd. “I think a gelato/ice cream shop should be an integral part of the local community and serve it in the best possible way,” Silvestrini said. “When we decided to open Dolce Neve in Houston, we looked for an area that currently didn’t have an ice cream shop. That’s why we opened on the east side of the Heights.” Dolce Neve is the lone gelato shop in the Heights. There also is one in Garden Oaks as SweetCup Gelato & Sorbet Originale is located at 3444 B Ella Blvd. There are more than a dozen ice cream shops in the area, and they all try to distinguish themselves from the others. “We make everything from scratch, even our nut butters, and we use a traditional and labor-intensive technique called ‘mantecazione vertical,’ which helps us achieve a smooth texture without the need to add hydrogenated fats,
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E 11th Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard
2802 White Oak Dr.
506 Yale St. Unit D
10
Marble Slab Creamery/ Great American Cookies 1923 Taylor St. Suite C
Graphic by Gene Pruse The graphic above maps out 15 ice cream shops in the Heights, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest areas.
emulsifier or artificial stabilizers,” Silvestrini said. The shop focuses purely on traditional Italian flavors and innovative flavors, like goat cheese and pecan. What a customer will never find in the shop are traditional American flavors, like cookies and cream. Instead they’d find mascarpone and cocoa nibs crumble. For the most part, Silvestrini also said he has had great interactions with other ice cream shop owners in
the area, even openly talking about business ideas and market trends. Other ice cream shops have also found ways to set their product apart from others. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, 375 W. 19th St., strives to find uniqueness in the quality of its ice cream and its service. The Ohio-based scoop shop opened late last year at the former site of Carter & Cooley Company Delicatessen. “Our recipe is unique in the world of ice cream. It’s one
I have tweaked and honed for more than two decades,” owner Jeni Britton Bauer said. “We build our ice creams completely from scratch — no synthetic flavorings, dyes or off-the-shelf mixes.” All of Jeni’s flavors are made in partnership with the makers and producers who supply the business with ingredients. “From family-run dairies to farmers who grow fields of berries just for us,” Bauer said. “To us, it’s all about bringing a
No bribes needed to buy scoop at Heights shop Zarah Parker Managing Editor
Before I even had a chance to try the ice cream cone in my hand, my two nephews were singing the praises of their milkshakes. These two boys aren’t too adventurous when it comes to ice cream. They love the classics. So when the three of us stopped by the Heights shop Sweet Bribery, they didn’t even look twice at flavors such as Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake or Count Chocula Cereal Milk. The older nephew got the Tahitian Vanilla Bean milkshake with M&M’s blended in. The younger one stuck with his favorite milkshake flavor, Cookies ‘N’ Cream, and just for fun got extra Oreos mixed in. One of them even asked me if Sweet Bribery was famous for its milkshakes. When I laughed and told him no, he said they should be. And while I thought the
Photo by Zarah Parker Pictured is a waffle cone filled with Banana Puddin’ ice cream as well as Tahitian Vanilla Bean and Cookies ‘N’ Cream milkshakes.
milkshakes looked to be on the watery side rather than thick, they must have been the perfect consistency for the boys. I sneaked a taste of the Cookies ‘N’ Cream one, and adding the extra Oreos was worth it. As a precaution, Sweet Bribery didn’t allow for me to try any samples, so I went for something I hoped was as good as it looked — Banana Puddin’ ice cream in a waffle
cone. I took the employee’s word for it when she said it was really good, and I’m glad I did. The scoop was creamy and tasted of bananas, but didn’t have banana pieces. It had pieces of vanilla wafers, though, completing my new favorite way of eating banana pudding. The waffle cone was lighter in color and a little thinner than I’m used to. It lacked that
classic waffle cone flavor. But it didn’t bother me because I was too busy enjoying the ice cream. According to Sweet Bribery’s website, its staples are fresh milk, thick cream and golden eggs. Small batches are made daily, ensuring a fresh taste. The texture is smooth and probably some of the creamiest ice cream I’ve had. Sometimes ice cream is icy rather than creamy, and I was happy to find that wasn’t the case here. The ice cream shop also has offerings aimed at adults, like the Champagne Float and Sparkling Pitaya. Customers can also by a glass of wine, white or red, draft beer or cider along with their scoops of ice cream. Sweet Bribery Address: 250 W. 19th St. Hours: 1-10 p.m. SundayThursday, noon-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday Pricing: $3.50-$8.75 Kid-friendly: Yes Alcohol: Yes Healthy options: Yes Star of the show: Banana Puddin’ ice cream
Making ice cream at home can be easy By Zarah Parker zarah@theleadernews.com
For some people, the thought of making ice cream at home takes them back to elementary school, when they had to shake a bag full of ingredients that somehow turned into ice cream. “I never used to be a fan of homemade ice cream. I usually found it icy, goopy, soupy, crumbly, eggy, gritty or too buttery,” said Jeni Britton Bauer, owner of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, 375 W. 19th St. Bauer found a way to make ice cream at home taste so good that she opened a shop, which now has locations all over the United States. And with new gadgets that are relatively inexpensive and the endless knowledge available through Google, other people can make ice cream at home and be happy at the results, too. The first thing at-home ice cream makers have to pay attention to is what ingredients they want to use.
“What you start with is what you end with,” Bauer said. “Find ingredients you love and make them into ice cream.” For a beginner, Bauer recommends the Cuisinart ICE21 model, which depending on where it’s bought ranges from $50-$70. There are several other ice cream-making machines on the market, including those that require handcranking but not electricity. “Although more expensive, self-contained freezing models exist, I discovered that I actually prefer the less-expensive canister type,” Bauer said. “It freezes the ice cream faster.” The freezing container also needs to be completely frozen and usually takes 24 hours to freeze, so it’s best to get in the habit of keeping the container, wrapped in plastic, in the freezer. When filling the ice cream maker, it’s best not to fill it up all the way, but leave a little room. The more ice cream there is taking up space in the maker, the less it will freeze correctly.
Texture, as Bauer previously pointed out, is tough to get right while making ice cream at home. If the ice cream is high in fat, it has a better chance of turning out with a smooth texture. Fat slows the water molecules from gathering all together. The more fat content, the farther apart the molecules will be. When the ice cream is turning, those individual water molecules turn to ice and freezes the cream. With more fat, it will take longer for the cream to freeze, but the result will be creamier. Another ingredient that affects the texture of the ice cream is sugar. If too much sugar is added, the ice cream won’t freeze at all, but the perfect amount will keep it from becoming a block of flavored ice. It’s best to use a solid sweetener, like sugar, rather than a liquid sweetener, like honey, because the liquid will increase the iciness of the ice cream. The easiest part about mak-
community together to make exceptional ice cream.” Jasmine Chida, owner of SweetCup Gelato & Sorbet Originale, said the shop’s gelato is an experience made possible through a variety of rotating flavors based off the season as well as customers’ requests. “We innovate and pair unique flavor profiles together utilizing local ingredients and best local purveyors, while giving back to our local community,” Chida said. A few months ago, SweetCup delivered on this by utilizing beets from Oak Forest Elementary School’s gardening program to make a new ice cream flavor. SweetCup also uses blueberries and other seasonal ingredients from local farms in Texas, such as Moorhead’s Blueberry Farm, which is in Conroe. “In business, competition will always be there. You can’t control what others do,” Chida said. “Competition will always keep businesses on their toes, and that results in better service and better products. In that regard, the customer ul-
ing ice cream at home is that with access to recipes in cookbooks and online, it’s not hard to do it right.
timately benefits from that due to innovative products and better service. So healthy competition is always welcome.” While the ice cream shops begin to stack up, they each tend to offer something different. Shops like Sweet Bribery, 250 W. 19th St., Cloud 10 Creamery, 711 Heights Blvd., and Fat Cat Creamery produce their ice creams in small batches. For frozen yogurt, there’s Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, 512 W. 19th St., and sweetFrog Premium Frozen Yogurt, 1214 W. 43rd St. Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, 2802 White Oak Dr., has Italian ice and custard. Bubble Egg, 1717 W. 34th St., offers interesting Hong Kongstyle waffle cones. Over The Moon, 238 W. 19th St., is a vegan ice cream shop, and Aqua S, 506 Yale St., brings uniquely flavored soft serve. And for the patrons who want ice cream from shops with household names, there’s Baskin-Robbins, 1354 W. 43rd St., and Marble Slab Creamery, 1737 W. 34th St.
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