Tuesday, July 31, 2012

2nd Street Creamery

So if you have been reading along here for any length of time- you've been privy to my stories from when I was in my teens and worked for a local ice cream shop.  My world was full of ice cream scoops, vats of hot fudge, and cartons upon cartons of fresh strawberries ready to be washed and prepped for homemade strawberry sauce.  Long lines would stretch from our windows as my co workers and I buzzed around back, artfully stacking scoops of ice cream and ladling hot sauces on top finally finishing off our masterpieces with a flourish of whipped cream.  We would congratulate each other on our abilities on Fountain as we whipped up frappes and floats and challenged ourselves to remember long orders.  Ice cream was my life those summers and today every time someone mentions those two little words to be I am brought right back to those days. 

Earlier this summer I was contacted by the 2nd Street Creamery, a brand new ice cream maker in the area, to try out a few of their flavors.  Knowing my great affinity for ice cream, I immediately said yes and a few weeks later I received my shipment of ice cream to check out.  I was sent containers of Black Hills Strawberry Rhubarb, Tons of Brownies and Copper Kettle Caramel to check out.  

I got together with some friends and family, and, armed with spoons- we dug in.  Now when I'm tasting ice cream, such a difficult task I know, the first thing I look at is the very base of the ice cream.  First and foremost I want it to be creamy- it may go without saying, but more times than not I find that sweetness overcomes the cream and the result ends up being syrupy sweet. Next up- I want the bases of the different flavors to be distinct. I want to taste the differences between the flavors clearly.  Going into my taste test of 2nd Street Creamery -these were the biggest two items I was looking at.  

A spoon of the Black Hills Strawberry Rhubarb was savored for its creamy strawberry base, full of the sweet tart berries.  Then there was a swirl of Rhubarb sauce that was a hair too sweet for my taste, but the third element of pieces of pie crust was a perfect addition adding a fun texture contrast and a touch of salt.  

Next up for me was the Tons of Brownies.  Now this one struck a special chord for me- I am one of those terrible terrible people who digs through pints of ice cream for the "stuff".  You set a pint of cookie dough ice cream in front of me- within minutes you'll start to see the ice cream itself pushed aside as my spoon has snaked through the pint looking for the bits of the dough.  Really what I'm saying here is never share a pint of ice cream with me- ever.  I was excited about the idea of Tons of Brownies in the hope that my spoon would continuously find chunks of tasty brownies.  The pint revealed a depth of vanilla ice cream, a swirl of fudge sauce and brownie chunks a plenty!  As I scooped out little orbs of the ice cream I found a fantastic mix of the ingredients and a satisfying amount of chocolate.

Finally we had the Copper Kettle Caramel.  I wasn't anticipating being blown away by this one, but to be truthful, I was.  Caramel ice cream, streams of caramel running through it, and then sea salt caramel fudge truffles distributed without- this was a mix of deliciousness.  The caramel base wasn't too sweet despite its roots and sea salt truffles were a perfect hint of savory contrast. 

Each flavor provided a delicious treat of real, creamy ice cream.  The ingredients were obvious of good quality and the flavors are imaginative to keep things interesting.  I found that my check points were easily met making for a delicious summer dessert.

2nd Street Creamery is just launching into stores around New England- check them out online for for more information:  http://2ndstcreamery.com/about/#/  

1 comment:

Michelle Collins said...

That dish of ice cream looks so incredibly good right now. I'm definitely going to have to pick up their ice cream once it hits stores near me!

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