you should go over to IRL and post a mefi ice cream social meetup

June 13, 2016 5:23 AM

It's summer time, which means it's time to host an ice cream social!

alternatively, if you can't stand other mefites and don't want to host a mefi ice cream social: try the best ice cream in NYC (previously), Toronto, and elsewhere

bonus: kanye-west-flavoured ice cream

posted by and they trembled before her fury (56 comments total)

Ice cream social protip: if you've got kids under 12 at your party, set out a dish of gummy bears as a topping option. You will be the cool gummy bear guy forever.
posted by phunniemee at 5:39 AM on June 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

This thread is meaningless until you-know-who makes an appearance.
posted by briank at 5:42 AM on June 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

You called?
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:50 AM on June 13, 2016 [77 favorites]

Ice cream social protip: if you've got kids under 12 at your party, set out a dish of gummy bears as a topping option. You will be the cool gummy bear guy forever.

Wait I don't understand, why would you only do this for kids under 12, why can't the cool gummy bear person come to my ice cream social, too?
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:50 AM on June 13, 2016 [9 favorites]

Because cold gummy bears are gross?
posted by Night_owl at 6:06 AM on June 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

They're not gross, but they are tooth-breakingly tough after a couple minutes in ice cream. I'm still mad at Golden Corral for leading me to believe the combo would be a taste treat.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:15 AM on June 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

the gummy bears must be protected within a warm layer of fudge or caramel to remain optimal
posted by cubby at 6:17 AM on June 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

As the makerspace I lurk in is right next to an ice cream factory in Toronto's east end, I fear that this might happen. Though we'll do our best to lay off the sawdust as a topping.

(also, that list of best-of-Toronto is shit. As an Ice Cream Fundamentalist [There Is Only Vanilla] they're heavy on stunt topping and ingredients. If a best of list doesn't have at least one of Summer's, St Clair or Mapleton's, I discard it.)
posted by scruss at 6:18 AM on June 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

Not tooth-breakingly tough, but deliciously chewy. Doesn't anyone else feel the need to really sink their teeth into something when eating something as soft as ice cream?

Gummy worms are even better for that though.
posted by R a c h e l at 6:21 AM on June 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

Just gonna leave this here: Homemade Magic Shell. The Serious Eats recipe calls for corn syrup, but I don't think it's necessary; I've made it with just coconut oil and regular old chocolate chips and it's easy and great (and way less divisive than gummy bears).
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:24 AM on June 13, 2016 [11 favorites]

Oh magic shell, you're so weird and so magical.

Did I mention I love ice cream, soft serve, frozen yogurt, gelato, sorbet, and all things in between? (Granita can go suck a lemon.)
posted by Night_owl at 6:28 AM on June 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

We bought a very nice ice cream maker a few years ago. I am determined to actually use it more than once a summer this time out. (I made double chocolate chip two weeks ago; I've got some nice vanilla beans so I think I am just gonna make plain ole vanilla ice cream this week.)
posted by Kitteh at 6:35 AM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Not tooth-breakingly tough, but deliciously chewy. Doesn't anyone else feel the need to really sink their teeth into something when eating something as soft as ice cream?

The optimal ice-cream topping textures are either crunchy (nuts) or crispy (cookies) because those aren't affected by temperature. The problem with gummis in ice cream is that the cold not only increases their viscosity to the point of gristle-like toughness, but it also mutes their flavor because the gummi molecules are all huddled together for warmth instead of breaking free to coat your tongue in delicious gummi juice.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:38 AM on June 13, 2016 [12 favorites]

Guillermo Del Toro went on a posting spree in January with his list of "Best ice creams in the world" and two of his top ten were from Toronto: Greg's Ice Cream and Ed's Real Scoop (sweet cream).

The rest of the list, as much as I can recover from Twitter's clunky interface...
1: Saffron & Rose Ice Cream in Los Angeles (rose petal)
2: Bertillon in Paris (rum and prune)
3: Gelateria dei Gracchi in Rome (stracciatella)
4: ?
5: Ed's Real Scoop in Toronto (sweet cream)
6: Coppelia in Havana
7: Greg's Ice Cream in Toronto (sweet cream)
8: ?
9: La Violeta in Guadalajara (mamey)
10: El Nevado de Toluca, Guadalajara & Chapala (vanilla w raisins)
posted by Gortuk at 6:43 AM on June 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm going to organize an ice cream hostile, with flavors like Garlic-Robotussin and Old Couch. We'll sit around not looking at each other and listening to a lot of Jesus and Mary Chain.
posted by ardgedee at 6:59 AM on June 13, 2016 [39 favorites]

The ice cream anti social is spent alone, hatching plots.
posted by The Whelk at 7:00 AM on June 13, 2016 [8 favorites]

I mourn for the classic hot fudge sundae. Simple, vanilla ice cream with good (omg but not insane sooper dooper 98% artisanal so thick it'd needs a special knife) fudge, good simple whip cream and a cherry in a tall simple classic glass dish with a small cookie. (personally no nuts). But the weird (delicious but unasthetic) gigantic mashups smushed in a paper cup just do not do it for me.
posted by sammyo at 7:08 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

The best ice cream in NYC is here.
posted by jonmc at 7:14 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

I had an bad egg of a cousin who was chronically ice cream antisocial. They took him into state custardy.
posted by mattamatic at 7:17 AM on June 13, 2016 [23 favorites]

heavy on stunt topping and ingredients

This is why I made a distinction between "flavors" and "varieties" of ice cream; if the actual ice cream itself is different, it's a flavor (e.g. vanilla, chocolate, maple, strawberry, salted caramel, whatever). If it's just vanilla or sweet cream or chocolate or whatever with a bunch of stuff in it, it's a variety (e.g. cookies and cream, cookie dough, chocolate fudge brownie, &c.). There are varieties I enjoy, but I never respect an ice cream place with a bunch of varieties the way I respect an ice cream place with a bunch of different flavors.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:20 AM on June 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

I just made ice cream for the first time...Nutella flavored. It took two tries, but I nailed it, and my favorite little girl didn't mind eating the mistakes.

Ice Cream Hostile is genius:

Expired Fish Oil
Bleach/Ammonia Swirl
Lavendar Soap Crunch
Seaweed Horse Manure
Moist Chocolate
Live Cockroach Ripple

As an alternate:
NYC Curb Cut Winter Slushie
posted by nevercalm at 7:32 AM on June 13, 2016 [7 favorites]

One thing I really miss from my time in Germany is the Eiscafe. Think of a coffee shop with table service, but they serve the most elaborate ice cream sundaes you can think of. I mean, look at these things. Fresh fruit, (usually) Italian-style gelato, tons of whipped cream. Many of them include a sweet liqueur like Creme de Menthe.

And, it being Germany, the ice cream is best eaten outside in the middle of winter.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:36 AM on June 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

Hey kids! Did you know that the old saying "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" originated from a song?

http://www.heptune.com/lyrics/iscreamy.html

Rah rah rah!
posted by Soliloquy at 7:38 AM on June 13, 2016

Also, I've had CoolHaus off their truck and it was great, but I've only found their packaged stuff in Manhnattan, making it impossible to get to the Bronx, without it becoming a puddle.

*cries single manly tear*
posted by jonmc at 7:49 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

I live near Ample Hills and have been consistently unimpressed. Maybe I'm old fashioned? I prefer Uncle Louie G's.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:02 AM on June 13, 2016

Confirming Ample Hills is listed in the "New York's Best" article, life can go on.

Over the years I have accumulated two ice cream makers - one makes quart batches, but the churn is too big to keep in my tiny apartment freezer, so I also got a much smaller thing with two churns that each make a half pint. I keep them both in the freezer (they take up much less room) and I can make a pint easily. I have been hinting madly for a compression ice cream maker as a gift because you don't need to keep anything prefrozen.

I get a LOT of fruit in the CSA every year, and after trying a couple of other "what the hell do I do with all of this" solutions like canning and jam-making, last summer I hit on turning all excess fruit into sorbets if it was getting over-ripe. That worked so well that I am actually starting to pick up extra fruit at the farmers market so I can do it on purpose. I was on a killer hike yesterday, and one thing that kept me going was the knowledge that "that strawberry sorbet will be ready when you get home".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:02 AM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Eat your cold gummy bears all you want, no hate. It's a pretty polarizing topping of the sort that grown up folks generally find abhorrent and tiny folks generally find AMAAAZING.
posted by phunniemee at 8:10 AM on June 13, 2016

Gummy bears on ice cream are like that sound that can only be heard by twenty-somethings, but I'm okay with that because I put sliced pieces of snickers bars in mine, which ends up being about the same in terms of jawbreaking (though obvs the flavor is completely different).
posted by Mooski at 8:19 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

There is a country where people put creamed corn on their ice cream.
posted by lagomorphius at 9:35 AM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

And bacon in our cookies! What a country!
posted by phunniemee at 9:43 AM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Kitteh, get a copy of the "Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Cookbook" and go buy a ton of eggs & cream & milk & sugar. Make several batches of the Sweet Cream Base #3 (I think), and you'll be ready to cast aside the cookbook and spread your wings.

It's my birthday this week, and we'll make two or even three batches as part of the celebration: I asked my wife to make my coffee oreo (because it's easy and we're busy), but one night I will also make a batch of Malted Milk Ball for myself.

Also:

Lavendar Soap

I think that Izzy's in St. Paul, MN, actually sells. this. *eyeroll*
posted by wenestvedt at 10:08 AM on June 13, 2016

Hey, lavendar ice cream is supposed to be pretty good. It's probably associated with "soap" here because I think herbs in ice cream is more of a European thing that hasn't caught on quite so much in the US.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:13 AM on June 13, 2016

Kitteh, get a copy of the "Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Cookbook" and go buy a ton of eggs & cream & milk & sugar. Make several batches of the Sweet Cream Base #3 (I think), and you'll be ready to cast aside the cookbook and spread your wings.

I appreciate the suggestion, but as I'm vegan, I cannot make those recipes as intended, but my vegan ice cream base recipe is fairly amazing and the results very creamy. Wait, I know B&J's is making vegan ice cream now, I wonder if any of those recipes might in that book!

(Seriously, thank you for your suggestion.!)
posted by Kitteh at 10:23 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've had lavender ice cream....but in the spirit of Ice Cream Hostile, I meant for the soap to be included....
posted by nevercalm at 10:33 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

Wait, I know B&J's is making vegan ice cream now, I wonder if any of those recipes might in that book!

Prolly not. The book is quite old, dating back to the early 1980s, and I don't think it's ever been revised.

Speaking of vegan ice cream, any fellow Boston-area folks who are vegan or (like me) dairy-intolerant need to get your butts to your closest FoMu ASAP. They're in Allston, JP, the South End, and have a summer pop-up in Inman Square. It's nothing short of fantastic.
posted by briank at 10:41 AM on June 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've already gone out for ice cream five times this summer if you include Memorial Day, so I'm a little surprised Boston doesn't seem to be on any of these lists. I live north of the river so I can mainly address Camberville - J. P. Licks (red velvet cake, banoffee, every single sorbet), Christina's (azuki bean, khulfee), and Toscanini's (Belgian chocolate, burnt caramel, fluffernutter) are all long time local favorites with flavors ranging from strong standards or variations on vanilla and chocolate to specialty and gourmet flavors. Oft-ignored Lizzy's (peppermint stick!) in Harvard Square does excellent classics and you can find Richardson's (strawberry) at the Somerville Theater and I don't make it out to Belmont much, but some swear by Rancatore's (hazelnut). My new love is Tipping Cow (blueberry-ginger!!!!!!!!!!!) on Medford Street in Somerville - they've been selling at farmer's markets for a year or two now and have just opened their first brick & mortor - but I'm also fond of the weirdness of Gracie's (mmm, whisky fig newton) in Union Square.

And all that's ignoring larger chains like Ben & Jerry's, Emack and Bolio's. And of course Friendly's started in Western Mass and Baskin Robbin's is now owned by Dunkin Donuts, but that isn't really ice cream to brag about.
posted by maryr at 10:42 AM on June 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

briank: I respect your decision, but seriously, there are so many delicious sorbets in the world, one need not resort to soy, coconut, or hemp.
posted by maryr at 10:46 AM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Friendly's started in Western Mass and Baskin Robbin's is now owned by Dunkin Donuts, but that isn't really ice cream to brag about.

Disrespect the Fribble at your peril, lady.
posted by jonmc at 10:48 AM on June 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

I grew up on Wattamelon rolls and Reese's Pieces Coneheads (and check out that awesome turtle!). I am not ignoring Friendly's fine legacy. I'm just more of a fresh banana oreo or passionfruit sorbet less-is-more fan these days.
posted by maryr at 11:14 AM on June 13, 2016

Just this Thursday I went to an ice cream social for kids and their minders for the first time since maybe I was a kid. Winning accompaniment: donut holes. Gummis may have become déclassé: most of the talk from the children shoveling them on there was of the sorts that would have been more interesting. Children are happily content with just ice cream but there is festivity to be had in an orgy of toppings.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:16 AM on June 13, 2016

> Wait, I know B&J's is making vegan ice cream now, I wonder if any of those recipes might in that book!

Prolly not. The book is quite old, dating back to the early 1980s, and I don't think it's ever been revised.

Yeah, the Ben and Jerry's book is from the 80's and doesn't have much in the way of non-vegan options; there's a chapter on sorbets, but that's about it. Although it's still worth flipping through for inspiration purposes, and also because they have a great section for toppings.

However, I can also add that two of the other ice cream books I have - The Perfect Scoop and the Ample Hills cookbook - both do have vegan-friendly options. I actually used David Leibovitz's recipe for the strawberry sorbet, and it was nothing more than sugar, strawberries and water (and the option of adding some kirsch but I didn't). That's your basic sorbet right there (fruit, sugar, water), and I really only used the recipe for measuring quantities.

....this summer I may also play around with infusing the water with various herbs as well, so I can make it a lime and mint sorbet instead of just a lime, or a lemon verbena sorbet, etc.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:23 AM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

When I was a kid we went to ice cream socials held at the Dairy Shrine. The midwest is a hell of a drug.

That's also where I learned that ice cream and lemonade really do not go well together.
posted by stet at 11:25 AM on June 13, 2016

"see a dog-powered butter churn"
posted by stet at 11:26 AM on June 13, 2016

My wife's family had a Fourth of July tradition to make hand-cranked ice cream, and to get any, you had to take a turn at the crank. They only did it once a year because it's such an ordeal. A few years ago, something finally broke and we bought a new-fangled "plug-in" model that looked like the old kit but was automated. Still, we only use it on the 4th of July for some silly reason, choosing instead to buy ice cream. It's a thing of ease, and because we usually get Blue Bunny as a tribute to my father-in-law's home town (and because it's tasty).

Thanks to this post, I'll get out the ice cream making machine and give it a test run or two before the 4th. (We also have a Ice Cream Ball (Amazon link) that looks a lot more fun than it is and doesn't make much ice cream for all that work.)
posted by filthy light thief at 11:36 AM on June 13, 2016

I am sad that my friends who do a "go into campground in the woods and camp and make ice cream with liquid nitrogen and also have music performances and stuff" event every year have had to cancel (well, technically, postpone until next year) this year's event.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:42 PM on June 13, 2016

(the event originally had hand-cranked ice cream, but then a little over 20 years ago we discovered liquid nitrogen as a way to make ice cream and then we were off - makes it easy to do weird small batches (one year, ceviche ice cream was on the menu) and large batches of the popular/good flavors.)
posted by rmd1023 at 12:44 PM on June 13, 2016

Yeah, "A Perfect Scoop" is a great book -- the anise ice cream is really good, I was thinking about it this morning!!

And Kitteh, vegan ice cream is outside the areas of my expertise, but I am very curious to see how such recipes differ. I love ice cream in all its forms and varieties, and will always try a new way! So if anyone has a favorite non-dairy one cream, please do hook me up -- we could all use some cheer this week, and ice cream is a damn fine way to get it.

(ObDisc: I have an electric ice cream maker, and we keep two bowls in the freezer at all times. Oh, yeah!)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:49 PM on June 13, 2016

If you're ever in the Niagara Falls or Niagara-On-The-Lake region of Ontario Canada, you should definitely hit up Avondale Dairy Bar. It's located at: 461 Stewart Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0.

The outside doesn't look like much but it's the ice-cream that counts. So soft and so yummy. Lots of flavours, toppings, and cone options. Definitely worth a visit. It has a lot of history, being open since 1955. It's basically in farm country. So lots of beautiful scenery to look at while you sit outside in the parking lot.
posted by Fizz at 1:05 PM on June 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

rmd1023: I painted your friend's fingernails this weekend. ^_^ (If the ticks elsewhere are like they were in the White Mountains this weekend, it'll be a good summer to stay out of the woods.)
posted by maryr at 2:27 PM on June 13, 2016

I'll add that those in the know say that coconut milk is a very good base for vegan ice cream; it has a lot of the same texture properties and fat content of dairy milk. You do get a "coconut" flavor, but that could be a feature.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:53 PM on June 13, 2016

Oh, my reliable ice cream base is from Miyoko Schinner's Homemade Vegan Pantry cookbook and it's 75% full fat coconut milk and 25% cashews which makes for an insanely creamy and versatile base. She has also an oat-based gelato recipe I keep meaning to try as well.
posted by Kitteh at 7:29 AM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ooooo oat-based gelato sounds good.
posted by aniola at 2:05 PM on June 14, 2016

The filling for Christina Tosi's Crack Pie tastes like a Cap'n Crunch flavored frozen custard or kulfi. I made the pie once but I've made the filling alone a few times. It's delicious. Or you could just make cereal milk and use it to make your-favorite-cereal-flavored ice cream.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:18 PM on June 14, 2016

for everyone that is obsessed with coffee ice cream - it’s not just an ice cream. it’s a religion
posted by and they trembled before her fury at 6:07 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

The other day I made a quart of Chocolate Malt Ice Cream with Crushed Whoppers. It's gone.
posted by carmicha at 8:09 AM on June 15, 2016

Sure, coffee icecream, but haagen dazs? Sad cow, not fair trade?

Affogatos is my very favorite. mmmmmmmmmmmmm
posted by aniola at 6:46 PM on June 15, 2016