America's Best Ice Cream

What's a more perfect match than a road trip and ice cream on a hot summer day!? I have the fondest memories of riding in the hatchback (yes in I'll admit I am a product of the 70s when seatbelts were non existent and my mom and Dad let us open the hatchback in the way back and lounge back for the ride!) and going for ice cream on our way to go camping, to the beach or just out for the day. It's the memories of HoJos for Mint Chocolate Chip in a baseball cap cup that are still as vivid as ever. Many things may have changed a lot since then (like um seatbelt laws thankfully!) but some things sure haven't like America's universal love for Ice Cream.  

US News Travel brings us America's Best Ice Cream list. Have you stopped at any on your road trips? We are excited that our own local Toscanini's makes the cut! Ooh and I've been to Capogiros in Phili which according to their website was named National Geographic's Coolest Places to Eat Ice Cream. Hmmm..not sure I totally agree...very cool place and awesome gelato but environment, although cool, wasn't list topping IMO.Guess who tops the list?

Another indulgent year at Scooper Bowl

 

Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl 2012

Thankfully Mr. Weatherman was wrong. Sun brought crowds and fun. 
We met at 5:30 and looks like we weren't the only ones having an ice cream dinner.

Can you guess what the blue one is? We couldn't!

Volunteer scoopers hard at work.

Ben and Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt is a hit.

My favorite of the day...SoCo Creamery.

SoCo Creamery can't scoop fast enough.

Now these are diehards. Looks at all those cups.

All for a good cause. My daughter loves her new hat.


I am almost embarrassed to admit all that we tried but that is what you're there for! Some brands offered their tried and true flavors while some ventured out. Sort of felt like every one was serving up Cotton Candy but then again this is an event for kids too and if I had my daughter there that is what she would be eating...not the Mission Fig. I think the booth that inspired and intrigued us the most was SoCo Creamery. I had heard of them before but never actually tried them. They definitely had a crowd and offered up the most unique flavors. 


And drum roll for all the flavors we taste tested (see below). Funny thing is my husband called me on the way home asking what I wanted for dinner. Silly question...we had ice cream!

Soco Creamery

Lemon Poppy Seed (Tina's top pick!)

Salted Caramel (Bethany's top pick!)

Mission Fig

Cake Batter

Ciao Bella

Passion Fruit Sorbet (SO refreshing)

Malted Milk Ball Gelato
Strawberry Gelato 

Baskin Robbins

Splish splash

Lunar cheesecake (A 1969 flavor revisited! Bethany's second?)

Super Fudge Truffle (worthy of seconds)

Icing on the cake

Hood

Hood Bear Creek Caramel

Hood Maine Blueberry and Sweet Cream

Brighams 

Peppermint Stick

Edys

Espresso Chip

Rainbow Sherbert (Another very refreshing flavor)

Friendlys

Hunka chunka PB Fudge

Graham Central Station

Rockin Poppin Cotton Candy

Byrne Dairy

Mint Chocolate Chip

Holy Cow

Ben and Jerry's

Chocolate therapy (OMG!)

Americone Dream

Blueberry Vanilla Graham Greek Froyo

Black Raspberry Gelato

I wrote about The Ultimate Frozen Dessert book a week or so ago. I mentioned I made the raspberry gelato, only I used black raspberries and upped the amount of berries from two to three cups. I made it a couple of weeks ago and hadn't tried it since it ripened (hardened).

I was making the gelato for my annual ice cream party. As a rule, I make the ice creams/gelatos/sorbets in advance of the party and don't taste them again until the party. However, my dear friend Lisa was visiting from Colorado and she wanted a tasting since she is never around for the party, so I let her, as long as we didn't leave much of a mark. We tried a few of the flavors and I asked her what her favorite was...black raspberry gelato. As I had tasted it too, I had to agree that it was pretty darn good.

So then I did the unthinkable (especially since I still have tons of ice cream to make for the party) -- I suggested we each have a dish of it. But first, I had to call my parents to see if they had more berries for me to take from them, so I could remake the gelato for the party. Thanks to my parents for looking in the freezer to check -- they do have another quart! So...Lisa and I dug in.

This gelato is not only gorgeous but it is amazing. It's rich and sweet, while at the same time being light and refreshing, if that is possible.

I do suggest you try it.

Review: Nudo, Newton, MA

My dear friend Nicole works in Newton. For the past few years we have been meeting pretty much weekly to go for a walk. Nicole is six months pregnant and keeps threatening to stop working when the baby is born. I am selfishly saddened by the fact that she won't be so close for our regular walks, and this was compounded when she took me to the new gelato place by her work. What?! We can't go for gelato weekly?!

Nudo is a small shop on Watertown Street in Newton. It's a small shop that has a European feel to it as well as a charming, friendly staff with a great sense of humor. Oh, and did I mention that their gelato is really good?

Nicole and I each ordered small raspberry blood orange gelato (I had still been deciding when she offered me a taste of hers and I was completely taken). It actually reminded me more of a very creamy sorbet, but who cared what it was or wasn't called? It was sweet, but incredibly refreshing -- perfect after our walk in the hot noontime sun.

Nudo is definitely worth more visits. Nicole, you can leave your job to have that baby of yours, but let's make the most of the next four months and make lots of trips to Nudo!

Photo of Nudo storefront from the Nudo website.

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Artisan Gelato Philly Style at Capogiro

Hmm...my priorities while away on girl's weekend in Philadelphia..sleeping (with a 1 year old its limited), eating (I never realized Philly is such a foodie town), cocktails (given!), and of course, ice cream! So as I am sipping my totally yummy sangria at the coolest Mexican place, El Vez, I notice across the street this cool and busy artisan Gelato shop, Capogiro. Unfortunately time did not allow to go afterwards but I made a mental note and knew we'd be back. 

So day 2 of Philly after a long day of exploring Chestnut Hill, which by the way is the quaintest little shopping area on the outskirts, and other parts of Philly we headed to Capogiro for a something sweet. OMG...all the gelato flavors looked to die for. My dilemma began cause I could only choose two. I suppose I could have more but didn't want to ruin dinner (at an awesome french bistro Parc ..if in Philly check it out) 

My ultimate decision...Rich Dark Chocolate and Dulce de Leche. Seriously the chocolate  gelato was the best I have ever had. It was super rich almost like a fudge brownie but not overwhelming and the sweetness of the caramel balanced it out. I must say they were both great choices. I do have to add though that it was not cheap. I think I paid $4.75 for a small (pic makes it look big..but not really).

But with that said Capogiro prides themselves on using pure, natural and fresh ingredients taken from Pennsylvania's farmlands and local dairy farms. Their flavors are all based on what's in season so the menu changes monthly or I bet daily sometimes. 

You can actually order online which could always be a fun gift idea for us ice cream lovers.

Lexus brings us on a road trip to the Cream de la Creme

Hmmmm..cars and ice cream. Looks like the people over at Lexus understand the true meaning of premium on and off the road. They took a test run in their online magazine to fill us all in on the Cream de la Creme...best in class frozen treats all over the US and we're loving it. It's always great to see and hear about hot spots all over the country. We're in our little world here in New England and tend to travel out of our circle every now and then but getting some other inside scoops is always nice.

I love how they put it...premium ice cream demands loyalty. That is so true. If you are a true ice cream aficianado you understand that premium is worth every calorie and you stay true to it (but don't over due it!). You might veer off the road once in awhile to test drive others but then loyalty kicks in. Oh Ben & Jerry how I love you!

Check out Lexus's road trip, Cream de la Creme and check out our little sneak peak.

Ryan Witcher of Art Restaurant in Seattle gives us some good tips....add salt in some flavors to make the flavor linger and use 100% bitter cocoa powder in chocolate ice cream for a faint granular texture. So gotta get there to try the “almost gelato-like mint chocolate chip.”

Who knew Laguna Beach, CA has more gelato stores than ice cream shops. And did you know Gelato is characterized by its low overrun(less air!) and is made with milk instead of cream. In the area..check out Tutto Amore or Gelato Paradiso for some "authentic italian"

Our friends in Milwaukee WI are all about frozen custard over at the 68 year old drive-in shop, Leon's. Their classic....the Rainbow Cone which Scoopalicious dished about awhile back is a tower of ice cream like none other.

Thanks Lexus for giving us the road trip around the country to icy cool hot spots!

Photography from Lexus Magazine

Perry's Ice Cream Introduces a Fresh and Delicious New Gelato Line

"Dear ______, We have a a problem here, don't we? I know I was supposed to wait for Tina, but I stole a taste of the cannoli and I LOVE it...but I don't think we can get it in the MA area, can we?! OMG, this is NOT good!..."

So starts my email to the wonderful person who sent me samples of Perry's Gelato...

Perry's Cannoli Gelato may be on my list of all time favorite ice creams and as with all Perry's Ice Cream treats, it can only be found in New York state. I have been sitting here for about five minutes trying to figure out to explain it. I can't. Let's just say it's way up there with the best and most authentic cannoli I have had on this side of the Atlantic (mind you, I have never been to Italy, so I'm only counting this side of the Atlantic)...those from Modern Pastry in Boston's North End. The gelato is sweet, creamy, with just the right amount of chocolate chips. It's sitting in my freezer right now and it's everything I can do to keep from eating it -- I don't want to destroy my friendship with Tina by not sharing, so I am holding off!

The other flavors were good as well, but it is the Cannoli I am constantly craving.

The Wild Berry was the least of my favorites, at least in texture. The flavor was very good -- a fruity contrast to all the rich other flavors was a nice break. However, like many fruit ice creams/gelatos, the berry chunks were icy, but I have come to learn that this is kind of the nature of naturally made fruity frozen treats.

The Tahitian Vanilla and Pistachio were both good as well -- creamy, and rich and admittedly, even for someone like me who often over does it on frozen treats, both were very good and quite enough in small quantities due to their richness!

The Tahitian Vanilla actually reminded me of butter cream frosting, of which I am a big fan...oooh, it's kind of like they managed to turn butter cream frosting into ice cream, without the extreme density of buttercream frosting.

The Pistachio was the most pistachio flavored ice cream I have ever had. Did you know many of the recipes for pistachio ice cream actually flavor the base with almond flavoring? This definitely was more pistachio than almond, and as much as I love almond-flavored pistachio ice cream, this pistachio-flavored pistachio ice cream.

I'm packing our bags. Someone please let Husband know we are moving to New York so we can get Perry's Gelato.

Mike Brown, Perry's Product Manager, shows us how to best enjoy Perry's gelato...but honestly, with these rich flavors, who can let the carton sit on the counter for five whole minutes to soften just a bit? Um, I can't!

What really stands out about Perry's is that it is all natural and you can tell. The flavors are fresh and definitely not artificial tasting.

This sample certainly was a tease since it is truly wonderful and very inaccessible to us in the Boston area.

New Yorkers/Pennsylvanians who have access to Perry's: I have some coupons! Let us know (by Friday, April 9, noon EST) what your favorite Perry's flavor is in the comments form (be sure there is a way to contact you) and we'll choose some readers to get some coupons in the mail!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

Sitting home happily solo Sat night I decided to catch up on some DVR'd Food Network shows. Knowing the husband would roll his eyes at watching these episodes I took full advantage of being just me to check out some of Food TV's stars takes on ice cream. First stop, Giadda's Everyday Italian. Could she make it look any easier! Seriously why when I make ice cream do I always seem to have spilled cream everywhere, egg shells in my yolks, and of course some sort of scrambled egg mixture in the end (I am still learning!). So she hyped me up into making her Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato. Actually it truly was the jar of Nutella that did it. I tried it tonight for the first time and it really is one of the best things on earth. I can just image in a Nutella anf fluff sandwich or Nutella and anything for that matter. Okay back to gelato...Giadda's recipe actually is as simple as she makes it look so its worth checking out if you are into making your own ice cream, or gelato in this case.

Oh and if you are new to this like me, you might be interested in what makes gelato different from ice cream...my findings found that its the fact that italian ice cream(gelato) has more milk than cream and less air making it denser and richer. Whereas american ice cream uses a higher fat content with more cream than milk. I have found recipes to really vary but this is the lowdown on italian vs american. If anyone has a more thorough answer feel free to forward it along as my research was rather short and sweet. Actually Giadda actually explains this quickly in the beginning of the episode which was helpful.

My initial findings..this gelato takes much longer to freeze than my typical ice cream. Okay, its been 15 minutes and it still looks soupy (I am actually typing this on my counter as it churns away so this is a play by play post..never take your eye off the ball they say!). Okay 30 minutes later and still soupy...not looking too good. (looks like The Perfect Scoop cover but I am sure tastes nothing like it!)

Next morning... :( icy and not the creamy texture that Giadda's looked like. No clue what went wrong but it was my first try at making gelato. My husband actually really liked it although he thought it was very sweet but it definitely didn't meet my expectations. Oh well..practice makes perfect I guess. At least I discovered Nutella in the process and now have a new BFF!

Try it out...Giadda made it look awesome and I'm stil learning so don't take my word for this recipe yet!


Giadda's Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.

Holy Cannoli Gelato at Cha Cha's, NYC

Yay another weekend in NYC for me! Love the city and even more fun when its a girl's weekend full of eating, sightseeing, cocktails, and of course, ice cream. Well Gelato in this case but something frozen and yummy.

So we head out of our hotel on 42nd and continue to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk until we hit Little Italy. I had never been to this part of the city so I was quite excited to see how it compares to our North End of Boston. Definitely much smaller than I anticipated but it was packed with people. Oh and one annoying opera contest that we couldn't seem to get away from. It was enough to drive me to eat more gelato to distract me. So anyways, this street is packed with good old italian eateries, street vendors, and wow lots of people. Definitely different than Boston's italian district...NYC is sort of like a piazza where Boston is a quaint street with old and new restaurants and a bustle of people on the sidewalks but nothing like NYC and its restaurants back to back with tables packed to the sidewalks edge.

So I was on the hunt for some funky gelateria but this district is truly authentic and style is not at the top of the list. So Cha Cha's sure jumped out at me or maybe I ran into it while dodging crowds. Who knows but at this point in the day, 4 hours of walking and 90 degrees and sunny it was a great find. As you can see by the picture above this is no fancy Pinkberry. It's full of character and what matters most is the gelato. They probably offered about 15 gelato flavors and 15 italian ice flavors.

So what was my choice...Holy Cannoli and Chocolate. I love cannolis and almost debated a cannoli over gelato so this was a great compromise. And the chocolate had a rich chocolate brown color that looked like it'd be intense in flavor. I had to scream to ask the guy what Holy Cannoli actually was and he responded back to me with a great native New Yorker accent ..."Ever heard of a cannoli...it has that in it!" No shit Sherlock! So my take is that its vanilla based with pieces of the cannoli shell and chocolate chips throughout (pic on left). Another answer I could barely hear sounded like they actually mushed filled cannolis in with vanilla gelato but I wasn't getting much of that ricotta flavor so not sure this is the case. In all it was good, not great. The chocolate was much better with a rich and smooth flavor. Regardless it was perfect after walking the city. My friend actually calculated that we walked 7.5 miles just that afternoon so I don't feel one bit bad about getting two scoops. Man, I should have gotten more!

Interesting factoid about Cha Cha's (which is actually a restaurant not just a gelato cart)..."The best thing about Cha Cha's is its owner John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia. He started off as a boxing promoter for Tony Danza and ended up as the "go to guy....when you need something done..if ya know what I'm sayin." Love Tony Danza!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Artisan Gelato in NYC, Ciao Bella

Three days in NYC and no time for ice cream...a pure disgrace. After cruising by so many cool spots in the village to grab a scoop I ended up sniffing out a last resort creamery in Grand Central Station. And for my last chance at a scoop before heading home I sure stumbled upon a good one, the Ciao Bella Gelato Company. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised! I can't say I've tried gelato too many times so this was a sweet treat. It was a hot and humid day in the city and I craved something refreshing so my choice of the day....Key Lime with Graham Cracker Swirl Gelato. This generous scoop was white in color, offered a sensational creamy texture with the perfect key lime tartness and graham cracker swirls throughout. This was SO good and the perfect flavor for a hot summer day. Ahhh, refrshing!

Ciao Bella of course has your typical favorites but it was the truly inventive options that intrigued me...Green Tea & White Chocolate Chunk, Red Bean, Venezualan Milk Chocolate...seriously the list goes on. According to their site they use top-notch ingredients imported from around the world and not only sell their wonderful creations at storefronts and by the pint in retail shops but top NYC restaurants and world renowned chefs call on them to provide truly experimental and decadant flavors. For a boutique creamery it sure sounds like they got a good thing going and if you read below, they sure do. I definitely recommend this italian scoopable sensation that will not disappoint. Move over Ben & Jerry! (those could be fighting words I know!)

Bella was recently named one of the top brands on the verge by BRANDWEEK and is quickly becoming one of the nation’s most watched frozen desserts.

Ciao Bella has been named best gelato and best sorbetto by Real Simple Magazine.

Ciao Bella is the most awarded purveyor of artisanal gelato and sorbetto

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]