For my birthday this week, my wonderful wife, Kendra, whipped up a batch of amazing marshmallow ice cream. Definitely my favorite…although I love pretty much any ice cream.
We used to go to Cold Stone Creamery fairly regularly, especially before and during the early years of kids. There was one shop about a mile away, which was really dangerous. Part of me is glad that it closed…a very, very small part. ?
Anyway, Cold Stone likes to try out new flavors fairly regularly. Sometimes they are seasonal (pumpkin pie) and definitely rotate out, but others seem to be more like trials and last longer if not indefinitely (cake batter). Years ago, they introduced marshmallow ice cream. It was my instant favorite. Ohhhhh…marshmallow ice cream with a little brownie and maybe some caramel mixed in? Drooling.
I figured it wouldn’t last forever, but over a year went by and I thought, maybe it was popular enough to make it permanent? Could I be that luckily?
Sadly, no. They pulled it shortly after. I remember going to our nearby shop and asking the manager if she had any more that I could buy and take home. I didn’t know her name, but we were regular enough customers that she recognized me…and what I usually ordered. She took pity on me and sure enough, found some in the back. I bought it, took it home and made it last as long as I could.
After that, Kendra started working on duplicating it as a homemade ice cream. And I’m happy to report, she has amazing skills and nailed the recipe! I enjoyed a large bowl and told her so, although I’m pretty sure she still feels like it’s not quite perfect, but that’s her, especially when it comes to desserts.
Thinking about ice cream has conjured a kid memory for me! I can picture in my mind the little corner ice cream “hut”…it wasn’t really a store, more like a shack, but I think “hut” sounds less ghetto…we really did live in a very nice neighborhood. I remember what it looked like but not the name…probably something like Tasty Freez but I think it was another brand or maybe a mom and pop version. Definitely a great soft serve on a cone place…although the “dipped in chocolate shell” variety was my favorite. Actually, I think it was cake cone, half and half twist chocolate and vanilla soft serve, dipped in chocolate shell. I guess that was my kid equivalent of a complicated order at Starbucks these days. They also had another dip that was more like Crunch Cone at Dairy Queen…but like I said, this was much more low brow…I think their version was Twinkle Coat or something like that.
I’ll be looking forward to my next batch of marshmallow ice cream…although I do have a few more scoops left. Although I’ll have to move fast, homemade doesn’t last…and if I don’t enjoy it before Saturday, it will be fair game for the kids!