Is there anything more blissful than ice cream? The creamy decadence, the rich flavor—heck, even the way it melts down the side of your cone in the warm sunshine. Ice cream makes just about everything better. With information pulled from Westchester Magazine’s July 2013 issue, here’s the scoop on 10 terrific ice cream stops.
Abbott’s Frozen Custard (Shrub Oak) This super-fresh, ultra-smooth frozen custard is made in small batches and uses a secret recipe dating back to 1902. Because it’s hand-churned, with only 2 percent air, it’s thick, soft, and dense.
Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream (Cross River) already feels like a community staple because its 20-plus flavors (offered on a rotating basis) are so addictive (oatmeal cookies and cream, chocolate pudding, Stumptown Coffee, salted caramel, and chocolate hazelnut swirl) and the place so cheery and fun (we love the write-on blackboard).
King Kone (Somers) is a Westchester mainstay, a roadside stand with a giant ice cream cone jutting out from the roof that can’t help but make you smile. Ice cream is available in hard-pack and soft varieties; there are 18 hard-pack flavors (the ice cream comes from well-known vendors Gifford’s Ice Cream, Hershey’s Ice Cream, and Perry’s Ice Cream) and dozens of toppings.
Lighthouse Ice Cream and Coffee Kompanies (Tarrytown) is all about simplicity, and, to that end, offers handcrafted ice cream made of high-quality, locally sourced ingredients. Expect about 30 flavors, dozens of toppings, and interesting concoctions such as the hot ice cream sandwich from Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef Briana Getterman.
If a place calls itself Local (Chappaqua), it’s a pretty good bet the owner is interested in honoring what’s regional. Some of the most requested flavors: Cookie Monster (sweet cream ice cream with cookie bits), ginger crème brûlée (ginger ice cream with bits of fresh ginger), and peanut butter mudslide (peanut butter ice cream with cookies and fudge).
The words “charming” and “cozy” define Longford’s Own-Made Ice Cream (Rye). The “own-made” ice cream, crafted in Port Chester, comes in 36 flavors with 20 toppings (a rotating list of soft ice cream is also available, though it’s not “own-made”).
Main Street Sweets (Tarrytown) has 38 flavors, including peach, strawberry, cotton candy, and Main Street Special (coffee with chocolate chunks and fudge). The store also offers soft-serve, though it’s not made in-house.
Everything is gorgeous and tastes as good as it looks at Sherry B Dessert Studio (Chappaqua), where the ice cream, ice pops, and ice cream sandwiches are house-made from scratch. Flavors change seasonally. Of the six flavors offered, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, and peanut butter Cap ’n Crunch remain top contenders.
The lemon flavor in the lemon ice cream at The Blue Pig (Croton-on-Hudson) comes from hand-squeezed lemons. Even the milk used in the made-on-the-premises ice cream comes from Hudson Valley Fresh, a local co-op in Dutchess County. There are 16 flavors that change with the seasons.
At The Purple Monkey (Croton-on-Hudson), you’ll find 19 ice cream flavors, an island full of toppings, and 12 self-serve yogurt stations.
