Best Midwest ice cream shops keep you cool

Enjoy the Midwest's tastiest ice cream

Barb at Pumphouse Creamery

One of the best parts of summer is seeking out the Midwest's best ice cream stand, shop, parlor or drive-in. Grab a crispy, crunchy cone, pile it high with dense, sweet ice cream or tangy, refreshing sorbet. It's one of the most luscious (and cool) ways to savor seasonal fruits and flavors. 

Here are my top picks and tips for enjoying the best ice cream in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest: 

Pumphouse Creamery
4754 Chicago Ave., Mpls., 612-825-2021

The local farmers who make this ice cream shop a possibility are featured on the walls. The care shows as owner Barb Zapzalka scoops up sea salt caramel, handcrafted strawberry, blueberry buttermilk and local wild black raspberry at this little Twin Cities ice cream store. Just as good: the handmade Minnesota harvested multigrain cones. 

If you've got your dog along, you can get special cups just for him or her in vanilla or peanut butter with less sugar. Word of advice: Check their Facebook page to find out when seasonal flavors are available so you don't miss them.

Sebastian Joe’s Ice Cream Café
Among the first to up the ice cream ante, Minneapolis's Sebastian Joe's has been scooping its exquisite raspberry chocolate chip and more than 100 other flavors since 1984. You can pick from about 24 daily choices, but we never seem to get past the raspberry. It's that good.

Other temptations: Pavarotti (banana, caramel, and chocolate chips), Immaculate Confection (vanilla, honey, ginger and strudel), white licorice with freshly ground anise, and hilariously named Nicollet Avenue Pothole and Praline Home Companion. Among their sorbets, you'll find ultra refreshing and unique tastes such as orange basil, mint pink grapefruit and red papaya. 4321 Upton Ave. S., Mpls., 612-926-7916; 1007 Franklin Ave. W., Mpls., 612 870-0065

Madison's Chocolate Shoppe ice cream.

 Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream

With nationally lauded dairy program at Madison's University of Wisconsin, you know there has to be good ice cream. Babcock Hall Dairy Store, where the university makes its own ice cream (and you can see the process) has a fiercely loyal following. They do have good flavors, such as orange chocolate, but I prefer the denser, super premium Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, another Madison creation. 

Best flavor bets: strawberry lemonade (this summer's new flavor), Door County cherry, dark and rich Zanzibar chocolate, and fat Elvis (banana, chocolate, peanut butter). Some other unique options among their 110 flavors include honey ginger and horchata (a sweet Mexican rice milk). Customers also can find non-fat yogurt, soy ice cream, no-sugar ice cream and sorbets for anyone on special diets.

You can Chocolate Shoppe ice cream at its three Madison stores or in other locations such as Kalahari Resort's Sweet Shop at Wisconsin Dells, one of our family's favorite treat stops. 

Why here? Besides the ice cream, the sweets are picture-perfect and wonderfully creative whether it's candied apples or playful, googly-eyed chocolate creations. Plus you can eat your ice cream in the African-themed lobby where you might see a live tiger cub snoozing or playing.

In Minnesota, you can get Chocolate Shoppe ice cream at the The Creamery in Rushford along the Root River Trail in southeastern bluff country. It's one of my favorite areas of the state, and if you bike there from the charming hub of Lanesboro, you've more than earned a huge cone.

Ella's Deli  & Ice Cream Parlor

Another Chocolate Shoppe ice cream outlet worth mentioning is the whimsically eclectic Ella's Deli in Madison--one of the best places to dine with kids. This place is part restaurant, part toy museum and part ice cream parlor (remember the heydays of those in the 1970s?). 

Grilled pound cake a la mode.

There are moving toys and flying objects overhead (think superheroes and Harry Potter), games under glass at each table, and a bizarre, but fascinating collection of automatons including mechanical bare feet that sing. Really. There’s also a merry-go-round outside. Besides serving Chocolate Shoppe ice cream cones, they heap it onto grilled pound cake for dessert. Yep. Grilled pound cake with lots of whipped cream, too. Take a few friends or kids to help you eat it.

Michigan's divine tart cherry sorbet and ice cream

Cherry Republic's tangy-sweet cherry pie ice cream.

Across Lake Michigan, Traverse City has taunted my taste buds for years. Truly. I got hooked on its tart cherry sorbet in 2005, and finally got back for another round in June. Tangy, sweet and utterly refreshing. 

As the tart cherry capital of the country, the variations on cherry ice cream is mind-boggling. We'll take the vanilla with real chunks of cherry pie blended in, thank you very much.

Favorite ice cream destinations: The cheeky and beautifully landscaped Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor and family-run Moomer's dairy just outside Traverse City.

Grab a fresh berry shake at the family-run Peppermint Twist in Delano, Minn.

Find a drive-in

If you can't hit the road--and it's not easy with gas prices where they are--look for local drive-ins that  are as comfy and delightful as a meatloaf dinner served by Grandma. I love The Drive-In in Minnesota's Taylor's Falls with its giant root beer mug and homemade root beer. The playful pink Peppermint Twist in Delano, Minn., is just as fun and wedges into the memories of children who love its kid-friendly play and picnic areas. Best bet: fresh berry shakes.

Graeter's blackberry chocolate

Troll your local freezer cases

If you haven't trolled the freezer cases of upscale grocers such as Minnesota's Lund's or Byerly's lately, that's another sweet hotspot for cooling off. Cincinnati's hometown favorite, Graeter's ice cream, hit the cases earlier this year. They make small batches and stir in melted chocolate so it blends in as big irregular hunks you can fight over. 

I tried its trademark blackberry chocolate at its Cincinnati shop years ago, and it was as good as I remembered when I tried the pint in the freezer case. Graeter's mint ice cream is divine, as is the strawberry.

Even better: check the freezer cases of your local co-ops. They'll often carry the best locally made ice cream and sorbets.

 Please chime in with your favorites, too!

 

Garlic ice cream, mustard custard or an organic creamery?

You'll be amazed at the number of garlic varieties.

Celebrate all things garlicky and good at Garlic Festival
When it comes to bizarre food festivals, the Midwest is catching up to California. You no longer have to go to Gilroy's famous Garlic Festival to taste garlic ice cream. You can do it right in Minnesota's Hutchinson at the 5th Annual Garlic Festival Saturday, Aug. 14.  I dare you.

I can't say I liked the tiny bits of garlic in my ice cream last year, but the taste was pretty good. I can check it off my life list and say I tried something new.

It looks deceptively innocent.

The best part of this festival is realizing there is a huge world of garlic out there, and these mammoth, homegrown, delicious bulbs are nothing like the garlic you'll get in the grocery store. Armenian garlic's big bulbs turn to savory, mellow, tender chunks you can spread beautifully when roasted. Music, another variety, also has a delicious aroma and a little more kick, as does German red.

Garlic Fest founder Jerry Ford had me so hooked on better garlic two years ago, I bought enough to get us through the winter and had to hit Garlic Fest last summer to restock.

This year's Garlic Fest is Aug. 14

Besides the chance to see, buy and taste a wide variety of garlic--from mild to knock your socks off--they keep the mood playful here. There are plenty of kids' activities, such as kite-making and flying, plus live music and entertainment.


The biggest draw is the Great Scape Cafe using chefs from some of Twin Cities' best restaurants, including Birchwood, Lucia's and the Modern Cafe. They know the value of a superior garlic bulb and will be preparing braised pork with fruit compote and aioli, a tangy cashew wild rice salad, heirloom tomatoes with poached garlic and honey vinaigrette, and more.

As Jerry puts it: "If that doesn't make your mouth water, you must be a vampire."

Admission's $5 for adults, $3 for kids under 12. If you miss this year's event from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it's always the second Saturday in August.

National Mustard Day: Celebrate America's No. 2 condiment
Not up for garlic ice cream? How about mustard custard? Wisconsin's Mustard Museum with its famously hilarious sense of humor has moved to Middleton (by Madison) and hosts its annual National Mustard Day this Saturday (August 7). I'm tickled to see they're adding chocolate pretzel crunch to the custard. I jokingly suggested pretzel bits to founder Barry Levenson about four years ago, but never thought about chocolate. Sounds rather good.

The party runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with entertainment by the Poupon U accordion band and other entertainers. It's almost worth the road trip just to get the Poupon U T-shirts. Take a spin through the museum, though, and you'll never snub this condiment again. The medicinal uses are fascinating, as are the antique mustard pots and other oddities. Be prepared to sample a lot of mustard and crunch a lot of pretzels.

Plenty of artisan Wisconsin cheese and juicy, smoky brats are a given.

It's all good at Pumphouse Creamery

If you're not that adventurous, check out the Discoveries section of the June issue of Midwest Living with the Sundae Best feature.

I was lucky enough to test Pumphouse Creamery in Minneapolis for them. There are 20 handmade, organic flavors with many ingredients grown here in Central Minnesota. These are all dreamy combinations: buckwheat honey; sea salt, caramel and praline pecan; and brandy-soaked cherry with brownie bits. Get them scooped up on their homemade multi-grain cones.

OK, time to wipe the drool off my keyboard.
Right: Owner Barb Zapzalka with her ice cream. Good luck deciding on just one flavor. She smartly offers a multi-scoop sampler for customers and lower-sugar, lower-fat ice cream cups for their pampered pets.