On the Ice Cream Trail: Delmarva's Delicious Creameries
Ice cream people. You know all about them. They’ll go to any lengths for the best cone or cup of the creamy stuff. Maybe they prefer sprinkles to syrup. Maybe they are a purist or piler-on of the toppings. Maybe they are you. If you’re an ICP, you can’t be much luckier than to live on or visit Delmarva, where there’s an amazing selection of creameries. These are no chain shops – they are the home of painstakingly hand-crafted ice creams in flavors you may have not heard of or with ingredients that may surprise you.
On a recent Monday, my father, Norm (a charter ICP member) and I set out to try four creameries across the region. A tough job, but as they say, someone had to do it. Norm’s job was to taste the full-fat traditional ice cream. I, his lactose (and gluten)-challenged child, sought dairy-free and vegan selections (and Lactaid in hand, some regular bites.)
Things to know: This was not a scientific test. We did not taste the same flavors everywhere. Our goal was to sample the actual “flavor” of each place. But each of us had favorites which we will mention. We only had the ice cream–no toppings–and Norm tested most of the cones. And to be clear: there are no losers! Every location had wonderful offerings. Maybe the best surprise was how affordable it was and, we both felt, what a bargain it was against other things you could choose to eat or do. Some places had farm tours or stores, others had picnic areas and playgrounds, still others actual cows on site. At most of the locations the “one scoop” servings were huge. People can taste what they want before they buy at almost all locations.
We wished we could have tested more – at least theoretically. There’s only so much you can do in a day! Here is our take on the places we visited, as well as a late return by me to taste a new ice cream brand.
Island Creamery, Salisbury, Maryland
Nothing like ice cream at 11 AM, and there we were, like two little kids, in the drive thru line at the Salisbury location. Full disclosure, I have been to the mother ship in Chincoteague, Virginia, and the Berlin, Maryland shop, so I knew it was a great place to start.
The board of flavors and toppings was substantial with 27 “regular” flavors and 11 seasonal flavors the day we visited. May I tell you how excited I was when I discovered three (!) vegan flavors? There were sorbets and no-sugar added offerings, and a full array of toppings. Waffle and cake cones, sundaes and banana splits, and waffle bowls could keep you busy a very long time.
Norm tried a single scoop strawberry cone which featured “a lot of fruit” and it towered as the largest single scoop on a cone of the day. I was able to split my equally generous cup into half vegan chocolate – which was outstanding (for me the best vegan offering of the day), and a few bites of real rum raisin, which had great flavor and tons of soft raisins inside. I also recommend the Cantaloupe if it is in season.
When all was said and done, Norm proclaimed Island Creamery the best cone of the day. Special mention: while we got good service everywhere, a shout out to Chelsea, Alanna, Kiersten and Morgan who (having no idea we were there to test) gave the warmest best service of the day. A good start.
The Frozen Farmer, Bridgeville, Delaware
Unless you’ve been off the grid, chances are good you have seen Katey Evans on Shark Tank. Lori Greiner, one of the Sharks, was so impressed with her enthusiastic performance that she invested in the operation, which has continued to expand by leaps and bounds, including a new deal for distribution with Wal-Mart.
Evans, her husband, Kevin, and her mother Jo Ellen Algier, are a third-generation farming family in Bridgeville, Delaware, with a passion for saving “perfectly imperfect” fruit and repurposing it. According to their website, more than 20% of fruits and veggies in America are too ugly to make it off the farm and onto a store shelf, creating a loss in profit and a complete waste of food. As they brainstormed how they might cut the waste, an idea for a line of sorbets was the one that launched a million pints.
On the day we were there, there were 25 regular flavors, including eight dairy-gluten-nut-free sorbets. The selection of cones included the only gluten free waffle cone I’d seen on the Shore – and if you didn’t know it was GF, you wouldn’t. I’d go back for the cone alone. They also make sundaes, milkshakes and floats (including one with Kombucha) and their trademarked “Froberts™” – a sorbet/ice cream blend that is creamy but with less sugar and fat, reminding me of gelato. Toppings were plentiful and the servings a nice size.
Norm, shown above, found his “best” ice cream of the day with the Blueberry Strudel. (He is, I kid you not, still talking about it.) I loved a few bites of the Cherry Vanilla, too. Very rich and a lot of fruit. Sitting outside on the porch was comfortable as we made small talk with locals out for a treat and travelers who came because they had seen Shark Tank. Next door the family has a farm stand and general store where we picked up salsa, tomato sauce and white balsamic.
Vanderwende’s, Bridgeville, Delaware
Heading north to Bridgeville our GPS decided it was tired, so we had a little more time to digest as we worked our way around the backroads until we spotted the bright white and teal building with the flags like an oasis of cool.
There were almost 30 Signature flavors, three sugar-free and one dairy-free option, and a rotation of seasonal flavors. By this point Norm and I were freely sharing flavors. The Black Raspberry was so smooth and creamy, and the Apple Pie was in fact like eating an ice cream version of pie – the flavors in both were bold and the fruit plentiful. While I liked the Dairy-Free Watermelon Sorbet, the best flavor of the day for me was the Coffee. (Please, I beg you, work on a dairy-free version!) They also carry DF Dole Whip.
The location is very comfortable with Adirondack chairs and picnic tables. We saw the first kids of the day in a family celebrating their 2-yearold brother’s birthday. The 3- and 5-year-old little girls told me how much they loved the ice cream, but what they all wanted was to go see the cows in the field. For a family I can imagine that this could make for a relaxing after school trip or heading-home-from-vacation stop, as the kids put their faces in the photo stand cut-outs and visited with the cows.
You can mix and match scoops, and again – super generous portions. And the little store smelled like fresh strawberries as baskets lined the tables. The homemade waffle cone was very good and there are cake cones and cups, milkshakes, floats, sundaes, banana splits, pints & quarts and ice cream cakes available. Thanks to Gracie and Ann who spent some time explaining flavors and options.
Hopkins Farm Creamery, Lewes, Delaware
For our last call we headed east to the outskirts of Lewes, Delaware. Hopkins Farm Creamery is located on Green Acres Farm, which has been owned and operated by the Hopkins family for four generations, and on the present location since 1942. The creamery has been open since 2008 and all the ice cream is made on premises. The working farm has become a mainstay for locals and tourists alike, with cows, pigs, goats and a horse, some or all of which may be available for petting, depending on when you arrive.
Queueing up in line, we spoke with people who were stopping on their way home from work, after school or out for an afternoon on vacation. There are cones, sundaes, shakes and ice cream sandwiches and you can buy pints and quarts. If you are planning an event, you can even have the Hopkins Ice Cream Truck come to you. Want to skip the line? The ice cream is also on sale at nearly two-dozen restaurants across Lower Delaware as well as Salisbury and Baltimore, Maryland.
There’s a picnic area with climbing structures for kids and signs say the farm offers a tour as well (call for information.) It took a little longer to get our order, but when it was called from the window, we were glad we waited.
Norm surprised me, ordering Coconut. He said he did it because the flavor is notoriously hard to get right and when he tasted it, he proclaimed it the second-best flavor he’d had all day and maybe the best coconut ice cream ever. While there was one dairy-free flavor at the time (Lemon Ice) a taste was not available, so I ordered regular Mint Chip, which was the best regular flavor of the day for me – rich, crisp without being overly gooey, and flavorful.
Evolution Public House, Salisbury, Maryland
Just as I thought the research for this piece was finished, I remembered that I had come across a new Lower Shore brand about to launch, and to do this story justice, I had to go back.
Evolution Craft Brewing Company has launched a micro-line of ice cream at their Public House location in Salisbury, where you can buy a rotating selection of eight or nine flavors as a dessert or by the pint and quart. The new brand – Rooster Scream Ice Cream – did not yet have logoed packaging when I tasted it with Chef Kesmit, a master baker and pastry chef who hails from Jamaica and has been with EVO for about six years. Kesmit – kind of a mad scientist of desserts – had assembled a tasting tray of the all-naturally flavored ice cream, and I’ll be honest: if you are an ICP, it’s fantastic. EVO is not an ice cream stand, but rather a restaurant making pretty outrageous desserts for which they are well known. So it’s a bit of a different animal, with a higher price point with smaller servings.
Disclaimers aside – wow. Knowing I am dairy challenged, he offered first the dairy-free Pina Colada with bits of fresh pineapple, which was so flavorful and, really the top possible score, tasted “real.” The vegan Nutty Chocolate with pecans and almonds was excellent. I enjoyed the Coffee Stout and the Banana Fosters, and the Mint Chip, made with fresh mint leaf extract. And it was possibly the best chocolate ice cream I have had recently, with a pure rich taste due, the chef said, to sourcing a cocoa powder with a higher percentage of cocoa fat than usually used.
This ice cream is a little softer than farm stand because Kesmit is working to keep the sugar content lower so that the taste can take center stage. He was excited to tell me he’s working on an ice cream “sandwich” using cake instead of cookies and a Mango Ginger Sorbet with Blueberry Compote. Stay tuned.
BUILD YOUR OWN ICP LIST
Our trip was a lot of fun, and we only touched the tip of the cone as there are many great creameries across Delmarva.
The Blue Scoop
Route 20 and 54, West Fenwick, Delaware
Bon Heur Pie & Ice Cream
5B Goldsbrough Street, Easton, Maryland
Brown Dog Ice Cream
203 Mason Avenue, Cape Charles, Virginia
Evolution Craft Brewing & Public House
201 E. Vine Street, Salisbury, Maryland
The Frozen Farmer
9843 Seashore Highway, Bridgeville, Delaware
Hopkins Creamery
18186 Dairy Farm Road, Lewes, Delaware
Island Creamery
6243 Maddox Boulevard, Chincoteague Island, Virginia
120 N. Main Street, Berlin, Maryland
306 Dogwood Drive, Salisbury, Maryland
Scottish Highland Creamery
314 Tilghman Street, Oxford, Maryland
UDairy Creamery
535 S. College Avenue, Newark, Delaware
Vanderwende Farm Creamery
4003 Seashore Highway, Bridgeville, Delaware
8372 Hickman Road, Greenwood, Delaware
23 Bellevue Street, Dewey Beach
300 Coastal Highway, Fenwick Island
Woodside Farm Creamery
1310 Little Baltimore Road, Hockessin, Delaware
