The Bent Spoon (thebentspoon.net) in Princeton has become a Mecca for those with adventurous ice cream palates. Since 2004, they have been using Garden State ingredients to hand-make flavors like lavender, Earl Grey, habanero chocolate and avocado.
In Jersey City, Torico Homemade Ice Cream Parlor has introduced flavors that many folks may not have even heard of, much less tasted. Jackfruit is a Pan-Asian variety with a subtle fruit salad flavor; Latin American mamey is a coral-colored fruit similar to a sweet potato, with an avocado texture that lends itself well to the smoothness of ice cream; and ube is made with the essence of a bright purple yam.
Even the most mainstream scoop shops will feature a flavor or two that steps off the gastronomic grid. In Montclair, Applegate Farms (applegatefarms.com) offers green tea ice cream flecked with actual tea leaves, and the Jefferson Dairy (jeffersondairy.com) in Lake Hopatcong has created a perfectly balanced sweet and salty combo of maple and bacon.
Being at liberty to experiment with small-batch recipes, restaurant chefs may have actually been the first to launch the trend of unusual ice creams.
Garlic Rose (garlicrose.com) in Madison and Cranford, has served garlic ice cream since it first opened 16 years ago. “It’s an acquired taste,” says owner Marc Corello. The unconventional treat is made from a traditional vanilla bean base and is served with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. They sell a lot of it. “When we run out, people are always disappointed.”
Executive Chef Bill Zucosky at Strip House (striphouse.com) in the Westminster Hotel in Livingston has featured vegan red beet ice cream and a lemongrass variety that he serves with a slice of candied-ginger pound cake.
To achieve intense flavor, Zucosky recommends “juicing and reducing,” or “steeping your component in the heavy cream without overheating the cream.”
Possibly the most unusual restaurant ice cream being made in New Jersey is served at Costanera (costeneranj.com) in Montclair, where Chef Juan Placencia uses the lucuma fruit of his native Peru to create a delicious frozen dessert that tastes like a maple-syrup-smothered sweet potato.
Pastry Chef Elizabeth Katz of Maritime Parc (maritimeparc.com) in Jersey City has included strawberry balsamic, sweet corn, olive oil fennel, candied ginger, blueberry Thai basil and coffee stout chip among the traditional ice creams on her menu. Some of her creations star in a sundae; others complement a cake or torte. Either way, the flavor possibilities and combinations seem endlessly deliciously.
SUZANNE ZIMMER LOWERY is a food writer, pastry chef and culinary instructor at a number of New Jersey cooking schools. Find out more about her at suzannelowery.com.