Salty Caramel

Claudio Cantaloupe Ice Cream

Above: A scoop of Claudio Cantaloupe ice cream, a new flavor available only in our scoop shops.

We have lots of flavors for you to taste this weekend in our shops, including the new Claudio Cantaloupe ice cream. Beginning today, we've added a small batch of the great Claudio Cantaloupe only to our dipping cabinets (supplies are very limited; pints are not available in shops or at jenis.com).

A delicious, buttery, velvety, and floral blend of cantaloupe, sweet Ohio grass-grazed cream, and Ohio wildflower honey (and a few other ingredients we'll get to below), Claudio Cantaloupe is a throwback to the early days of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams when Jeni herself made every flavor, every day behind the counter in the North Market.

Back then, a sweet customer named Claudio used to tout Jeni's cantaloupe ice cream as Jeni's best performance and his hands-down favorite flavor. Jeni, nothing if not in tune with the feedback of the fans, named the ice cream Claudio Cantaloupe.

And Claudio? Word is he ran off to Italy to elope with his beloved.

So, thank you, Claudio, wherever you are, for inspiring the special new addition to our late-summer menu — a limited-edition delight we make this way:

Above: The arrival of super-aromatic Ohio cantaloupes.

Above: Cantaloupes drying after a bath in the cleansing vinegar solution we use to kill any bacteria.

Above: The great halving of the melons.

Above: Line 'em up, scoop 'em out.

Above: Pureeing the cantaloupe.

Above: Straining before the boil.

Above: Cantaloupe aboil with sugar, sea salt, Ohio honey, and grass-grazed Ohio cream.

Above: Claudio Cantaloupe ice cream. Available only in scoops, only in our shops (all of our shops) in Ohio and Tennessee.

Now in Our Shops: The Farmers' Market Sundae

 

For the past several years Jeni has made the Farmers' Market Sundae during the annual North Market Food & Ohio Wine Festival, and it’s always been a big hit.

Now available Friday to Sunday every weekend this summer in our shops (except German Village), the Famers' Market Sundae is composed of fresh berries, the perennial favorite Lemon & Blueberries Frozen Yogurt, made-from-scratch Port Wine Berry Compote, fresh mint, and fresh-whipped cream.

We make the compote by soaking berries for 30-plus minutes in sugar, honey, and port wine. Port, a sweet, fortified wine that tastes a little like raisins, helps the berries release their juices and deepens the flavor of the sundae.

So, stop by any of our shops this weekend and give the Farmers' Market Sundae a try. And, if you're not in Ohio or Tennessee, check out instructions to make it yourself. You'll find Jeni's recipe on pages 90 and 91 in Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.

Above: A summer favorite, the Farmers' Market Sundae. Available weekends (Friday-Sunday) in all scoop shops (except German Village).

Now Available: Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk

Above: The perennial favorite, Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk, has returned to the menu.  

The first full weekend of summer is upon us and with it arrives the return of one of our most popular perennials, Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk ice cream.

Available in pints and scoops in all shops (except, for the time being, German Village) and online, Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk is incredibly smooth and creamy, boasts ridiculously decicious strawberry taste, texture, and aroma, and will remind you of a bowl of fresh strawberries and cream.

Here's how we do it:

1. Buy whole plots of tiny, little jewel-like strawberries from farms in Tennessee (where the crops can be harvested a bit earlier inthe year) and Ohio (where we've worked with farmers for a decade).
2. Wash, top, roast (to concencrate the flavor), puree, and blend into buttermilk ice cream.
3. Pack by hand into pints, then freeze and serve.

Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk—try it straight up or as part of the trio Jeni suggests: Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk, Pistachio & Honey, and The Milkiest Chocolate in the World.

Above: flavor-packed, jewel-like strawberries ready to be washed, topped, roasted, and pureed. 

Above: Strawberries in the oven. Roasting concentrates their flavor.

Above: Roasted strawberries just before they are pureed and blended with buttermilk ice cream.

Above: A spoonful of summer—Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk ice cream.

Menu News You Can Use

Above: The radiant new summertime ice cream, Juniper & Lemon Curd.

Let's cut right to it. New to the menu today:

ICE CREAMS (avail. in scoops and pints):

• Backyard Mint
• Goat Cheese with Red Cherries
• Lemon & Blueberries
• Juniper & Lemon Curd

The first three flavors above are perennial faves, while brand-new is the delicious and refreshing Juniper & Lemon Curd — loosely inspired by martini enthusiast and Columbus native son James Thurber.

FROZEN YOGURTS

• Mango Lassi (avail. only in pints)
• Black Currant (avail. only in pints)
• Grapefruit (avail. in pints and scoops)

Tart, slightly bitter, and very creamy, with a grapefruit zest finish, Grapefruit Frozen Yogurt reminds us of a tart sherbet — but with the wonderful natural tang of Seven Stars Farm's organic yogurt and Snowville Creamery's luscious grass-grazed cream. It pairs well with Pistachio & Honey and Dark Chocolate, or any other frozen yogurt on the menu.

SORBET:

• Wheatgrass, Pear, & Vinho Verde Sorbet (avail. in scoops and pints):

A nod to Walt Whitman, author of Leaves of Grass, and to breezy warm summer days, it's a lush blend of a bit of sweet wheatgrass with a lot of pear and just enough vinho verde — a young (as in "green"), effervescent Portuguese wine. Tastes like a breezy summer day feels:

Above: Wheatgrass, Pear, & Vinho Verde Sorbet.

MACAROON:

• Cloverton Mango (avail. only in scoop shops)

When Jeni lived in Miami (in the ‘90s) she used to frequent a tiny restaurant in Little Havana that served slices of a white, creamy, and light cheese with slices of fresh mango. The Cloverton Mango macaroon sandwich is her tribute to that great memory. It's like a hand-held tropical cheesecake, and we can't think of anything better to enjoy on a walk than this. The ice cream is a blend of Snowville's grass-grazed cream and super-creamy Cloverton cheese from southern Ohio's Laurel Valley Farm, and each sandwich has a generous dollop of homemade mango jam in the middle.

FROZEN YOGURT PUSH-POPS: 

• Mango Lassi
• Lime Cardamom
• Grapefruit
• Black Currant

Above: Frozen Yogurt Push-Pops — available in all scoop shops.

These will take you back to childhood, but unlike the old-time push-pops (or “push-ups”), ours are made with ingredients you can pronounce and recognize in nature. No super-sweet sweeteners, no dyes, no stablizers or thickeners or fillers. The main ingredients in ours are: fruit, Snowville's grass-grazed cream, and Seven Stars Farm's organic yogurt. Each flavor is tangy and really refreshing and creamy, and each bursts with the taste of real, completely natural, dynamic-tasting fruit.

For more information about the new flavors, check out jenisicecreams.com. And, remember — there willl be plenty more flavor news to share as summer unfurls, so please stay tuned.

The Super Pop Cakes! Soundtrack

Above: The idea for the Super Pop Cakes! collection sprang from our love of regional cakes—and music.

The new Super Pop Cakes! flavors are delicious spectacles of textures, colors, and aromas. They all draw as much inspiration from traditional cakes of specific regions of the world as they do the pulse of those specific spots on globe—which is why a Super Pop Cakes! soundtrack is in order.

We'll soon share the entire batch of tunes with you, but here are a few of the tracks we think are right in time with the vibe of the new flavors.

Let's start with the sunny tune that embodies "Super Pop":

  

On to the Latin American-inspired Tres Leches with Here-N-There Cherries, which tastes great with this in your ears:

 

Mango Kiwi Special Cake? Try this:

 

Hummingbird Cake, they say, originates in Jamaica, but for so many years it's been associated with the American South. (The acclaimed Nashville spot, the Loveless Cafe, serves a spectacular Hummingbird Cake.) On to the Deep South:

 

Magnolia Mochi, a mash-up of American and Japanese sweet treats, demands this good-time surf guitar nugget:

 

Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake? Gotta start with something featuring Bjork:

 

Look for more songs from the Super Pop Cakes! soundtrack in the coming weeks.

Pineapple Upside-Down Parfait

Above: The Pineapple Upside-Down Parfait. Available in all Jeni's scoop shops.

Not that February 2012 has been all that trying cold weather-wise, but couldn't we all use a bit more brightness this time of year? We think so.

Here's one to do it: Grab a good friend and head to one of our shops. We're serving up an intensely flavorful tropical delight we call the Pineapple Upside-Down Parfait.

Here's what you're in for once you grab a long-handle spoon and tuck into that chilled Bar Jar filled with layer upon layer of hand-made, instantly gratifying deliciousness:

• Gooey Butter Cake ice cream
• Lime Cardamom Yogurt
• Pineapple Caramel Sauce (made from scratch in our kitchen)
• Buttery Vanilla Sponge Cake (made from scratch in our kitchen)
• Freshly Whipped Cream (from grass-grazed Snowville Creamery cows)
• Chopped Salt-Toasted Pecans (from Krema Nut Co. in Columbus, Ohio)
• An Amarena Cherry (a rich, natural syrup-soaked cherry)
• Waffle Wedge Garnish (made from scratch in our shops)

The Pineapple Upside-Down Parfait—give it a try, and feel free to let us know what you think by posting a report here or on our Facebook page.

Recreating the Gravel Road Experience

Above: Gravel Road ice cream recreated by adding chopped smoked almonds to scoops of Salty Caramel ice cream.

Gravel Road fans, we know you're out there, and we know you'll be saddened by the departure of Gravel Road from our menu. That's right, we've bid adieu to sweet, savory, and crunchy Gravel Road.

But do not fret! Gravel Road, by a different name, is Salty Caramel with chopped smoked almonds.

In your own home, recreating Gravel Road is as easy as adding chopped smoked almonds to a scoop of Salty Caramel ice cream.

In our shops, recreating Gravel Road is as easy as asking one of our friendly ambassadors to add chopped smoked almonds to your Salty Caramel. (It's only 50 cents.) 

And, if you own Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, Gravel Road instructions are on page 102.

Above: Gravel Road ice cream recreated by asking your friendly shop ambassador to add smoked almonds to your scoops of Salty Caramel.

Jeni's Icelandic Inspiration

  

Early next month, Jeni will unveil five new eye-popping, cake-saturated ice creams—ice creams derived from the sights and sounds of far-flung lands, including Iceland.

Iceland—home of Bjork, viking descendants, and skyr ("skeer")—is also home to Human Woman, a duo with a trippy little electro-pop song enhanced by a psychedelia-drenched video (above).

At Jeni's headquarters, a new collection of flavors on the horizon always means it's time to compile a set of songs that jibe with the collection's vibe. Human Woman makes the cut, as does a cast of others we'll share today through the new collection's debut Friday February 3.

Enjoy!

P.S.

For the record, and for all music geeks everywhere, Human Woman includes Gisli Galdur, of the Icelandic band Trabant, and producer Jón Atli Helgason, a.k.a. Sexy Lazer (!). 

A Sneak Peek at the "Super" New Collection

Above: the makings for a delicious flavor available in Jeni's "super" new collection available nationwide Friday Feb. 3.

The official name we'll share when the time comes, but rest assured the new cake-saturated collection to make it's debut Friday Feb. 3 is super.

Drawing from the cuisine, climates, and soundtracks of five colorful spots from around the world, each flavor encapsulates the magical moment when a scoop of ice cream and a slice of cake melt together and deliciously become one.

Our shops will also receive a makeover in the coming weeks, so ready yourselves for decor that is bright in color and shimmering in tone.

Until then, here is handful of photos from a recent day of mixing, blending, chopping, slicing, and baking in Jeni's kitchen:

Above: Jeni Britton Bauer, taste testing one of the flavors in a new collection she calls "cake-saturated."

Above: Something heavenly this way comes—via the American South.

Above: An eye-popping pink is what we all need to stave off the winter drearies. 

Above: honing the hue with all-natural colorings (beet and black carrot powders).

Above: bananas awaiting a sweet date with ambrosial Ohio honey and luscious, grass-grazed cream from Southeast Ohio's Snowville Creamery.

Above: airy, made-from-scratch, hand-piped meringues. 

Above: One of five new mouthwatering flavors headed your way early next month. Stay tuned for more information about the new cake-saturated collection, which will be available nationwide Friday Feb. 3.

Jeni's Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs Ice Cream

Above: Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs ice cream, available through April.

From luscious, grass-grazed cream to made-from-scratch marshmallows, we take a lot of pride in what we use to make the ice creams Time magazine called "the best in America."

When it comes to the goat cheese we use in the winter favorite, Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs, we look no further than Mackenzie Creamery in Northeast Ohio. Our long-time source for mild and supremely creamy goat cheese, Mackenzie Creamery produces a goat cheese (made with 100% hormone-free milk) that packs undiluted and naturally tart and tangy flavor.

Paired with warm-you-all-over, Courvoisier cognac-soaked sweet fig sauce, Jean Mackenzie's goat cheese puts the ice cream in perfect balance. “(Jean) brings it to us the same day it’s made," Jeni says in a recent interview. "It’s very mild, the best goat cheese,” Bauer says. “It really makes a difference with you make it fresh...especially in ice cream, where every off or on flavor is evident.”

Elegant, visually-stunning—Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs is a truly distinct Jeni’s offering available now through April. Try it today and let us (and the world) know what you think on our Facebook page. Above: Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs. Handmade by Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, the cold-weather favorite features goat cheese from Mackenzie Creamery in Northeast Ohio.

All photos by Kelsey McClellan. See more of Kelsey's work at kelseymcclellan.com.