I am blessed that all the men in my life love ice cream. Thanks to my husband, my nephew, and a few friends close enough to feel like family, I always have a partner in my endless quest for the perfect scoop. I am also fortunate that I’m very particular when it comes to ice cream: It has to be homemade and well worth the calories.
Frozen yogurt is never an option for me; one bite and I can taste the amalgam of chemicals. It sounds like such a healthful option, but truth be told almost all frozen yogurts contain additives like guar gum, maltodextrin, sodium citrate, cellulose gum, disodium phosphate and propylene glycol monoesters. A thickening agent called carrageenan usually makes an appearance as well and has been associated with adverse health effects. So I will continue to be particular and discerning when it comes to my frozen dessert consumption; both for the sake of my well-being and the satisfaction of my cravings. Good quality ice cream almost always wins, although I find sorbetto or granita to be especially refreshing on the warmest of days.
One of my favorite ice cream recipes was given to me by my friend Marie Samuels and appears in Hamptons Entertaining. It is egg based-custard, a rich creamy gelato redolent with the flavor of real vanilla bean. While I love Marie’s presentation, I tend to skip the decorating instructions and serve it in vintage crystal coups, topped with a little bit of chocolate sauce and crushed cocoa nibs for crunch, or I serve it alongside Marta’s Apple Pie, a recipe also featured in Hamptons Entertaining. Okay, now my mouth is watering!
When time is too short to make my own ice cream, there are a few places where I know I can find the perfect scoop—ones that will satisfy the boys in my life and live up to my standards too. The Hamptons offer several options, but these are the places that, thankfully, have a respect for the past, when good old-fashioned ingredients were still in style. When I walk into these shops, it’s like I’m a child again.
1. Sant Ambroeus – 30 Main Street, Southampton, NY
With homemade Italian gelato, sorbetto and granite, everyone can find an icy treat that will satisfy that frozen dessert craving at this Italian restaurant with a shop attached. When I’m looking for something decadent and celebratory I order the White Funny Cup, a deliciously tart lemon sorbet topped with prosecco. For dinner parties I’ll often pick up a container of vanilla and a few biscotti to serve on the side—it’s as good as homemade.
2. Sip ’n Soda – 40 Hampton Road, Southampton, NY
At this family-run establishment (which opened in 1958), the homemade ice cream recipes are a Parash family secret, passed from generation to generation. You can still get an old-fashioned egg cream soda here; one sip while seated in this classic soda fountain luncheonette will surely transport you back to simpler times. My daughters love the ice cream and we often take it home for BBQs and casual gatherings and serve it right out of the tub.
3. Bridgehampton Candy Kitchen – 2391 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, NY
Founded in 1925, the Candy Kitchen is the oldest ice cream purveyor on the South Fork. Decidedly non-trendy and never-changing, locals and vacationing celebrities still clamor for a seat at the counter or in a booth at this luncheonette, and the ice cream is still homemade. Flavors range from vanilla to Oreo, peach to mint chip, but maple walnut is the flavor my dad favored when he indulged. A scoop of tuna with a pickle on the side, followed by a taste of maple walnut ice cream, brings back fond memories of lunch with Dad.