Brooklyn’s Best New Ice Creams and Frozen Treats
National Ice Cream Day may have come and gone, but scoops and sundaes hardly need a PR push come summer. Especially since Brooklyn’s pantheon of seasonal frozen desserts—Steve’s swingles, Coolhaus’ sandwiches, anything from Ample Hills—has seen a surfeit of illustrious additions this past year, from cones crafted from Japanese crepes and Hong Kong waffles, to Mexican chamoyadas and churro bowls and Amalfi-inspired Italian ices.
Wowfulls’ Hong Kong Waffle Cones
This Smorgasburg vendor’s outrageous ice cream concoctions have made them a certified insta-Instagram sensation. Still, it seems a shame fiddling with photo filters when faced with the prospect of a fast-melting “Gai Dån Jai” waffle cone, furnished with ice cream (including salted caramel), toppings (go for mochi) and frosted sticks of strawberry or banana flavored Pocky.
wowfulls.com
Roll N’ Roasters’ Lemon Ices
Essentially the ultimate lemonade stand, R n’ R’s summer-long pop-up window peddles nubbly, exceptionally refreshing ices inspired by the owner’s trips to the Amalfi Coast; made from nothing more than fresh lemon or orange juice, sugar and water, shot through with bright flecks of zest.
2901 Emmons Ave., Sheepshead Bay
http://www.rollnroaster.com/
Juno’s Churro Bowl Sundae
While we’ll never quit Peter Pan’s donut ice cream sandwiches, Juno is definitely onto something with their compact, ooze-free churro bowls—molding the sugar-dusted, deep-fried pastry dough into edible vessels for Parlor coffee ice cream, infused with chipotle, chocolate and cilantro.
1264 Myrtle Ave., Bushwick|
http://www.junobrooklyn.com/
Mekelburg’s Babka Banana Split
What’s sweeter than scoring a pint of Mekelburg’s limited edition collaboration with Ample Hills; i.e., chocolate and vanilla ice creams, studded with chunks of chocolate or cinnamon babka? Having the Clinton Hill eatery incorporate scoops into an epic banana split; flanking fruit and cake with ice cream, whipped cream and Fox’s U-Bet syrup.
293 Grand Ave., Clinton Hill
http://www.mekelburgs.com/
Supercrown Coffee Roasters’ Affogatos
Get your sugar rush and caffeine fix from Bushwick’s premiere third wave coffee roaster, which couples Van Leeuwen’s sweet cream ice cream with its own sustainably sourced beans to make impeccable affogatos and espresso-spiked shakes.
8 Wilson Ave., Bushwick
http://supercrown.coffee/
La New Yorkina’s Chamoyadas
Already renowned for her exotically flavored paletas, Mexican dessert guru, Fany Gerson, recently debuted chamoyadas—mango shaved ice with salted chili powder and pickled plum juice, poked with tamarind candy straws—at her Red Hook tiendita, duo of beach outposts and weekend Smorgasburg stands.
www.lanewyorkina.com
Hail Mary’s Paulie Gee Malt
The finer diner’s next door neighbor, Paulie Gee’s (and its spicy-savory-sweet pizzas) was the muse for this modern malt—a burrata ice cream base ribboned with salty guanciale, and enveloped in webs of Mike’s Hot Honey.
68 Greenpoint Ave., Greenpoint
http://www.hailmarybk.com/
Malai’s Indian Ice Creams
This Smorgasburg newcomer (which also supplies product to Foragers Market in DUMBO) forgoes bells and whistles for top quality ingredients and elegant, spice-based flavor profiles—think rose with cinnamon, golden turmeric, palm sugar tamarind, and masala chai with ginger and black pepper.
www.malai.co
Win Son’s Fried Mantou
After exhausting your daily calorie count on Win Son’s nutritious sandwich (a sheath of oil-puffed sweet dough, lined with jalapenos, pineapple and ham), you might as well go for broke by ordering up a deep-fried mantou as well; gleaming with coverlets of sweet and condensed milk, and clasped like a clam shell around vanilla ice cream.
159 Graham Ave., East Williamsburg
http://www.winsonbrooklyn.com/
Fifty On Crepe House’s Thai Ice Cream Rolls
Not only has this Sunset Park sweet shop jumped aboard the Thai-style rolled ice cream craze (scraped in coils from a sub zero anti-griddle), they offer Japanese crepe cones as well; folded rice flour pancakes amassed with ice cream, custard cream, fruit, nuts and starchy red beans.
472 49th St., Sunset Park
Photos by Jane Bruce and Kelsey Mitchell
