What makes our ice cream special? We have people ask us that question all of the time. (Usually before they taste it :) ) We always seem to answer the same way. Our ice cream has a high butterfat and low overrun that makes it much creamier than your standard ice cream. (Low overrun means that there is less air blended into the ice cream) We also say that our flavors are unique, we strive to create flavors that no one else makes, flavors that make people interested in ice cream again. Don’t get us wrong, all of these things are true, very true. As our business grows we think that we are starting to see what really makes something artisan. It’s a combination of hard work, attention to detail, and craftsmanship. Let us explain…
Hard Work- Our ice cream is handmade in small batches. Let us take a second to qualify this. We make about 45 pints a batch. Other companies qualify a small batch as 10,000 containers at a time, or more. I guess it depends on what you see as small. We do everything by hand, from designing and stickering the containers, to cooking and blending ingredients, to sometimes adding an extra touch to the top of each of our pints.
Attention to Detail- We never, never stop improving our ice cream recipes. Every time we re-evaluate the process, re-evaluate ingredients and listen to what you say. Since we make batches so small we can make those small adjustments and never miss a beat. Our recipes then evolve into something less mass-produced, more artisan. We frequently do the little things that big companies can’t do like make a custom flavor for an event, team up with small local companies and incorporate their strengths into our ice cream, or even something as simple as adding crushed biscotti or marshmallows on top of each container. We don’t have to put hearts on the top of Love Potion #9, but we do it because quite simply, we think it looks cool.
Craftsmanship- As our company evolves so does our product. We are doubling our efforts to provide the highest quality ingredients to give you the best product that we can. We spend huge amounts of time researching local ingredients, talking with experts in everything from chocolate to nutmeg. Thus making sure that whatever ingredients we use that aren’t locally produced are responsibly grown and absolutely the best quality. This is really the fun part. We will spend the extra money on a quality ingredient and since we started selling retail, our wholesale price has remained the same even though we increased our container size by 33%. We have some great artisan experiences to share with you, and we have only just begun.
If our manufacturing process could match speed with our creative process we would have 50 plus flavors on the market. So what that tells you is there is a lot more to come from Lake Effect Ice Cream. So keep an eye out because you never know whats next!
