Aug 17, 2008 10:49 pm US/Central
Finding Minnesota: Ice Cream, Naturally Delicious
(WCCO)
This is the time of year a lot of us end our summer days with a trip to the local ice cream shop. Minnesota has more than enough to choose from, but there is one in Minneapolis that serves up more than just a good scoop of flavor.
In a small little space along Chicago Avenue South, a labor of love is underway six days a week, served up by the bucket-load.
"I stock up on blueberries, raspberries and strawberries during the weeks they are in season. In the fall, I get grapes for grape sorbet" says Barb Zapzalka, the owner of
Pumphouse Creamery. "I make about 50 to 60 gallons a day."
Zapzalka makes the kind of ice cream she remembers as a kid. It's all home-made but it's more than that. It's homegrown. Pumphouse ice cream is all organic, all local, all year round.
The Pumphouse Creamery is kind of a return to Zapzalka's roots on a small farm in a small town near Little Falls. She lived her first life here in the big city as a systems analyst and computer programmer.
On the day we dropped by, she was making 14 or 15 flavors. Zapzalka got blueberries in over the weekend, so she's was making blueberry buttermilk ice cream.
"I can't imagine making a berry ice cream and buying something that's from somewhere else," she said. It's not easy to do. "You know, it's only two weeks time frame or so when you can get strawberries, so I'm calling all over."
She stocks up on berries in season and purees them for winter reminders of sunshine and summertime, like jams and jellies back on the farm.
"I'm not big on sugars, I want the flavors to come out," she explained.
Even the milk and cream she uses come from a small organic dairy farm near the St. Croix River Valley. It goes from cow to cone in a matter of days.
Zapzalka always has about 20 flavors to choose from, which can make choosing one a difficult task. So for your first visit there, you might want to consider a little piece of heaven called the five-scoop sampler.
Zapzalka's sentimental journey could also prompt one of your own. You may have a little option paralysis at the cooler full of glass bottle sodas. Some of the brands you'll recognize from your childhood, and there are more than a dozen root beers to choose from. Obviously, root beer floats are very popular here.
And don't just stop with your human brigade. Two neighborhood dogs prompted Zapzalka to create some sweet treats just for them and their canine
compadres. The doggie ice-cream has less sugar and less cream, but is no less tasty.
"Really, I think that this place is probably a very, very good place to come if you live anywhere near here, or if you want really good ice cream," recommended Sam Madsen, a Pumphouse regular.
The Pumphouse is the kind of place that offers something a little out of the ordinary. Zapzalka could spend less time and make more money with a more corporate approach to her business, but you'd likely taste the difference.
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