Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025 - Full List

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked wth an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25, #21-25, #16-20, #11-15, #6-10, and #1-5.)

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It's been a great week exploring the top sweets in Chicago. Click the links above for longer write-ups and tips. Here's the full list:

(1) Afternoon tea bun at Lost Larson*

(2) Caramel cake slice at Brown Sugar Bakery*

(3) Goat cheese cashew caramel gelato at Black Dog Gelato

(4) Strawberry rhubarb pie at Bang Bang Pie (rotating menu)
(5) Ellen from Alliance Bakery

(6) Bread pudding at Bar Roma*

(7) Valrhona chocolate iced doughnut at Firecakes

(8) Iced housemade chai with ube syrup at Del Sur Bakery*

(9) Panna cotta at Spacca Napoli

(10) Earl grey swirl ice cream at Bartleby's* (rotating menu)

(11) Vanilla sour cream doughnut at Downstate Donuts*

(12) Sour cream dutch apple pie at Hoosier Mama Pie Company (rotating menu)

(13) Cookie dough peanut butter milkshake at Chicago Diner

(14) Authentic drinking chocolate at XOCO

(15) Lemon-raspberry brioche French toast at M. Henry

(16) Purple velvet cupcake at Jennivee’s Bakery

(17) Tiramisu at "Original" Ferrera Bakery

(18) Pecan caramel crisp popcorn from Garrett Popcorn

(19) Death by chocolate sundae at Vaca's Creamery*

(20) Chilled drinking chocolate from Katherine Anne Confections*

(21) Cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather*

(22) Earl grey custard and sea salt caramel Japanese soufflé pancakes at Hanabusa Cafe*

(23) Raspberry pie at Shaw's Crab House*

(24) Tagalong cake at Defloured (rotating menu)

(25) Oreo frosted brownie from Sweet Mandy B's*

Honorable mention: Pretty much anything from Mindy's Bakery*

Gone, but not forgotten: Chai-infused French toast from Orange (R.I.P.)

Favorite non-Chicago dessert spot in Chicago: Jeni's Ice Creams (nationwide, originally from Columbus, OH)

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025: #1-5

Lost Larson spread, left to right: almond croissant,
lingonberry cake, afternoon tea bun, chocolate croissant

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked with an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25, #16-20, #11-15, and #6-10.)

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(1) Afternoon tea bun at Lost Larson*: Flaky dough rolled into a spiral, covered in granulated earl grey sugar and lemon zest. There is always a slight caramelization on the bottom. It is simple, yet mind-blowing. At Chicago's best bakery, this one stands on top. But, honestly, other pastries there could've made this list, too.

(2) Caramel cake slice at Brown Sugar Bakery*: It's sticky, it's gooey, it's caramel-y. I did not know cake icing could be like this. And the cake itself is moist and delish. Probably the best cake slice I've ever had. I will forever be missing their Navy Pier outpost because I don't get down to E 75th St. all that much.

Black Dog Gelato

(3) Goat cheese cashew caramel gelato at Black Dog Gelato - When I moved away from Chicago for a brief spell, this dessert was the last thing I ate before driving out of the city. A subtly sour goat cheese gelato base, a bitter burnt caramel swirl, and crunchy cashews. What it does to my taste buds is borderline erotic.

(4) Strawberry rhubarb pie at Bang Bang Pie (rotating menu) - I've said it before and I'll say it again: The best slice of pie I have had in my life. Sadly, these fruits are not always in season, but at Bang Bang Pie it's pretty much all incredible.

(5) Ellen from Alliance Bakery - The Ellen is a layered pistachio, white chocolate, and cinnamon mousse dessert. It is delicate, which means you have to pretend to be eating it daintily while you shovel it in your face.

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025: #6-10

Valrhona chocolate iced doughnut at Firecakes

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked with an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25, #16-20, and #11-15.)

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(6) Bread pudding at Bar Roma*: Tart cherries and dark chocolate always go well together; in an expertly prepared bread pudding they are pure bliss. Top it with salted caramel and *mwah* chef's kiss. (I recommend getting the vanilla gelato on the side.) Side note: Bar Roma is my wife and I's favorite date spot. Don't miss their cacio e pepe.

(7) Valrhona chocolate iced doughnut at Firecakes: Without a doubt the best chocolate icing I've ever had on a doughnut. It's definitely icing textured, but it tastes like a bite of fine chocolate. And Firecakes' yeast doughnuts are where it's at, whether this classic or their more creative flavors that rotate in and out, like dulce de leche and strawberry mascarpone.

(8) Iced housemade chai with ube syrup at Del Sur Bakery*: There is no shortage of items with complexity to their flavor at Del Sur, but the best example may be their chai. Their website notes that the chai contains "clove, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, star anise, cardamom, rose water, and orange." I added some of their housemade ube syrup. I have had numerous ube beverages; this one was the truth.

Spacca Napoli

(9) Panna cotta at Spacca Napoli: If you close your eyes, you might think you are eating the silkiest vanilla gelato ever, punctuated by fruit and a balsamic drizzle. This jiggly Italian custard delivers. An elegant ending after eating the best Neapolitan-style pizza in Chicago.

(10) Earl grey swirl ice cream at Bartleby's* (rotating menu): This was a seasonal fall flavor almost a year ago and I dream of it still. The swirl was a tart raspberry, adding a punch to the warm flavor of the earl grey ice cream base. I'm also a big fan of their honeycomb crunch and my wife always brings home a pint of their dairy-free chocolate ice cream.

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025: #11-15

Downstate Donuts spread

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked with an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25 and #16-20.)

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(11) Vanilla sour cream doughnut at Downstate Donuts*: My absolute favorite donut from Downstate Donuts is the strawberry rosé, but it's a rare find. The good news is it's only a hair better than this, their most classic doughnut. Downstate incorporates potatoes into their dough, making their cake doughnuts standouts regardless of the glaze/topping. This vanilla sour cream glaze adds a tang to the experience.

(12) Sour cream dutch apple pie at Hoosier Mama Pie Company (rotating menu): As I've said before, Hoosier Mama is the queen of the custard pies in Chicago...but her sour cream fruit pies are even better. I've also had the sour cream blackberry, which would rank equally high on this list. The dutch apple one is just a titch better in my opinion.

(13) Cookie dough peanut butter milkshake at Chicago Diner: The best milkshake in the city is vegan. From the makers of the famous veggie Reuben sandwich comes a perfect milkshake that tastes like peanut butter cookie dough if it had been named by Yoda. Did I mention it's vegan? It's vegan.

Xoco

(14) Authentic drinking chocolate at XOCO: From Chicago chef Rick Bayliss, this spot offers tasty tortas, ho hum churros and, the best of the bunch, Mexican drinking chocolate. They offer it in classic or Aztec, which has a spicy kick to it. Which is better? Honestly, depends on one's mood. You can't lose.

(15) Lemon-raspberry brioche French toast at M. Henry: I take all of my out-of-town guests to M. Henry. Usually when I go to brunch, I like to split with a friend, so we can get half savory and half sweet. At M. Henry splitting isn't necessary because the morning sugar high of downing all the French toast is well worth it.

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025: #16-20

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked with an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25.)

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(16) Purple velvet cupcake at Jennivee’s Bakery: As I've said before, while purple velvet is also available as an airy cake slice, the dense cupcake is the better choice for this particular flavor. While ube can sometimes be a delicate flavor, as a cake frosting, it packs more punch. The denseness of the cupcake helps bring the flavor back down to earth.

(17) Tiramisu at "Original" Ferrara Bakery: Everyone has their preference of what component of their tiramisu should be front and center. Is it the espresso? The chocolate? The ladyfingers? For me, it's the custard, offset by the cocoa dusting on top. And that is why this is the perfect tiramisu. One of several tasty items at Ferrara.

(18) Pecan caramel crisp popcorn from Garrett Popcorn: I defy any dessert-loving omnivore to pass by a Garrett Popcorn without salivating; they pump the intoxicating scent of melted butter and sugar out into the street in front of their stores, making such resistance an impossibility. Most Chicago popcorn fans will point you toward the cheese and caramel popcorn mixture, but I say hold the cheese and add pecans.

(19) Death by chocolate sundae at Vaca's Creamery*: Vaca's offers delectable vegan soft serve in chocolate, vanilla, or twist with homemade vegan toppings based on nostalgic treats. Death by chocolate has chocolate shell--their version of magic shell--and brownie bites. Gobs of chocolate here. They also offer two additional soft serve flavors of the month along with pints of other flavors featuring mix-ins.

(20) Chilled drinking chocolate from Katherine Anne Confections*: A perennial favorite for me at the Andersonville farmer's market, Katherine Anne is best known for the chocolates and caramels. The chilled drinking chocolate features some salted caramel, homemade whipped cream, and cocoa nibs for texture. Simply divine.

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025: #21-25

Shaw's Crab House raspberry pie

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked with an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018.

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(21) Cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather*: A Chicago staple that I'm ashamed to have not included in my 2018 list of Top Chicago Sweets. Breakfast entrees come with two sides and each side of cinnamon rolls comes with two, so conceivably you can have two now and two later. I would know. As for the meal, I tend to go (mostly) savory with the Swedish breakfast sampler.

(22) Earl grey custard and sea salt caramel Japanese soufflé pancakes at Hanabusa Cafe*: Ever have soufflé pancakes? They're airy and lite...and they jiggle. If that weren't enough, at Hanabusa they top the pancakes with something more unique than syrup. The earl grey custard and sea salt caramel wage a delicious battle in my mouth where the winner is always me.

(23) Raspberry pie at Shaw's Crab House*: If jam is the more fruit-forward version of jelly, what is the even more fruit-forward version of jam? Answer: This pie. Just crust and loads and loads of raspberry filling. There's nothing gelatinous about it. I recommend getting a scoop of ice cream on the side to balance out the tartness.

Oreo frosted brownie
from Sweet Mandy B's

(24) Tagalong cake at Defloured (rotating menu)* - This gluten-free bakery features a cake of the week and only offers this one once a year around Girl Scout cookie season, but everything about it is worth the wait. One of my favorite chocolate peanut butter things! Also grab the almond fruit bar, which may not look as fanciful as their other stuff, but gives the Tagalong cake competition, imho.

(25) Oreo frosted brownie from Sweet Mandy B's*: This is a lot of brownie right here. Typically, I buy the Oreo brownie at the Streeterville location, eat about half and go to the movies nearby. Then, once I'm seated, I usually decide saving the second half of the brownie for later was unnecessary bargaining and down the rest of it post haste. Just make sure you have water with you because it is suh-weet.

Del Sur Bakery in Chicago, IL

Choose wisely -or- buy one of each.

My various feeds inform me that this new-ish Filipino bakery has gone "viral" and has long lines full of "influencers" filming themselves with different pastries. (I don't know if they, like, dance with the pastries or what exactly...) Here at Ice Cream U Scream we love words most, so here is my long-winded ranking of the different things my wife and I tried at Del Sur, from absolute favorite to good-but-not-my-favorite:

1. Housemade Chai with Ube Syrup - There is no shortage of items with complexity to their flavor at Del Sur, but the best example may be their chai. Their website notes that the chai contains "clove, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, star anise, cardamom, rose water, and orange." I'm sure it would have been a rollercoaster of flavor all by itself, but I had to add some of their housemade ube syrup for my iced chai latte. The beverage may be cold, but hot dang! I have had numerous ube beverages; this one was the truth.
2. Pandan Basque Cake - Buttery, dense cake that surely has some toasted rice flour mixed in, topped with pandan namelaka (think thick, yet light) cream and seasonal jam, which was guava. Guava and pandan? Holy moly, I may have a new favorite flavor combo!
3. Pumpkin Seed Croissant - Nutty and slightly earthly. This pastry is delightful, laugh-inducing pumpkin seed frangipane in a croissant topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. I don't usually consume pumpkin seeds en masse and, if you never have, eating a concentrated amount is, in a word, a thrill.

4. 

   Most of the spread.
   

   Calamansi Chamomile Bun - Just a big ol' punch of citrusy sunshine. The calamansi curd has a lightness to it that made me wonder if it was cut with a custard base. If so, the website makes no mention of it. And, my oh my, that dough with granulated sugar. (While it is chamomile sugar, the citrus kind of overpowers it.)
5. Bibingka (with guava and cream cheese filling) - The only item they were selling that isn't featured on their website, the bibingka was like an upside down muffin. This was the best way to serve it because the fillings sunk to the bottom while baking, so eating it upside down was clutch. More toasted rice flavor, more yum.
6. Adobo Brownie - My wife's first words after taking a bite were, "This is a very grown-up brownie." Not too sweet and with a host of subtle flavors. I'm just not sure that chocolate was the best vehicle for the multitude of flavors. Still good, though.
7. Toasted Rice Croissant - I mistakenly was expecting some sort of filling, something between buko and sticky rice. It was an unfilled croissant that partially used toasted rice flour. If someone gobbled it up without savoring they may mistake it for a normal, artisan croissant...not that there's anything wrong with a normal artisan croissant. But why get this when the pumpkin seed croissant uses the same dough?

Somewhat nondescript storefront
with line out the door.

8. Oatmeal Cream Pie - Cream pies have never been my favorite because it is a LOT of buttercream and cookies aren't exactly known for cutting through the richness. I had hoped for a bigger splash of ube flavor than the buttercream had.

Also available was a sesame seed covered hand pie (next time), a savory pastry with longanisa sausage, and a sweet pastry featuring banana. Needless to say, I did not purchase the pastry with the curséd fruit.

Proper Pie Co. in Richmond, VA

Buttermilk raspberry.

New Zealand-style hand pies are a thing. I had no idea that they were until my brother introduced me to Proper Pie Co. several years ago. As a lover of pie both savory and sweet, of course this was a slam dunk for me. Now every time I visit Richmond we make a stop at Proper Pie, grabbing some hand pies for lunch and choosing from an even wider selection of dessert pie slices for dessert. You can't lose at Proper Pie, but here are my favorites: 

Buttermilk Raspberry - The buttermilk doesn't need anything added to it, but I love raspberry, so no harm done. For the uninitiated, a buttermilk pie is texturally somewhere between a chess pie and a custard pie: solid, but soft. It's super rich, so something tart cutting through works the magic.

Chocolate Raspberry Cream - Chocolate and raspberry are typically two separate, complementary flavors, but in this pie it is a single flavor. The union is, in a word, sublime. The cream pie is topped with a white whipped cream with sifted cocoa powder and a few raspberries giving it a straight-out-of-Great-British-Bake-Off look to it. It goes without saying that this pie would earn a handshake from me. 

Honorable mentions: Peaches & Cream and Sweet Potato Pecan...but let's be honest and say it's all good.

Furniture City Creamery in Grand Rapids, MI

Since the pandemic, I have thrice made the journey from Chicago to Grand Rapids for ArtPrize. An annual autumnal visual arts competition featuring entries from around the world, ArtPrize is an impressive spectacle to behold. It takes over central Grand Rapids with competing art displayed in galleries, hotel lobbies, restaurants, bars, vintage stores, knick-knack shops, museums, parks, and more. They print maps of all of the participating venues so people can choose which part of town to stroll around hunting for art.

ArtPrize is one of my favorite things.

Happily, these trips also allow my wife and I to visit with our friend Annelise who lives close to downtown Grand Rapids in the East Hills neighborhood. As luck would have it, this is the same neighborhood as Furniture City Creamery. (To an outsider, it may seem like an odd name for a scoop shop, but pre-Depression-era Grand Rapids was the center of the furniture industry.)

Furniture City Creamery has a solid mix of classic flavors and inventive flavors. Here are three of the most memorable ice creams I've had there:

• Treasure Bar - Sweet cream base with toasted coconut, chocolate, butterscotch, and graham cracker. Pure bliss.
• D'ough - In their take on cookie dough ice cream, the ice cream doesn't merely contain cookie dough...it tastes like cookie dough! The flavor is a collaboration with a local bakery.
• Hot Honey Cornbread - A spicy after burn accompanies this ice cream rippled with corn bread. It is good, I'm glad I tried it, and it is also not my thing. The spicy desserts I gravitate toward are usual Mexican chocolate.

At this creamery, one is bound to find something to tantalize the tastebuds. Grab a scoop while roaming East Hills during ArtPrize!

Here are some of my favorite ArtPrize entries over the years.

2021. Ted Lott, Nomadic Domiciles

2022. Deanna Taylor, Nature's Beauty

2021. Artist and title unknown. My apologies.

2024. Edgar Hernandez, Neon Oasis

Chill in Akron, OH

It is pretty rare to order five flavors of genuinely unique ice cream concoctions. My dad and I did just that at Chill in Akron, Ohio. Located right across the street from Lock 3 ("Akron's Central Park"), Chill is a no-frills spot with at least one option of where to walk and enjoy your scoop. Or grab a cone before an Akron RubberDucks game at nearby Canal Park. Really, if you DEVOte any time to Akron, be sure to hit Chill. Who knows? Maybe you'll run into the Black Keys!

Onto the ice cream...

My dad got Grandma J's Peanut Butter Rice Krispies and Lavender Queen Bee. I got Buttered Popcorn, Dr. Pepper Float (Dr. Pepper sorbet swirled with vanilla ice cream), and Call Me Any Lime (Honey and lime ice cream with a red raspberry swirl), a somewhat sickly colored flavor that was sublime. I wish Chill were closer because all five flavors we tried were delicious. In fact, each of the flavors would be worth getting again were there not so many tempting options to choose from. There were 30+ flavors, including:

• Peach, Please! (peach cheesecake)
• Hazelnut Latte
• Blackberry Crisp
• Sweet and Salty (dark chocolate with pretzels)
• The 9AM French Toast and Bacon (french toast ice cream with maple and bacon)
• Tiger Tail (orange ice cream and black licorice ice cream)
• El Nino Jalapeno (jalapeno corn bread)
• Extra Spicy Mango (mango ice cream steeped with habanero)

Chill also has two locations in nearby Medina. Check 'em out!

Classic Frozen Custard in Des Moines, IA

My only pair of shoes are wet, my umbrella is only mildly helping, and we've arrived in Des Moines much later than I had hoped after a 350 mile drive from Chicago. There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be than studying the menu at a clearly storied frozen custard stand. The spot is Classic Frozen Custard. I'm curious what this place looks like in the daytime, because it ain't much to look at at night. Luckily the menu is looking real nice.

Most frozen custard spots only have three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and a flavor of the day. Here at Classic Frozen Custard, their worn out signage shows nine(!) flavors and all of them sound tasty. I observe that this place is, as their name suggests, a classic custard joint with the huge machine behind the counter, not one of these new, fangled places serving up fancily named soft serve. So how does one explain the veritable cornucopia of options here? Either they don't make it fresh every day--no biggie--or they do good enough business that they are constantly in production. Given that the stand is both run-down and busy, it could go either way. That said, it's after 9:30pm on a Wednesday in Iowa and there has been a constant stream of cars in the drive-thru, plus a few chilly customers like me at the walk-up window.

After much chin stroking, I settle on a tree nut sampler: butter pecan, caramel cashew, and coconut. After they bring me more than a pint of freshly scooped frozen custard, a take it back to the car to enjoy. My lactose intolerant wife-to-be agrees that this place looks LEGIT, takes a Lactaid, and digs in to the butter pecan. She and I are both taken aback by how good it is. The caramel cashew is even better, but only by a hair. And the coconut (also euphoric) is chock full of toasted coconut bits.

This place is real good, y'all. Their menu is more than just scoops of custard, too; they offer twisters, sundaes, malts, shakes, and root beer floats, so there's something for everyone. If you're headed to Caitlin Clark's birthplace, stop at Classic Frozen Custard. "Once you lick it, you'll luv it!"

Macaron Bar (multiple Midwest locations)

I didn't truly understand macarons until I went to Paris in 2018. The place that did the trick for me was Pierre Hermé, which I've already blogged about. Since a new spot has opened up here in Andersonville-- Macaron Bar--I decided to give it a try. I walked through the doors and quickly realized that narrowing down to a few options would be a trial. I committed to a 12-pack, being sure to buy two with the same flavors so my sweetie and I could do a taste test.

Overall, the flavor varieties were mostly classic with an imaginative flare, the sweetness level was subtle and never cloying, and the texture was right--soft and slightly chewy, but with that fragile shell.

Here is my ranking of the flavors I tried, which is very close to my sweetie's ranking.

The best:

(1) Pistachio

(2) Snickerdoodle

(3) Black Raspberry Chocolate

(4) Earl Grey Tea

(5) Dark Chocolate

(6) Coconut

The rest:

(7) Hazelnut

(8) Salted Caramel

(9) Red Velvet

(10) Chicago Mix

(11) Lemon Lavender

(12) Strawberry Chocolate

Macaron Bar is a small chain, mostly located in the Midwest. Locations are on their website. Worth the try!

Marco-brand grocery store pints

The tagline of Marco brand ice cream is "Culinary flavors. Global traditions." And with their roster of favors, they certainly live up to it: Turkish Mocha, Aztec Chocolate, Green Tea & White Chocolate, Moroccan Honey Nut, Dulce de Leche & Cookies, Vanilla Chai...and, uh, Peanut Butter Caramel. I bought five of the flavors to sample and review. Here they are listed from favorite to least favorite:

Dulce de Leche & Cookies - Most would-be dulce de leche ice creams merely taste like a sickly sweet caramel. This one tastes like the real thing. And no matter how much I ate in one sitting, it never was cloying. The churro-inspired cookie mix-in is okay, but honestly, even though it isn't dominant, this would have been better without it. The ice cream base is just that good.

Vanilla Chai - I will never turn away a cardamom ice cream and this one is no exception. That said, rare as they are, I've had other chai ice creams that pack more of a punch. Still, to see a good-not-amazing chai ice cream in the grocery store as a win.

Peanut Butter Caramel - The caramel in this is runny and excellent. The peanut butter base isn't stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth, which is a good thing. All in all a decent flavor; it's just peanut butter forward isn't my usual area of interest in desserts.

Aztec Chocolate - Chocolate ice cream rarely tastes like its namesake and is often disappointing because of it. This ice cream continues the long line of disappointing chocolate ice creams. Sure, the spice is there and it certainly is a dark brown (almost black) color, but chocolate it ain't.

Moroccan Honey Nut - This is one of the most interesting and original ice cream flavors I've eaten. Walking the border of savory and sweet, it makes use of a ras el hanout spice mixture. Try as I might, I could not tell you what all of the flavor notes here were. If it were just a hint more creamy and sweet, maybe I would have liked it.

Dr. Bombay's grocery store pints

The five flavors available at the Jewels.

With a leopard-print lid and a different multi-colored pinwheel art for each flavor, Dr. Bombay's ice cream pints stick out on the grocery store aisle. Apparently, this ice cream is a product of Snoop Dogg's imagination. I decided to buy one of each in the line to pass on the knowledge of what's worth trying and what you can skip. From best to worst:

S'more Vibes - Both sweet and creamy, this is easily the best of their ice cream bases. Wisely, they used dark chocolate fudge bites rather than mimicking a waxy, milk "chocolate" Hershey bar. Tasty graham swirl. I've no idea why they included crisped rice, but it isn't a bad addition.

Tropical Sherbet Swizzle - This is delicious. Tarter than your average sherbet and the pineapple swirl elevates this even further. Lost the top spot to S'more Vibes only by a hair.

Syrupy Waffle Sundaze - The ice cream base, which the packaging calls "waffle ice cream," is somewhere between brown sugar and maple. The waffle pieces are somewhere between a crisp Eggo and a waffle cone. A unique flavor.

Bonus Track Brownie - Not much flavor in the vanilla ice cream base. The "thick fudge swirl" is like what they use in Moose Tracks, like almost exactly. This flavor is pretty middle of the road.

Rollin' in the Dough - Not a good ice cream base. According to the packaging, it is "cookie ice cream." Tastes chemically, which is a shame since everything mixed in tastes good.

Churn in Phoenix, AZ

Some places do the classics so well, they don’t need to do anything else. Churn is one of them. And they know it. Just check out this humble selection:

You can’t lose, but here are my thoughts on what’s best: 

Strawberry: Quite simply, this is the best strawberry I’ve ever had that wasn’t made by my own hand. This is the MUST TRY. 

Butter Pecan: Many capture the butter, but this one also captures the pecan as a flavor, not just a mix-in. Quite possibly the best butter pecan I've ever had.

Honorable mention: Double Chocolate and Malted Milk Chocolate, which are distinctly different and both more chocolate-y than your average brown ice cream claiming to be chocolate.

This Phoenix scoop shop fantastic. I wish I had the words to sell it better. I dunno...This has not been my best post, but after over 15 years I have spots I wish I'd blogged about and didn't. This is the one I think of the most.

For the Instagram set, I'm also a fan of Churn's decor, which like the menu is simple but elevated.

Freezer Favs: Stewarts's Crumbs Along the Mohawk

While this blog is primarily a fan of local scoop shops, it acknowledges that sometimes a person just wants to stay in for the night. That being said, this is one of my Freezer Favorites.

• • •

Full disclosure: I have not eaten this flavor since the summer of 2005, the same summer I met and discussed ice cream with Marisa Tomei...and over two years before this blog was created. The seeds of this blog were actually a series of MySpace blog posts that summer all those years ago. While at a summer internship, I had chosen to detail my notable summer experiences in the Berkshires through the lens of the notable desserts I ate. It seems that even back then, my travels were defined by my sweet tooth.

Still, my memories are strong of Stewart's Crumbs Along the Mohawk, a graham cracker ice cream with graham cracker pieces and a caramel swirl.

Eating it was revelatory.

One usually uses of the label "acquired taste" for a flavor that challenges one's flavor sensibilities, something strong and usual. No one would ever describe a flavor as benign as graham crackers as an acquired taste. That said, it wasn't until I had Crumbs Along the Mohawk (named for the Mohawk Trail) that I awakened to the flavor of graham.

Certain flavors appeal to us more as we get older and that phenomenon is bolder than merely "acquiring" a taste. The sensation is more like learning you have a long-lost sibling who loves you very, very much.

Crumbs Along the Mohawk, I salute you!

Jeni's Frozen Dessert Sandwiches

A product about as high quality as my photo skills.

Maybe it's the holiday spirit getting into me, but these were ho ho ho hum. Now for the airing of grievances:

First off, "frozen dessert sandwiches"? Not "ice cream sandwiches"? Jeni, you done me wrong. You wouldn't serve these in your shops, so why are you pumping them out nationwide. Jeni, you are lending your luxury ice cream name to a low-end product.

Second, the options are basic. Mint chocolate, sure. But is there a mix-in or imaginative twist I have come to expect from Jeni's? Nope. As for "bramble berry," let's call it what it really is: "mixed berry." And key lime? ...Okay, that is still pretty uncommon. But theirs offers nothing new.

Third, the actual flavors are nondescript, totally lacking depth. Does the mint ice cream use actual mint? Nope; it's peppermint oil. The mixed berry is is vaguer than vague. Miscellaneous tartness. The key lime is run of the mill as far as key lime stuff goes, which is to say it's mildly sour, but primarily sweet.

Fourth, the cookies part, while good, is the dominant flavor. Why might that be? Because these are teeny tiny. The size of the product is the only part that actually resembles fancy pants food because it is downright dainty.

Fifth, how dare you.

Jeni's Frozen Dessert Sandwiches. Skip 'em.

Parlor Doughnuts (located in multiple states)

Pictured: Cookies N' Cream, Cherry Cheesecake,
Coconut Cream, and Hibiscus Glazed

I have seen the future and it is Parlor Doughnuts. Just as Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams has grown from a humble Columbus, Ohio operation into a nationwide phenomenon, so will Parlor Doughnuts take over the USA. They are already off to a good start with locations in 13 states. Happily, I have eaten at them thrice: twice in Indiana (including their headquarters in Evansville) and once in Kentucky on my recent tour de south.

So what makes Parlor Doughnuts so special? Creative flavors, new spins on classics, and a donut design that is guaranteed to please.

What is this doughnut design, you ask? Beyond being gigantic, these doughnuts solve the cronut problem. Parlor Doughnuts makes layered doughnuts, fried to perfection with a crisp exterior and a flaky, doughy middle. Whatever they have done to seal the exterior successfully keeps the oil from seeping into the center--my biggest complaint with cronuts. They are neither a yeast doughnut nor a cake doughnut. Appearance-wise, Parlor's doughnuts are like croissants baked into a circle, whereas cronuts looked like doughnuts, only taller. And best of all: ALL of their doughnuts are made in this style, unlike cronuts which were always a specialty doughnut in short supply.

In my three visits to Parlor Doughnuts, I have tried a bunch of flavors: Strawberry Shortcake, Cookies N' Cream, Turtle, Coconut Cream Filled, Raspberry Pistachio, Hibiscus Glazed, Cherry Cheesecake, and their best seller, French Toast. Some of their doughnuts have filling, while others offer creative toppings. My favorites have been Hibiscus Glazed, which is their classic doughnut with no filling, and French Toast, which has cinnamon on top and layers of maple within. A lot of their flavors skew in the dessert column vs. the breakfast column, but for an occasional treat I will make an exception and eat dessert for breakfast.

Another cool thing is that each Parlor Doughnuts location has a unique logo. My only complaint is that the headquarters in Evansville, IN was out of their location-specific XL shirts.

Louie & Honey's Kitchen in Winston-Salem, NC

Photo from Louie & Honey's Facebook page.
Ours didn't last long enough to take a photo.

I went to a wedding in Winston-Salem. It was the centerpiece of a grand tour de south my sweetie and I went on. Friday night included a welcoming reception for the wedding guests and I was lucky enough to get the bride's ear for a short conversation. (She had, like, a hundred people to talk to over the course of the evening.) Naturally, that conversation had me asking for her tips for sweets in Winston-Salem. Without hesitation, she directed me to Louie & Honey's Kitchen for their cinnamon rolls. The one catch: I needed to get there early because they sell out.

I couldn't tell you if it was the excitement of all of my family being together for the wedding or the prospect of life-changing cinnamon rolls--it was the former--but I didn't sleep very well that night. But you know what they say: The sleep-deprived bird gets the cinnamon rolls! I was able to be at Louie & Honey's shortly after 8am, squeezing in just before the line stretched out the door.

Growing up, we had a saying in the south when you feel a food so deeply that you know it is the best version of itself. That food is "the truth." And, let me tell you, these cinnamon rolls were the truth. The dough was perfectly chewy, enough that it made you savor each bite. The seasoning complemented everything else, rather than overpowering. Best of all, the frosting tasted like it had caramel in it, but not cloyingly so. (Before you ask, it was not a cream cheese frosting...and all the better for it.) And, let me tell you, these cinnamon rolls were huge.

Let me put it another way: I purchased four cinnamon rolls from Louie & Honey's Kitchen as well as a dozen doughnuts from a different local spot since my family would all be eating breakfast together. Everyone at the table, and I mean everyone, kept coming back to the cinnamon rolls, unanimously agreeing it was the best of the bunch. So, if you find yourself in Winston-Salem, wake up early, skip the doughnuts, and buy enough cinnamon rolls that you get a whole one for yourself. You may not be able to eat the whole thing in one sitting, but it is a feat worth trying.

Butter & Cream in Decatur and Atlanta, GA

Years ago, I was in Decatur with some friends for a wedding and the bride and groom declared I "had to try" some ice cream place they liked. Now, as a loyal patron of Morelli's, I had my doubts. What could possibly be worth foregoing a trip into the city to eat ice cream there? The answer: Butter & Cream. And after trying it for myself I too was a believer.

On my recent tour de south with my sweetie, we spent a couple days in Atlanta. We went to museums, ate soul food, shopped, checked out parks, and, of course, made detours related to my sweet tooth. (Emily has a sweet tooth, too, but typing "sweet teeth" felt awkward.) When I discovered that Butter & Cream had expanded into Atlanta proper it felt worth a second visit. This time, I was doubting myself. Was it really as good as I remembered? After all, what are the odds one city has two standout ice cream purveyors?

We decided to test our luck and drive to the Atlanta scoop shop. As GPS struggled to get us there, we figured out that this location of Butter & Cream is on Atlanta's BeltLine, a former rail line converted into a public park. (Unlike Chicago's 606/Bloomingdale Trail or Manhattan's High Line, Atlanta's BeltLine is an incredible 22 MILES LONG!) So we parked and took a little stroll amongst the locals walking, jogging, and biking along the BeltLine.

Butter & Cream was easy to find. On a warm summer day, just look for where the trail of happy ice cream consumers are coming from. And happy they were. While I don't remember the specific flavors I had back in 2016, the standouts of this trip were my Brown Butter & Toasted Milk and Emily's Chocolate Sorbet. And with that, Butter & Cream proved once again that two outstanding ice cream purveyors can co-exist in the same city.