The Latest Ice Cream Craze

We now have some amazing places to get ice cream in DFW. Prepare your tastebuds for some serious drooling.

Eating ice cream used to be such a simple thing. Choose a flavor and a cone, one or two scoops, or maybe make it a sundae. Of course, there were shakes and malts and egg creams and all that, so maybe it never was a simple choice. Yet it’s gotten infinitely harder in recent years.

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Despite a very robust old-fashioned ice cream shop roster here in DFW, we’ve been growing our new ice cream game like crazy. The rolled ice cream trend that started in Thailand has taken off in near viral timing while the Taiwanese-inspired shaved snow ice cream is spreading around the area, but at a slower pace. Liquid nitrogen ice cream left its status as an artisanal chef creation on culinary shows to become something everyone can enjoy. Even places that still make “regular” ice cream are experimenting with flavors and toppings to create new ice cream sensations. If you haven’t tried these new kinds of ice cream, come on a tour with me and see which one rises to the top of your must-try bucket list.

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Rolled Ice Cream

Rolled ice cream is exactly what it sounds like – adorable little rolls of ice cream deliciousness. But maybe this kind of ice cream was created less for its looks than for the ability to create custom ice cream flavors quickly. By pouring ingredients onto a chilled steel plate and moving them quickly around the pan, cream can be turned into ice cream in about two minutes. Sometimes called stir fried ice cream because of the technique used to mix it, this Thai treat can incorporate a base flavor and mix-ins of all kinds into a thin layer that can then be rolled up into those precious little rolls.

Here’s a pretty good example of how they do it over at Evergreen Ice Cream in Colleyville:

Orchid City Cafe

This Asian Fusion restaurant in Arlington is credited with introducing the rolled ice cream trend to the DFW area back in 2015. They still offer several rolled ice cream inventions on their dessert menu.

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Hi Sweetie (Plano)

This little shop in the Preston Village Shopping Center is just on the other side of 121 from Frisco’s Stonebriar Mall. Their array of toppings and flavors looks pretty impressive.

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Flavors of Ice Cream

With spectacular flavors like Superman, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and Butterscotch Bomb, this place was ice cream crazed even before they added the latest craze. You can mix basic flavors and an array of toppings for a custom rolled ice cream treat.

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10°F Hut

Locals love watching their ice cream being made. Their Facebook page shows some great flavors like Classic Coffee and Banana Pudding.

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Photo courtesy of 10°F Hut

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Let’s Roll Ice Cream

This Las Colinas shop offers 9 signature mixes and a mind-boggling list of create-your-own flavor options.

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More Rolled Ice Cream

Remember I said this concept is spreading virally? I wasn’t kidding. These two companies already have multiple locations in DFW:

Chills 360 – Their wildly successful Deep Ellum location has led to more in Rockwall and Fort Worth, with Grapevine, Little Elm, and Prosper coming in the future. 

I-CE-NY – A Thai company’s US franchise got its start in New York but has made its way here. Find locations in Carrollton, Uptown, Garland, and Grand Prairie.

Liquid Nitrogen

So this one to me seems more than a little crazy. But I’ve seen it on The Food Network, so it must be OK, right? It seems you can freeze ice cream really fast by mixing very, very cold liquid nitrogen with the rest of your ingredients. This method gives a very creamy textured ice cream by keeping the water and fat particles very small. I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure all the kids are doing it.

iCream Cafe

This shop will make you a custom ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet. They also offer shakes and custom-flavored hot puddings.

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The Creamistry – a national chain of liquid nitrogen ice cream stores, will be opening a location in Las Colinas in  May of 2018 and in The Colony in June. They already have locations in Addison, Fort Worth, and on Lower Greenville in Dallas. 

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Photo courtesy of Creamistry (1929 Greenville Ave, Dallas)

Sub Zero Ice Cream – has locations nationwide including one each in Flower Mound and Hurst.

Snow Cream

It’s kind of like snow ice cream—it’s very much like snow. It’s not the same at every place that makes it, and it’s not easy to describe. You’re really just gonna have to try this one.

Lumi Snow

This small, family-owned shop in Fort Worth was the first place to offer snow “ice cream” in DFW. They make use of mix-ins and toppings to make this light-as a feather ingredient into large dessert ice structures. Website | Map

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Photo courtesy of Lumi Snow Company

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Snowbaby

This is the latest addition to the Snow Ice craze. They know a good thing when they see it. One of their signature flavors is Birthday Cake – complete with vanilla bean snow, fresh strawberries, Unrefined Bakery cake bites, natural sprinkles, and sweet milk drizzle. I feel years younger already.

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Snowy Village

The bingsu served at this Flower Mound café is not Taiwanese shaved ice, but actually a Korean dish that’s usually made with red bean paste. You can get red bean (and green tea) flavors here, but you can get other flavors like mango or chocolate. Traditionally, bingsu can get pretty elaborate, so that may explain why you canorder one topped with an entire slice of cake.

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Crazy Flavors, Vegan Style

Sure, people have been thinking up crazy flavors since the beginning of time. But were they vegan?

Melt Ice Creams

This place has hands down the most intriguing flavors. Nopales Sorbet is a vegan flavor made with cactus, but the vegan offerings don’t end there. They also have some more traditional flavors like vanilla (Beans), chocolate chocolate, coffee (Cup of Texas), and salted caramel (Salt Lick). They offer seasonal cone flavors too like a basil waffle cone.

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Photo courtesy of Melt Ice Creams

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Swirled, Sprinkled & Stacked

These soft-serve specialists are all about what you put in or ON your ice cream.

Sweet Daze

Without a doubt the most Instagram-able ice cream in DFW. Soft serve (in a few unique flavors) decorated with wonderfully pretty and exceptionally delicious toppings. They have magically beautiful (and delicious) donuts and cakes and macaroons too.

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Photo courtesy of Sweet Daze 

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Cow Tipping Creamery (Frisco)

This family-owned ice cream business who started with a food truck in Austin makes sure mix-ins and toppings get layered through your whole dessert, which they call a stacker. They offer some crazy and some cool flavor combos as well as options for creating your own. They’ve moved spaces a couple of times since they came to Dallas, but it looks like now they’re well settled into The Star in Frisco.

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Toppings Taken to the Limit

When shake and drink garnishes went crazy a couple of years ago, who knew ice cream would follow?

Sweet Lab (Carrollton)

A bubble waffle, some fresh fruit, a little whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate…hey wait, how about a cloud of cotton candy. These guys just keep saying yes to the mess…of toppings, that is.

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Banana Froster. Photo courtesy of Sweet Lab

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That wraps up today’s “latest thing in ice cream” tour. Let us know if we missed any of your favorites.

Featured photo courtesy of Lumi Snow

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