Salty Honey Ice Cream
The Parlor Ice Cream Company
Photo by Zac Wolfe
Our house was commonly known as “the ice cream house” by my kids’ friends because there’s always an assortment of pints and quarts in the freezer. The kids would come in and marvel at the quantity and variety I’d stock, with some flavors making regular appearances as well as some novelties. At the time, the kids were more into quantity than quality, but that’s changed (mostly).
Our beloved Ben & Jerry’s will always be a staple, but these days we’re all about the super premium, made-in-Maine small brands. One of my favorites is The Parlor Ice Cream Co., created by Jacqueline Dole, who does it all by herself.
Jacqueline was a baker, working at Boston restaurants. As most pastry chefs do, she also made ice cream, which became her favorite part of the job. “I like the accessibility of ice cream,” she told me. “You can combine all the ingredients into one scoop.” She started doing pop-ups, partnering with hosts like breweries and coffee shops, incorporating their products into the ice cream. Coffee & Donuts, anyone? Then, she made the smart decision to move north because “things are so much better in Maine. And more affordable.” With production space at the Pepperell Mill in Biddeford, the pop-ups continued, with Tandem Coffee often playing host. Pop-ups are fun, a chance to schmooze with customers, and watch them happily enjoying your product. Until there’s a pandemic.
That’s when Parlor pint production kicked into full gear, filling the freezers of local specialty stores. Spending so much time at home, our ice cream consumption has never been greater, and after exploring the flavors of Parlor, we’ve all decided Salty Honey is the hands-down favorite. It’s Jacqueline’s favorite too. “It’s the most crave-able,” she says, and we all know just what she means. That sweet/salty combo is addictive. It starts with a salted sweet cream base, then she adds her own honeycomb candy, a crunchy, flaky (like a Butterfinger) toffee-like confection. It’s a simple candy, made with just a few ingredients: honey, water, salt and baking soda, which creates all the signature honeycomb bubbles. Once it reaches temperature, it gets poured carefully into a pan to set, before getting smashed to pieces. “It starts off really crisp,” Jacqueline says, “but then as it sits in the dairy, it becomes a ripple of honey, caramel-like swirl.” I noticed that as I dug into the bottom of the pint, where the thick ribbon of candy had become soft, yet still a toasty, lovely counterpoint to the creamy base.
Salty Honey is part of the “a la mode rush”, the season when you crave a bit of something cold and creamy on a warm dessert. Imagine it in place of the standard vanilla atop your pumpkin or apple pie at Thanksgiving. My choice would be a scoop, melting onto warm apple crisp. Right now, Jacqueline is getting ready for the next big thing - holiday flavors. Chocolate Mint, Gingersnap, and Milk & Cookies (all with house-made cookies) and others will be in stores soon. And if you don’t feel like leaving the house, don’t worry. Parlor Ice Cream can be delivered to your door. Orders open on the website Monday for delivery the following Saturday.