Ice Creamery's Vanilla Takes Second at National Convention

Vanilla is more than just another flavor for the folks at .

"It's smoother and creamier and you can sure tell the difference," said owner Dave Knudsen.

It's also now ranked the second-best vanilla ice cream in the United States by the National Ice Cream Reatailers Association (NICRA), a non-profit trade organization whose members are in the retail ice cream and frozen dessert business.

Knudsen's grandchildren and co-owners, Shay Knudsen and Taryn Sandulyak, set off earlier this month to enter a sample of their vanilla ice cream in NICRA's 78th annual convention held in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the first time they entered their ice cream in any kind of competition.

Out of the 27 ice cream shops nationwide, The Castro Valley creamery and nine other entrants received a red ribbon — equivalent to second place. The blue went to four others and white went to two.

There were four categories members could enter their ice cream samples in: "vanilla," "strawberry," "best new flavor" and "best southern flavor." They were scored by a professor in dairy science based on several standards including color, texture, taste and bacterial count.

All NICRA members that entered the convention make their own ice cream from scratch. Since 2005, Sandulyak has made the Ice Creamery's vanilla the same way with little change.

"The best thing about this is that I get to do my own quality control," Sandulyak said.

She said the secret is using the best quality ingredients the store can afford. They use several vanilla flavorings including a Madagascar bourbon vanilla that costs close to $100 a gallon.

Customers seem to notice as well, buying more scoops of vanilla than the 40 other flavors the Ice Creamery dishes out. Sandulyak said about 300 percent of vanilla is sold compared to the other flavors.

Despite the troubled economy and the , she said she refuses to skimp on quality ingredients. However, there is one ingredient Sandulyak said she'll never run out of.

"There's a lot of love that goes into it."

Knudsen's Ice Creamery will serve small sample cones filled with their award-winning vanilla ice cream on Saturday, Nov. 26, during .