Dairy-Free Ice Cream Challenge

In, I talked about the holy grail of fun summer activities… a trip to the ice cream shop. 

It’s likely that if you grew up in this country, you have fond memories of eating ice cream somewhere that was considered special, whether it was a counter, a drive-up window, a stand, or even in your front yard after the ice cream truck drove by. 

If you are like me, these are the experiences you want to give to your children as well.  And, if your kids are like mine, the interest in ice cream seems practically innate.  Which could be a problem, if like my son, your child is allergic to dairy.

Earlier this summer, we checked out a children’s book from the library about the history of ice cream.  At the very end of the book, there was a detailed description of all the various ways that ice cream is enjoyed, including banana splits, hot fudge sundaes, ice cream sandwiches and bars, milkshakes, and on and on. 

My children’s eyes were wide with excitement. With the realization that there was an entire territory of dessert that we had not yet explored, my son exclaimed that he’d like to put all of these treats on our Summer Fun To-Do list (yes, we have one of those). Not wanting to crush his enthusiasm, I agreed and set out to find a way.

Good allergen-free grocers factored in prominently in my expedition for dairy-free ice cream.  While you can typically find a decent sorbet in just about any store, I was more interested in something that approximated the real thing, and would be good with chocolate sauce on top.  Trader Joe’s, of course, came up aces with its soy version of Cherry Garcia of Ben & Jerry’s fame.  Wegman’s had a great selection of soy-based options, too, including a decent ice cream sandwich.  I’m still in search of a whipped cream approximation (sorry, Cool Whip, you’ve got coconut in you, and that’s out too) before I embark on the banana split.  As for ice cream bars, I’m sticking with popsicles for now, but I have a feeling there is an option out there if I look hard enough.  Next up is throwing some of that soy ice cream into a blender with soymilk, and we’ve got our milkshake.  So, as you can see, we are making steady progress on the Summer Fun To Do list.

The one thing that eluded me until recently was that special trip to the ice cream shop. 

How could we go out as a family for ice cream without my son feeling completely left out when we brought his own treat with us? 

A trip to Rita’s worked well for the family, given their ice cream and Italian ice options, but the two picnic tables overlooking Route 1 seemed lacking in terms of “special.”  But last night I think we solved this dilemma.  After scoping it out and hearing rave reviews from friends and neighbors, we hit up Yogi Castle in the new EYA development in Hyattsville. 

With two dairy-free options and a whole host of toppings to choose from, we hit the jackpot.  That will be one order of strawberry lemonade dairy-free yogurt with gummy worms on top, thank you.  The cool factor hit the threshold for consideration as “special” with the excitement of self-serve and the space-age chairs and stools.  What will make it even better is when the powers that be finally pave the Trolley Trail, it will be bike accessible from our house. 

I think we’ve got our place, folks. Dairy-free ice cream challenge to memory making: crisis averted.