Area's First Made-From-Scratch-in-the-Shop Ice Cream Parlor Comes to Prospect Heights

Ever since Brian Smith was a little boy, he’s wanted to own an ice cream shop. 

So when he finally decided to take the plunge last year, he wasn’t going to do it by halves.

The result? 

Next month, Prospect Heights will become the home of Ample Hills Creamery, Brooklyn's first ice cream parlor to make its product from scratch, in the shop. 

During a tour of his Vanderbilt Avenue storefront earlier this month, Smith explained that the USDA requires ice cream shops to either buy pre-pasteurized “dairy mixes” of cream, milk, eggs and sugar or pasteurize the products on-site (even if they are already using pre-pasturized milk and cream). 

Since the latter requires the shop to technically become a dairy factory, complete with an expensive vat pasteurizer, other shops have been content to start with the mix and add in their own homemade ingrediants to change the flavor.

But not Smith.

“If you use the same dairy mix, you get the same ratio of cream to milk to eggs to sugar in all the ice creams,” he said. “I felt I couldn’t be as creative as I could be unless we were doing everything from scratch.”

“I didn’t feel like I was being true to the artisanal spirit," he added.

Not using a dairy mix also allows Smith to buy  from Battenkill Valley Creamery, a smallish dairy farm that was recently deemed the best quality milk in the York State by Cornell University, and which, like most smaller farms, doesn’t offer a dairy mix, he said. 

The milk is pasturized but not ultra-pasturized, allowing for a deeper, "milkier" taste, Smith said.

Flavors will include salted crack caramel (salted caramel ice cream with chocolate-covered butter crackers) maple bacon (as it sounds), stout ‘n pretzels (beer and chocolate covered pretzels) and peppermint patty (peppermint ice cream with homemade peppermint patties and a ribbon of dark chocolate ganache).

The milk and cream will not be certified organic but are produced using organic practices, Smith said. And many of the other ingredients will be organic and just about all the rest will be all natural, Smith said. The cones and most of the mix-ins, including the cookie dough and cookies, will be made at the shop.

But everyone has their secret pleasure. And for Smith it's the flavor “Breakfast Trash,” made with Capt’n Crunch, Sugar Corn Pops and Frosted Flakes.

“It's our one guilty flavor,” he said over e-mail. “I just can't do it with all-natural cereals. I've tried.”

Smith will also offer custom-made ice cream cakes with such flavors as “Elvis Impersonator” modeled after the King’s favorite sandwich, that will include blondies, white chocolate honey ganache, banana ganache, bacon bits and peanut butter ice cream. 

While the unique flavors  is sure to be will be a crowd pleaser for adults, the shop will also be designed to cater to children.

Kids will be able to watch the ice cream being made through a huge window to the kitchen area, with large illustrated signs over each machine explaining its role.

There will also be a play area with dozens of ice cream-themed kids books (which Smith procured after months of scouring the internet), a pretend ice cream counter, and plenty of toys. The floor will be sidewalk-texture concrete, and colored chalk will be provided.

The 850-square-foot shop will also house a custom-built bicycle-powered ice cream maker for use during birthday parties. After the birthday girl or boy chooses the ingredients, kids can take turns pedaling the churn until the ice cream is ready to eat.

All of this is part of Smith’s goal of making the shop a community hub. In the planning he consults his own children, aged 2 and 4.

“As parents ourselves we’re trying to create a place for parents to pass time, not just get a scoop and run,” he said.

Smith, who lives with his wife, a teacher, and children in Fort Greene, decided to open the shop at 40 after a career in screenwriting, producing and directing. His biggest claim to fame is probably the SyFy channel’s radio drama “Seeing Ear Theater," which included performances by such actors as John Turturro, Paul Giamatti, Stanley Tucci and Tim Curry.

When his career stalled, he decided to follow his childhood dream, a decision that would also get him out of his isolated office and allow him to work with people, he said.

He tested the waters with a pushcart at Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn festival last summer. After having lines “20 and 30 people deep” he decided to take the plunge, he said, signing a lease in the fall for a corner shop at St. Marks on Vanderbilt’s restaurant strip.

“It is terrifying to open a new business and to sink all of your life savings into this thing, but I felt confident about the quality of the location,” he said.

The prime corner spot at Vanderbilt and St. Marks allows for ample outdoor seating in the summer. The shop will also cultivate the laptop crowd with free WiFi, plenty of outlets and an espresso bar.

But that’s where the similarity to a cafe stops. While you might be able to order a cookie, or perhaps some pie, don’t expect to go there for an actual meal, not even a cup of soup. 

“I want to keep the focus and mission on sweets and dessert,” he said. “I find sometimes that when ice cream shops that try to do soup the focus gets lost.”

Ample Hills Creamery, 623 Vanderbilt Avenue at St. Marks, will open its doors for a sneak-peek wine, ice cream and live music fundraiser on April 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. ($20 adults, kids free). Smith is also raising money online. He hopes to open the shop for business on April 19.