July 15, 2020
The trip from The Lands at Hillside Farms to our next stop was an hour and a quarter. This took us through the Poconos, where Gregg and I honeymooned 32 years ago.
Two thumbs up for Happy Holstein Ice Cream! This is a working farm, open for families to play on a playground and pet animals. They have a corn maze in the fall.
Gregg’s Black Cow was a nice balance of chocolate flavors, not bitter and not sweet, a flavorful dark chocolate. My Coconut Cow was flavorful coconut ice cream with miniature chocolate chips and coconut shavings. DE.LISH!
Klein Farm bottles milk, makes cheeses and ice cream. We tried a yogurt cheese which was too tart for Gregg’s preference. The texture was closer to ricotta than cream cheese. We decided to buy a block of Caraway Jack for our lunch. Full disclosure: we ate dessert first.
I am usually the one making new friends. Today, the owner struck up a conversation with Gregg, which was fascinating. We found out:
- Their ice cream mix is made by a local dairy whose recipe is very similar to Penn State’s Berkey Creamery.
- Their ice cream is 14% milkfat.
- 14% milkfat is the maximum you need. If you go much higher than 14%, he finds that the first spoonful tastes delicious but after a few more bites, your mouth is coated in butterfat, preventing you from tasting it anymore.
- Emory Thompson ice cream makers are the best. (Mr. Thompson from Florida demonstrated his machines at the Ice Cream 101 course I took in January.)
Ratings on a scale of -5 to 5:
- Creativity: 4
- Flavor: 5
- Texture: 5
- Temperature: 5
- Selection: 4
- Type: Hard packed/scooped
- Worth the Drive? 5
