We, the Mile High people, seem to be screaming for ice cream.
Maybe it is driven by our urge to be kids again. Or perhaps it’s just because the stuff tastes so good, and is about as easy to serve — one quick scoop in a bowl or cone — as food gets.
For whatever reason, Denver is host to a growing number of high-end artisanal ice-cream shops selling everything from basic vanilla to arcane flavors that conjure visions of Elsie the Cow in a lab coat.
You can find ice creams flavored with goat cheese, basil, sweet corn, stout beer, Stranahan’s whiskey and the flavors that go into Samoas, the popular Girl Scout cookies.
Jay Thompson, owner of Liks Ice Cream in Denver and Conifer, has a theory about the sweet stuff’s appeal.
“It brings back happy memories of childhood,” he says. “I look through my experience with it. You’d go to a sports event, and then get ice cream afterwards. Do well in school, you’d be rewarded with ice cream.
“Our customer base is so diverse, covering so many demographics, that it has to be something from childhood that we all shared.”
The ice cream at Liks runs the gamut, limited only by the imagination of Thompson and his customers. The latter inspired many of the ideas that have led to the creation of more than 400 flavors, 32 of them in rotation on any given day. Take that, Baskin-Robbins.
Along with the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry trifecta, Liks offers flavors such as Peach Cobbler, Green Tea Sorbet, Blueberry Cheesecake, Jack Daniel’s Chocolate Chip and Graham Crackers.
Just to remind folks that they are in the Southwest, a recent afternoon found tubs of Cayenne Caramel and Mexican Flan in the ice-cream case.
“I’ve tapped into the creative part of my being,” Thompson says. “It’s definitely an outlet for my expression.”
On any given weekend you’ll find lines snaking out the door at Liks. Funny thing, though, they’re not necessarily linked to where the mercury stands in the thermometer.
“The crowds are based not so much on temperature but on cloud cover,” Thompson says. “It can be a 100-degree day and cloudy and there will be no one. But on a 20-degree day with sunshine it’ll be packed.”
Thompson is something of an ice-cream scientist, which makes sense, given his background. A Lone Star State native, with a petroleum engineering degree from the University of Texas, he spent years moving among the West’s oil fields before landing in Colorado.
He and his wife, Leslie, liked Denver so much that when he was transferred to California, he decided to swap his hard hat for an ice-cream scoop. “We wanted to try something fun, and figured an ice-cream shop would be something we could do as a family.”
The Thompsons bought the shop in 1999. It had opened in 1976 as Lickety-Split, and the name was eventually shortened to Liks. (The original neon sign still hangs in the window.) Today their 24-year-old daughter, Jayme, is the chief ice-cream maker.
With two shops, one in Denver and another in Conifer, plus 60-70 wholesale customers, Liks turns out 25,700 gallons of ice cream each year in three old-school Emery Thompson churners that are about the size of washing machines. “For us, that’s cranking it out,” he says.
People routinely ask Thompson which flavor he’s proudest of. He laughs and tosses up his hands, noting that it’s like asking him to name his favorite child.
But he is fond of his Cayenne Caramel ice cream. “It shows my Texas roots,” Thompson says. “There’s spice in the peppers, and it also has pecans, which were in our back yard growing up. And there’s fudge, which I loved as a kid. Still do.”
He also gives a nod to Liks’ Caramel Irish Stout, which incorporates Guinness beer and chocolate chips.
“We saw the frozen-yogurt craze and the gelato craze, but people always come back to good, solid, old-fashioned ice cream,” Thompson says.
Like-minded competitors around town seek that same sweet spot.
High Point Creamery opened at 215 S. Holly St. in mid-May.
Run by Erika Thomas and her husband, Chad Stutz, it is a testimony to the miracle of what happens when cream, sugar and perhaps a bit of salt meet below-freezing temperatures.
Consider the Mint with Chocolate Bark, where cream is infused with a pound of fresh mint leaves overnight before being conjured into something scoopable. A Mango and Coconut ice cream is all about the tropics, and the Basil Blackberry Swirl is one of the most summery flavors in the Mile High City.
“It’s a very creative process,” says Thomas, who worked at jobs ranging from actress to car dealer before opening her shop. “Probably my favorite flavor is the Basil Blackberry Swirl. I was just messing around in my kitchen and knew it was special and that I was onto something.”
High Point Creamery also offers five-scoop ice-cream flights, modeled after the serial tastings found in wine bars and brewpubs. The scoops are finished with special toppings, such as candied orange rinds and black lava salt.
Thomas reckons she has devised 40 flavors to date, with 20 in her freezer case at any one time. Her shop is generating great word of mouth, and the couple are looking at opening a second location in mid-2015.
Sweet Action at 52 Broadway offers vegan options, though it’s not limited to ice creams made with soy milk. The label is popular in Denver grocery stores, including Marczyk Fine Foods.
Like most of Denver’s artisan ice-cream makers, Sweet Action is committed to using local ingredients. And not just Colorado-sourced milk and fruit. It offers a Stranahan’s Whiskey Brittle, made with a spirit distilled just a few miles from their shop.
Other left-field flavors include a Goat Cheese Black Pepper ice cream, a tart number that would be perfect paired with a dish of fried chicken and savory waffles.
Coming up with such flavors requires trial-and-error experimentation, notes Kate Bolos, Sweet Action’s general manager.
“Our most popular flavor is butterscotch, but we also use local peaches, sour cherries and sweet corn,” she says. “When we made our first batch of sweet corn ice cream, we didn’t know you had to get rid of the kernels and just use the corn milk. So when the ice cream melted away you were left with the corn, which you had to chew. It didn’t work.
“But you live and learn.”
Today, that refined sweet-corn ice cream is a hit.
Little Man Ice Cream boasts the most striking shop. Business is conducted inside a 28-foot-tall, 14,000-pound creamery can at 2620 16th St. in the Highland neighborhood. Servers wear retro uniforms, and the shop has hosted live music, movie nights and poetry slams since its July 4, 2008, debut.
It speaks to the fun that’s inherent in the business for both owners and customers.
Erika Thomas echoes a common theme among her dairy-to-dish mavens: The job is just a treat.
“I love ice cream because it’s just a happy business,” she says. “It makes people smile.”
William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp
Almond-Crusted Peach Cobbler with Buttermilk Ice Cream
Nadine Donovan, executive pastry chef at Old Major in Denver, created this dish. Serves 4-6.
Ingredients
BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups sugar
12 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
pinch salt
1 cup buttermilk
GRILLED PEACH FILLING
4 peaches
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
Pinch of salt
ALMOND COBBLER CRUST
1½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup almond flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Directions
To make ice cream: Over medium heat, bring heavy cream and 2 cups of sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. In a medium bowl, combine yolks and remaining sugar and whisk until smooth and light in color. While whisking, slowly stream in the warm cream until all is incorporated. Return mixture to heat and cook until it begins to thicken. Strain custard into buttermilk. Let cool over an ice bath and freeze according to ice- cream maker instructions.
Make peach filling: Halve and pit peaches, lightly brush with oil and grill until lightly charred. (See more grilling tips in recipe that follows.) Chop into roughly ½-inch pieces and toss with remaining ingredients. Let marinate.
Make crust: Sift all dry ingredients, set aside. In a mixer, paddle together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add the egg and yolks one at a time. Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
Grease a small baking dish and fill with peach filling. Cover with the almond crust (be creative — the dough can be rolled out and shaped with cookie cutters or dolloped for a more rustic appearance). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm with buttermilk ice cream.
Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream
Chargrilling peaches gives the fruit a nice touch of smoke, and the cold ice cream contrasts nicely with the warm peach flesh. Be sure to prepare the grilling surface beforehand with a neutral oil such as grapeseed or canola so the peaches don’t stick. From William Porter. Serves 4.
Ingredients
4 ripe peaches, halved
Vanilla ice cream
Mint or basil for garnish
Directions
Cut the peaches in half, removing pits. Place them skin side down on the hot grill for 1-2 minutes. Using tongs or a spatula, flip them over and cook 2 minutes. Rotate the peaches a half turn and let cook another minute, long enough to create crosshatch marks on their flesh.
Transfer peaches to individual bowls and top the fruit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Garnish with a sprig of mint or basil.
