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Summer means sweating in mysterious places, sticking to leather furniture, and/ or coaxing an A/C that is woefully in need of repair. Back in the day, ice cream trucks offered a brief reprieve from the sweltering heat, selling everything from snow cones to soft-serve. Today frosty favorites like Bubble Play and Creamsicles have been punched up with the help from a few creative, local ice dream trucks and carts.
1. Joji Yogurt
Cool Factors: South Florida's newest food truck, Joji Yogurt, has its fans mesmerized with a tricked out, glow-in-the-dark self-serve yogurt truck. The truck, owned by Betty Stendik and Ivan Breger, dishes out fat-free yogurt and sorbet and always has offers a sugar-free option. The truck uses real, fat-free yogurt and fat-free milk for their products unlike many competitors who opt for using powdered yogurt. Joji's most popular flavor is the signature purple Orchid Vanilla Almond yogurt.
Top your sweet treat with over 28 creative toppings including wasabi pea dust, Pop Rocks, macaroon crunch and chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. If you're looking for a fat-full option, Joji pops may be more your speed. These uniquely flavored pops made with frozen yogurt and cake have a special surprise inside -- a chocolate Joji girl. Pop flavors include pancakes and bacon, German chocolate cake, and Key Lime pie.
Catch 'Em Here: The Joji Yogurt truck is at the Cleveland Clinic Farmer's Market in Weston every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 15 Food Truck Wars in Altamonte Springs (in case you are in central Florida this weekend), Margate Gourmet Food Truck Expo July 21, and the Florida Tattoo Expo at the Coral Springs Marriott August 10-12.
2. Feverish
Cool Factors: Refreshing flavors like a tamarind-spiked Arnold Palmer, chocolate-banana sea salt, and the popular strawberry mojito (see the 1 minute how -to video above) is the hallmark of Feverish. The Miami-based, social media-savvy company reaches out to loyal followers to find out what flavors they crave. Feverish also custom-creates flavors for special events and weddings like their Mango Bourbon pop which they created for a Maker's Mark event (surely my invitation was lost in the mail).
Feverish skips the high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors, opting instead for locally grown natural and organic ingredients. Unlike mass-produced pops, which sometimes contain gelatin, Feverish pops are vegan-friendly and use agave or cane sugar to sweeten their cool confections.
In addition to being creative, Feverish is also socially responsible. For each popsicle they sell, a portion is donated to charity -- to a youth entrepreneurship program that helps kids sell ice cream pops and popsicles, thus reducing the high youth unemployment rate in Broward county.
Catch 'em Here: The Feverish team is up to its eyeballs in private events but you can still get your hands on these tasty pops by visiting the local stores and carts that carry their foods.
- Fort Lauderdale: Frostie Flavors Kiosk at Beach Place
- West Palm Beach: Curbside Gourmet Food Truck, Cruzan Amphitheater
- Miami: Panther Coffee-Wynwood District
3. Real Sorbet
Cool Factors: Real Sorbet, dreamed up by married couple Tessa and Nick Mencia, has an assortment of exotic flavors. Sorrel Ginger, coconut rum and Black Sapote Hazelnut are just a few examples as well as unexpected flavor combinations like chocolate-beet with candied walnuts. The dynamic duo makes its sorbet using organic, pesticide-free fruits during their natural growing season which results in Real Sorbet's ever-changing flavor assortment.
Tessa explains that creating their sorbet is a slow process due in part to their fine arts background, "We believe that the process directly affects the end result. Each
recipe is tested and developed before it is finalized, and every fruit
is carefully hand-selected to make sure it is perfectly ripe. We build
each sorbet piece by piece to be able to balance the flavor and texture.
Our goal is always to have Real Sorbet taste delicious and look
beautiful."
Real Sorbet is also eco-friendly, using an electric eco-cart as well as compostable cups and spoons. If you're feeling especially gluttonous, real Sorbet also has a handy take-home option ($8) perfect for eating in bed, on the beach or in a baby pool when your A/C is broken.
Catch 'em Here: Margaret Pace Park in Miami -- every Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday
4 to 8 p.m.). Real Sorbet also attends community events like the recent Build a Better Block event in Fort
Lauderdale and they also are available to cater private parties and events. This weekend they'll be scooping up mango-based flavors at the 20th Annual Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Gardens on Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday Night they'll be at the Wynwood Art Walk from 6 p.m. to midnight in front of Lester's on NW Second Ave., Miami.
4. Cool Haus
Cool Factors: Ridiculous dreamy flavors like (are you sitting?) chicken and waffles, gin and tonic, Cuban Cigar, Peking duck and candied bacon. Their gigantic ice cream sandwiches are as big as your head. In addition to ice cream sandwiches other sweets include vintage sodas, cookies, marshmallows and sea-salted caramel. Cool Haus also has to-go options by the pint or by the quart.
Catch 'em Here: CoolHaus has locations around the country, but their Miami truck is on a brief hiatus. Dry those eyes -- if you're planning a party, you can still order their ice cream sandwiches and ice cream by calling 786.220.5220.
5. Hip Pops
Cool Factors: Food truck Hip Pops serves yogurt, sorbet, and gelato on a stick. All of Hip Pops products are free from additives, high-fructose corn syrup, and
rBST, a growth hormone used in dairy cows. HipPops is also the nation's
only certified Kosher dairy truck.There are up to twenty different flavors available on the truck but it has an arsenal of over 400 different varieties. Tony Fellows, ice cream aficionado and passionate owner of HipHops, has
been in the ice cream business for over thirty years. He says that
in addition to using great ingredients, Hip Pops also offers guests a unique experience that goes beyond buying a Popsicle. You can customize your "dessert masterpiece" by having it hand-dipped in Belgian chocolate; choose from dark, milk, or white chocolate. Add some texture by having your freshly dipped pop rolled in crushed hazelnuts, coconut flakes, caramelized pecans and a host of other toppings.
Catch 'em Here: This week Hip Pops will be at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood- Thursday, July 12 from 5:30 to 10 p.m., Art Serve's Red Eye Art Event (with both the truck and they'll be the Red Eye's V.I.P. room) July 14 from 6 to 10 p.m..
Like many food trucks and carts, Miami seems like the place to be to have access on a regular basis but with so many food and community events this summer, you'll have plenty of opportunities in your area to catch 'em -- if you can.
What's your favorite ice dream truck or cart? Add them to the comments section below.
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