Toughest part of this job? Taste-testing ice cream
July is National Ice Cream Month, and July 17 is National Ice Cream Day
Brent Lebouitz is, generally, a pretty happy guy, and he’s sure it has something to do with what he does for a living.
“I eat a lot of ice cream,” he said, smiling. "Ice cream always makes you happy."
For 14 years, Lebouitz has made his living crafting ice cream at Sweet Willows Creamery, the shop he owns in the 2800 block of East Prospect Road in York Township, just east of Heritage Hills Golf Resort.
Taste-testing is the hardest part of the job, he joked recently with a group of children visiting from Camp Donegal in Lower Chanceford Township.
The campers watched Lebouitz make a batch of ice cream, asking questions along the way, before they sampled the treat.
During the demonstration, Lebouitz offered some ice cream trivia.
When was the ice cream cone invented? he asked.
One camper suggested the first cone was made using a waffle, and they weren't far off, Lebouitz said. A vendor named Ernest Hamwi, who was selling a waffle-like pastry right next to an ice cream booth at the 1904 World’s Fair, capitalized on an opportunity when the ice cream vendor ran out of dishes, Lebouitz told the campers.
(To be fair, The International Dairy Food Association says an Italian immigrant named Italo Marchiony is credited with creating the first ice cream cone, a patent for which was granted in 1903, but the association also acknowledges the story of the vendor at the 1904 World’s Fair as an important moment in ice cream history.)
Another tidbit of ice cream history: Thanks to “good old Ronald Reagan,” July is National Ice Cream Month, and the third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day, since Reagan made the designations in 1984, Lebouitz said.
Aside from making people smile, his favorite thing about being in the ice cream business is the freedom to try new things, “being creative and making new flavors.”
He learned the fundamentals of ice cream from the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences before he opened Sweet Willows, and ever since he’s been experimenting with different ingredients and recipes.
Ellen Shaffer, who owns Sarah's Creamery in the 100 block of South Main Street, Dover, has been in business for three years, and said she loves seeing customers' reactions when they visit her shop.
"Most people are coming in in a happy mood, because they're coming to get ice cream," Shaffer said. "Or, they leave in a happy mood because they came to get ice cream."
Although the ice cream at Sarah's Creamery isn't made on site, some of the flavors come directly from the Berkey Creamery at Penn State University, and the others are handmade by a company in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Shaffer said. Her husband, Jerry, is a Penn State graduate and "a big fan of Penn State ice cream."
Both Shaffer and Lebouitz named their shops after their daughters. Sarah is Shaffer's daughter's name, and Willow is Lebouitz's daughter's middle name.
One thing Shaffer's very proud of, in addition to the family atmosphere she has created and the families she attracts, is how her shop gives back to the community. "Our tip bucket, we rotate among our very local nonprofits," she said, explaining tips are donated to organizations like local fire companies and the library.
Although customers can buy a sundae made for them by one of the Sarah's Creamery employees, there is also a make-your-own sundae bar, with more than 40 toppings, Shaffer said. "You can make it however you want it."
And while Sarah's Creamery attracts a lot of Penn State fans, she said, everyone is always welcome, especially on National Ice Cream Day and during National Ice Cream month.
Ice cream, by the numbers
The average American eats about 22 pounds of ice cream each year.
U.S. ice cream companies churned out more than 872 million gallons of ice cream in 2014.
Most U.S ice cream companies and those companies that make frozen desserts have been in business for more than 50 years.
About 10 percent of all the milk produced by U.S dairy farmers is used to make ice cream.
When President Ronald Reagan designated National Ice Cream Day in 1984, he said 90 percent of the nation's population enjoyed ice cream.
America's top five favorite flavors of ice cream are vanilla, chocolate, cookies 'n cream, strawberry and chocolate chip mint.
Source: International Dairy Foods Association.