review: ample hills creamery, brooklyn

Yesterday the boy and I took an "us" day to Brooklyn.   We had a leisurely lunch where we sat in a booth by the window and ate roast beef and turkey club sandwiches while drinking beer and pathetically worked to solve the NYMag crossword puzzle (I am being generous in saying we got about 1/12th of the words).  We shopped in Sahadi's, the middle-eastern market that I adore more then anything and then we took a long walk from Cobble Hill to Prospect Heights in search of the ice cream sundae I've read so much about.  Said ice cream sundae can be found at Ample Hills Creamery which looks and feels like the quintessential ice cream shop.  It's the furthest thing from pretentious (there are toys a plenty in the back and crayons and paper in the front) with a case of flavors that cater to both children (Cotton Candy!  Ooey Gooey Butter Cake!) and adults (Pistachio Squared! Autumn in New York!).  But the reason for our trip was to try the famous Salted Crack Caramel as well as the ice cream sundae that many have devoured in under 5 minutes. 

The Salted Crack Caramel is an adult caramel ice cream.  It has an incredibly deep and smoky flavor almost veering on burnt, but just shy of reaching that point.  The salty brings out the inherent sweetness and keeps it from being cloying.  But the best part of the ice cream is the chunks of crack cookies which are essentially dark chocolate covered buttery saltines.  They are truly crack and I contemplated buying some to take home (for research purposes of course) but thought better of that for fear I would become addicted.  

As for the sundae, it was everything a sundae should be.  A dense, fudgy, deeply chocolaty brownie is topped with the ice cream of your choice (we went with coffee cookie), hot fudge sauce, homemade whipped cream, and rainbow sprinkles.  It is truly epic, the kind of sundae little kids dream of and adults are nostalgic for.  It's the perfect size to share and it makes for incredibly wonderful way to spend a vacation day.  

We have plans to head back since I desperately want to go back and try The Munchies (Pretzel infused ice cream with clusters of potato chips, pretzels, Ritz crackers, and mini M&Ms!)