{"id":63406,"date":"2022-07-05T11:04:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T15:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/?p=63406"},"modified":"2022-07-06T14:04:29","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T18:04:29","slug":"the-best-food-trail-is-an-ice-cream-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/the-best-food-trail-is-an-ice-cream-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Food Trail is an Ice Cream Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Best Food Trail is an Ice Cream Trail<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The sweet smell of just-baked waffle cones is in the air, take-out windows are open, and ice cream stands are in full swing. At seemingly every turn in the sunniest season, Maine is truly an ice cream state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Sandy Lang
Photography by Peter Frank Edwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issue: July 2022<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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On summer days, there\u2019s that moment when the sunlight is slanting into the long evening and we come to a crossroad, or a tucked-away shop, or an overlook on the remotest coastline, and there it is, the familiar beacon: an ice cream stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweet relief. Soon a scoop or a twist on a cone\u2014maybe with sprinkles\u2014will be ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a rewarding summer quest. On warm-weather travels with photographer Peter Frank Edwards, I\u2019m always on the lookout for chances to get a cone. And Maine has seemingly endless ice cream diversions. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry is currently compiling a \u201cReal Maine Ice Cream Trail\u201d online at realmaine.com, but a statewide tally a few years ago counted more than 300 ice cream windows. Across the state, a combination of entrepreneurial spirit, frozen confections, and afternoon sunshine adds up to mile after mile of ice cream opportunities to discover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boats by the Bridge<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Colin and Faith Meshey carry on tradition as the latest owners of the Dairy Port on Main Street in Bucksport, which has been in operation since the 1950s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The first time we stop at the Dairy Port in Bucksport, one of the soft-serve flavors on offer is Grapenut, Peter Frank\u2019s favorite. Made in-house, the ice cream retains the crunch of the cereal blended into the creamy base. We\u2019re hooked.

Owners Colin and Faith Meshey bought the ice cream land-mark in 2020 from Larry Wahl after Colin, a local youth pastor, had worked in the shop to learn the recipes and traditions. The soft-serve recipes are developed on-site, and details are closely guarded, Colin says. \u201cLots of testing and tweaking. Ingredients like peanut butter are tricky.\u201d Customers vote on favorites, including Orange Dream, peanut butter chocolate, black raspberry, and coffee, which are announced in an online daily calendar.

Open since the 1950s, the Dairy Port is located in a historic narrow storefront that was previously a fish market and a barber shop. The shop catches direct afternoon sunlight, and that\u2019s when the lines start. The Mesheys invite me inside to see some of the scoop-ing action. As I step across the black and white checkerboard floor between freezers and milkshake blenders, the crew is working in rhythm. Faith lifts a lever to release vanilla soft serve onto a cone, and then Colin dips the cone in a cherry-red coating that imme-diately begins to harden into a shell. It\u2019s a classic ice cream feat.

I also notice what the crew sees out the order windows. Just across Main Street is Bucksport Harbor, with across-the-water views to the towering Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory and the mid-1800s Fort Knox beside it. At our next visit, my order is the Schooner, an oversized banana sundae served in a boat-shaped bowl. I carry it closer to the shore views before happily shoveling whipped cream, bananas, pineapple, and bridge-high scoops of ice cream out of a pool of chocolate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afternoons at Red\u2019s<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Local kids on an afternoon ice cream break at Red’s Dairy Freeze in South Portland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an Otto Pizza across the street and Portland Head Light within a few miles, but first we join the line that\u2019s forming in the parking lot of the white, barn-shaped building with the tall red roof. This is Red\u2019s Dairy Freeze in South Portland, where long menu boards list shakes and slushes, cones, and candy-blended concoctions. All the options here are made with soft serve in dozens of flavors, including yogurt and dairy-free varieties. Kids\u2019 flavors like tutti-frutti and cotton candy are on offer, along with more adult-leaning butter rum and pina colada shakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The afternoon lineup at Red\u2019s begins.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first children we see are holding soft-serve cones dipped in googly-eye sprinkles\u2014the silly eyeballs are edible, of course. Established in 1952, Red\u2019s is known for dishing up fun menu items and drawing loyal customers year after year. I sidle up for one of the many specialties, the Boston Shake, a chocolate shake that is given an extra pour of cold chocolate sauce to float on top.

\u201cWinter is long, and we know that it\u2019s over when we see the lines at Red\u2019s,\u201d says Havi Asch, who lives nearby and says that visits to the shop have been a tradition in her family since she was a child. Now she brings her own children. \u201cEverything here is sticky sweet, and they even have vegan,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science and Sweetcream<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Sweetcream Dairy founders Jacqui DeFranca
and Jonathan Denton in Biddeford.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sweetcream flavors are developed using as many
ingredients from local farmers and producers as possible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“Essentially, you can put anything into ice cream,\u201d explains Jonathan Denton when we visit Sweetcream Dairy in Biddeford. \u201cOur thing is to use fewer ingredients.\u201d

We\u2019re watching him fold fresh peaches into an ice cream he\u2019s making inside the shop that he and Jacqui DeFranca founded in the Pepperell Mill Campus. The couple\u2019s business is set to move into a Main Street storefront of its own this year. The peaches were brought in from a small farm in Acton just this morning, and the cream is from Harris Farm in Dayton. \u201cWe\u2019ve met the cows,\u201d Denton notes.

Sourcing seasonal and local ingredients has been key to the Sweetcream model since its founding in 2016, and the couple also pasteurize their own mixes. Denton learned about the process in the venerable Ice Cream Short Course at Penn State. He has a passion for food science: \u201cI can nerd out on milk fat and sugar content,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Jonathan Denton blends peaches into the house-made mix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of the charts that Sweetcream uses to track the temperature of each ice cream mix during pasteurization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At Sweetcream in Biddeford, a morning delivery of fresh peaches from an Acton farm will go into an ice cream recipe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An ice cream flight at Sweetcream.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jacqui DeFranca scoops up a serving of Cookies and Cream.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DeFranca, whose background is in professional dance, begins scooping and describing the different flavors to choose from. First, we try their signature sweet cream flavor\u2014traditionally the base for other flavors, it\u2019s simply cream, milk, sugar, and egg and is subtle and milky, not sweet. A scoop of strawberry flavor puts the summer berry at the fore\u2014like a bowl of fresh strawberries and cream\u2014and the brown butter crunch flavor is all buttery comfort.

The couple talk of other seasons and ingredients, and I\u2019m eager to return for any and all\u2014maybe starting with the sour cherry from a local orchard, or the roasted chestnut made from American chestnuts they help gather in the fall in partnership with a University of New England professor who\u2019s studying the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gifford\u2019s Ice Cream Factory<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Ice cream flavors are made one at a time at the Gifford\u2019s headquarters in Skowhegan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To see ice cream making at a larger scale, we visit one of the state\u2019s largest producers, Gifford\u2019s Ice Cream, head-quartered in Skowhegan in a former dairy. Gifford\u2019s opened its first ice cream stand in 1980, and the company is still a family business. Its ice cream is served at dozens of shops and stands in the summertime, including five of its own, plus it is sold in grocery stores. (I\u2019ve been picking up quarts of the cannoli flavor lately.)

Gifford\u2019s makes one flavor at a time, and this morning strawberry is on the production line. Five-gallon buckets of whole, thawed strawberries are poured into a cream mix. (The milk and cream are sourced in Maine.) A network of pipes moves the mixture overhead until it\u2019s emptied into containers for a super-chilled freezing, then stored on racks until loaded onto trucks for delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gifford\u2019s churns its custom ice cream flavors in a former dairy processing room in Skowhegan, where equipment includes 1940s Cherry Burrell ice cream freezers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Today its strawberry on the line at the Gifford\u2019s factory, housed in a former dairy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of this is simply an expansion by the current generation of the Gifford family on what their parents did in the business\u2019s early days. CEO Lindsay (Gifford) Skilling recalls that her father would sometimes get a call and then personally make a rush delivery. \u201cHe didn\u2019t want our customers to run out of popular flavors of ice cream on a sunny weekend or Memorial Day or the Fourth of July,\u201d she says.

J.C. Gifford, Lindsay\u2019s brother and vice president of the company, says he sometimes got to ride along on those special deliveries, and he paid attention. \u201cYou\u2019d get to see the intersection between your father and the customer\u2014it was work, but you could see the friendship,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A family business for generations: from left to
right is quality assurance manager Ryan Porter, marketing manager Samantha (Gifford) Plourd, vice president of sales J.C.
Gifford, and CEO Lindsay (Gifford) Skilling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Milk and cream are primary ingredients in the chilled mix that moves through the frosty pipes at Gifford\u2019s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


J.C. remembers when Gifford\u2019s was developing the Lobster Tracks flavor. \u201cOur dad and uncle were there, and they wanted to make sure the candy color was right. They went out to get a lobster and steamed it to see if the lobster cooked to the same orange-red.\u201d The color matched the candy in the ice cream, he says, smiling, \u201cand I got to eat the lobster.\u201d

The company releases new flavors every spring. No seafood is replicated in this year\u2019s lineup, but there\u2019s Cone-y Pretzel Whirl, banana cream pie, and Maine Black Fly (vanilla strawberry ripple chip). Oh my<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ice Cream Roads<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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A hot fudge sundae on a cool night at the roadside Holden a Cone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The stand is set up at the entrance to the KOA Campground in Holden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the summer, we visit more ice cream stops on various road trips, including tiny Bray Brook Ice Cream on a hillside beside a farmhouse on the roll-ing two-lane Route 131 in Appleton, and the fantastic glowing cone that houses the entire ice cream stand at Holden a Kone at the entrance to the KOA Campground in Holden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maine has a super-love for ice cream, and I do, too. It\u2019s a personal interest\u2014my first jobs growing up were at ice cream stands, and I\u2019m always game to try the next scoop. But maybe ice cream is personal for everyone? Every time the cream melts a little before the cone\u2019s finished, there it is: another reminder of summer-time\u2019s sweetness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Follow the Cone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t fear, wherever you are this summer, surely someone\u2019s scooping ice cream nearby, or lifting a lever to release ripples of soft-serve flavors into waffle cones and sundae cups. To get you started, here\u2019s a list of some of our favorite ice cream stands and shops:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWEETCREAM DAIRY<\/strong>
128 Main St., Biddeford (new location for 2022)
sweetcreamdairy.com<\/a>
Small-batch ice creams made with ingredients from Maine dairies and farms and without corn syrup or artificial flavors or colors. Pints are sold in a growing list of Maine shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOOSE ROCKS DAIRY <\/strong>
278 Mills Rd., Kennebunkport
facebook.com\/gooserocksdairykpt<\/a>
Known for large scoops and unusual flavors, including Graham Central Station and Cherry Amaretto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RED\u2019S DAIRY FREEZE<\/strong>
167 Cottage Rd., South Portland
redsdairyfreeze.com<\/a>
Open seasonally since 1952 and serving soft-serve ice cream, frozen yogurt, dairy-free confections, shakes, sprinkles, and treats.

THE MOSQUITO ICE CREAM SHOP<\/strong>
1333 Roosevelt Trail, Raymond
Established in 1996 and dishing up hard ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbet, floats, and freezes from a chocolate-brown barn.

BRAY BROOK ICE CREAM<\/strong>
382 Union Rd., Appleton
facebook.com\/appletonicecream<\/a>
Hand-scooped Shain\u2019s Ice Cream in cones, banana splits, and parfaits. New for 2022 will be ice cream sandwiches made with CupKate\u2019s cookies baked in Waldo.

HOLDEN A KONE<\/strong>
602 Main Rd., Holden
Homemade waffle cones, dozens of soft-serve flavors, Gifford\u2019s scoops.

DAIRY PORT<\/strong>
79 Main St., Bucksport
thedairyport.com<\/a>
Founded in 1954 and serving specialty house-made soft serve, dips and sprinkles, sundaes, boats, and scoops of Gifford\u2019s.

GIFFORD\u2019 S ICE CREAM
<\/strong>307 Madison Ave., Skowhegan (also in Farmington, Waterville, Auburn, Bangor)
giffordsicecream.com<\/a>
Founded in 1980 by the Gifford family, made in Skowhegan in a former dairy with Maine milk and cream, and adding new flavors each year. Also sold in grocery stores and independent shops.

MOUNT DESERT ISLAND ICE CREAM
<\/strong>7 Firefly Ln., Bar Harbor (also at 51 Exchange St., Portland)
mdiic.com<\/a>
Since 2005, classic and new flavors made with whole ingredients\u2014including Madagascar vanilla, French and Belgian chocolate, and Maine honey, sea salt, basil, and ginger.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\t\t

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