Stir-fried ice cream, or I-Tim-Pad, is the latest craze in the ice cream world. This new way of mixing and presenting ice cream in rolls started in Thailand almost ten years ago, and it has slowly been finding a niche here in America.
Just recently, a new ice cream shop called Icy Rolls opened up in Granby, Connecticut. There is definitely no shortage of ice cream shops in this region. And we all tend to have our favorite place. However, this new shop has been all the talk on Facebook, especially in a local town forum. I kept seeing pictures of the ice cream, with reviews and urges that everyone “has to try it out!” And so earlier this week, we did!
Icy Rolls is located in the center of Granby right near the intersection of Rtes. 20, 189 and 202. It’s about a 25 to 30 minute drive from Enfield.
You can find it in the Granby Village Shops plaza which is also home to Starbucks and Wayback Burgers.
Icy Rolls is a small shop wedged between a pizza shop and a salon; but you can easily spot it because of their super cute logo.
We checked them out at noon on a Tuesday (we may or may not have had ice cream for lunch). Since it was a rather unusual time for ice cream, we had the place to ourselves. Normally though, I hear there can be lines out the door!
The shop is small but they have everything set up really nicely, including a number of spots to sit.
I personally love their decorations, but I’m rather partial to penguins. You’ll spot the penguins all around on the walls and it’s super cute!!
When you first enter the shop, you’ll want to head to the right and take a look at their menu. They offer fresh handmade ice cream. The ice creams (dairy and dairy free) are all $7 (which includes tax). Each bowl includes your choice of FOUR toppings, as well as whipped cream. They are currently working on the bubblemilk tea and fruit tea, which should be available soon.
There are 12 ice cream options made with dairy. The base includes vanilla, cream and milk. Fruits, sauces, candies and other ingredients are added to create each unique flavor. Whether you like a fruity concoction or if chocolate is your thing, you’ll find something on this menu. Five of the dairy menu items are also gluten free – so there really is something for everyone.
Additionally, three of their flavors are available as a dairy free option. These are made with a coconut base. I was told they are pretty coconut-y, which is great if you love that flavor (I kind of want to try that pina colada at some point)! These are new to the menu and also cost only $7.
As I mentioned, the bubblemilk tea & fruit tea are coming soon!
Once you have chosen your ice cream flavor, you’ll head to the cashier to place your order and pay. They accept cash and credit card.
Apparently, he was paying today.
Once you place your order, they get a bowl ready with your name on it. Since the shop was quiet, our ice cream was started right away, but I’d imagine on busy days, you may be waiting a few minutes before they start to prepare your ice cream. You’ll want to stay near the counter though; half of the fun at Icy Rolls is watching them make your ice cream!
So, basically, as it was explained to me, they start with a very cold metal pan. Very cold as in -18 to -35 degrees Celsius. They take fresh fruit, candy or other ingredients that make up your ice cream flavor, and then chop, mash and mush it all down on the pan.
Then, they add in a liquid base. Since our ice cream was dairy-based, this included cream, milk and vanilla. The liquid is poured onto the pan and immediately starts to crystallize. As it solidifies, they start to mash and blend it with the other ingredients by hand using metal spatulas. Your ice cream is basically made right in front of you.
Once the ice cream has fully solidified and is well blended, they spread the concoction out very thinly over the entire pan. They continue to smooth it down until it’s a fine layer of ice cream.
Now instead of scooping up piles of ice cream and putting it in your bowl, the best part about stir-fried ice cream at Icy Rolls is the presentation! Using the metal spatula, they scrape the thin layer of ice cream into rolls!
Once your ice cream has been rolled and your bowl is full, you’ll head over to the toppings area! Included in each ice cream are FOUR toppings, as well as a sauce and whipped cream.
You can choose more fresh fruit (if you are healthy like that) or these really cool jelly balls (which are filled with fruit-flavored liquid).
Or you can be really bad and load your ice cream with a bunch of different chocolates and candies! You can choose from M&M’s, Reese’s puffs, chocolate chips, jelly beans and a lot more! You can also double up on a topping (that counts as two). We ended up trying jellybeans, strawberry jelly balls and chocolate chip cookie sticks.
Our final product! It was almost too beautiful to eat!
The ice cream is rather large and filling; we shared one between the two of us but we could have easily shared this with daddy too. It’s a lot of ice cream! We sat and ate our ice cream for a while, and this one chatted with the shop employees. He was happy taking his sweet time and he totally stole the ice cream from me at one point!
We had a really fun time checking out Icy Rolls. The ice cream is good and the serving was generous for the price. It was also really fun watching your ice cream be made. This is something that you should definitely should experience! Take a drive to Granby sometime soon and try this out for yourself!
This about sums it up…
10 Hartford Ave – Granby, Connecticut
Hours:
Monday through Friday: 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday: 12 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Features:
- Ice Cream for sale
- Gluten Free and Dairy Free options on menu.
- This is not a nut free shop.
- Stroller accessible (the shop is small so bear that in mind if it’s a busy time)
- Family Friendly!
- Free Parking
- Bathroom available for patrons
- Lots of seating throughout the shop (including a small table outside)
