When it comes to ice cream Vancouver Island has a lot to offer and now two Victoria shops are being recognized for having some of the best frozen treats in Canada.
The website Buzzfeed asked Canadians for their input on where to get the best ice cream across the country.
Cold Comfort in Fernwood was fifth out of 23.
“That’s pretty sweet, pretty special and totally out of the blue,” owner Autumn Maxwell said. “I think it’s sort of encouragement to just keep going and doing what I seem to do best.”
The dessert shop was recognized for pairing up with local breweries, its vegan ice cream and its creativity. The website states new ice cream flavours are created every day, with more than 360 flavours produced to date.
“I think the unique flavours are what keep bringing people back. One day it'll be 14 crazy flavours you've never tried and then you come back and try to get the one you didn't try the next day and it's already gone,” Maxwell told CTV News. “You never know what you're going to find.”
Maxwell highlighted one of the keys to her success is the ingredients she uses for her ice cream.
“I just use really quality ingredients and a lot of the ingredients are organic and [I use] local produce whenever I can,” she said.
According to the owner, the most asked for flavour is the gin and tonic, made from local gin and local tonic concentrate.
“It tastes like a gin and tonic in ice cream form, it’s not cheap to make,” Maxwell noted.
She said some flavours can get really expensive, up to $300 for a small batch of pistachio or the chocolate because of the quality of chocolate they use.
“Everyone gets what they want in the end, whether it’s sugar-free or dairy-free or just the richest, most decadent ice cream you can imagine,” Maxwell said.
The ice cream connoisseur said her favourite part about providing the service is making people happy.
“It just allows me to be an artist and do what I love doing and people are happy, that’s what I want,” Maxwell added.
Jackson’s Ice Cream Float almost made the list, coming in at 13.
It was recognized for its all locally made products and its Sea-Salt Caramel scoop.
According to their website, Jackson’s Ice Cream started with a one-of-a-kind floating ice cream shop and then expanded to include Jackson’s Ice Cream Float, Jacksons Soft-Serve Truck at Broughton Street Pier and Jackson's Scooped Ice Cream Truck.
Other B.C. ice cream shops that made the list include:
- Tickleberry’s – Okanagan Falls
- D Dutchmen Dairy – Sicamous
- Rain or Shine Ice Cream – Vancouver
