Salty Caramel and Birthday Cake Ice Cream

It’s National Ice Cream Month! I could leave the post at that…the words seem to speak for themselves.  After all, what could be better than having an entire 31 days devoted to one of America’s most beloved desserts? I know I’m excited about it, and I think many other people in St. Louis are, too…In the Midwest, you can only do so much to escape 104-degree temperatures and sweltering humidity.  Eating ice cream ranks among the top of the list.

Even though St. Louis is known more for its frozen custard than its ice cream, there are still a few places you can go to get the delicious, frozen treat. Serendipity is one of them.

Serendipity is a small, home-made ice cream shop in the heart of Webster Groves (a suburb of St. Louis).  Ironically enough, the owner was my second-grade religious school teacher, and now runs a profitable ice cream business.  The shop was packed on a Friday night, and with flavors ranging from Chocolate Almond Swiss to Dulce de Leche, I can understand why.

Salty Caramel and Birthday Cake Ice Cream

I ordered one of the shop’s signature flavors, Salty Caramel, and then also ordered a scoop of the Birthday Cake ice cream on a whim.  The Salty Caramel had swirls of caramel throughout, and the salty-sweet flavor seemed to melt on my tongue. The Birthday Cake ice cream was swirled with rainbow sprinkles, and tasted exactly like yellow birthday cake (one of my favorite cake flavors).  The sprinkles reminded me of when I was younger, because I would always order rainbow sprinkles on top of my ice cream, or mixed into a concrete.  Then, I’d let the ice cream melt a little so there would be sprinkles left to devour at the bottom of the cup…I definitely had a system in place.

Serendipity was a great way to begin a month full of sweet, frozen, sugary deliciousness, and was also the perfect antidote to the record-setting heat wave.  Stay tuned for more news on the ice cream front, as I continue to celebrate throughout July.

And also, here’s a picture of the flowers at Tower Grove Park.  Even though it was almost too hot to be outside, I couldn’t resist taking some photos:

Flowers at Tower Grove Park