One of the most memorable sounds of the summer is the jingling muzak of the ice cream truck as it drives down the street, promising soft-serve, Popsicles and other sweet treats.
But some people might not want to wait for the truck to come to them to get their hands on some ice cream, and others might be more interested in locally-made frozen desserts.
Fortunately, there are a multitude of ice cream parlors and locally-made ice cream brands centered around Montgomery County. Here are just a few and what sets them apart.
Rock Hill Orchard & Woodbourne Creamery — Mt. Airy
It’s not often that you can eat ice cream in the same place as the cows that produce the milk that goes into it, or where the trees where the fruit used in the fruity flavors are grown. Rock Hill Orchard & Woodbourne Creamery, as the only dairy left in Montgomery County selling milk suitable for consumption and making made-on-the-farm ice cream, offers that unique experience.
The orchard has been operating for over 50 years, but the idea to make its own ice cream came about when John and Mary Fendick purchased the 200-acre farm in 2010. The couple started construction on the dairy farm and creamery in 2012, making it the first new one in the county in 60 years.
“We bought [the orchard] to be able to put our cows there,” John Fendick says. Rock Hill Orchard’s milk and ice cream comes from its small herd of grass-fed Golden Guernsey cows. “We basically built the creamery for the cows.”
Part of what sets Woodbourne Creamery’s ice cream apart from factory-made ice cream is the fact that it is not homogenized. This means that fat particles are randomly distributed throughout, making each bite taste different. It’s still pasteurized, so it’s safe for consumption, but John Fendick notes that the uneven fat distribution gives the ice cream an almost buttery flavor.
Woodbourne Creamery has a small list of flavors, some of which are rotated seasonally. Of their regularly available flavors, toasted coconut and dark chocolate are commonly ordered, with Maryland’s best peach ice cream being very popular in the summer and pumpkin being well-liked in the fall. Other seasonal flavors, like apple cinnamon, incorporate fruit also grown in the orchard.
But perhaps the best part of going to Woodbourne Creamery for ice cream is the fact that customers can meet and pet the creamery’s calves on the weekends.
“Calves love being petted, and it’s great for us because it gets them used to people when they get older,” John Fendick adds. “It makes them easier to handle if we have to give them medicine or put a halter on them. … Some people don’t even realize we have cows on-site because you can’t see them from the highway, so it’s a fun surprise.”
Moorenko’s Ice Cream — Locations in Silver Spring and Washington, D.C.
When Susan Soorenko opened Moorenko’s Ice Cream almost 22 years ago, she was coming from a much different place than one might expect from the owner of an ice cream business. She actually spent the prior 25 years working as a fitness trainer. But she decided to start an ice cream company in part because of her children.
“My son, who was very young at the time, and I had gone on vacation, and we had some ice cream that was unlike anything we had tasted anywhere else,” Soorenko recalls. “I thought it would be a good idea to make that kind of ice cream with that level of quality here and open a shop so that basically my kids could have a place to come after school so I could keep an eye on them. It made them very popular, having their mother own an ice cream shop.”
Now, Moorenko’s Ice Cream is sold at shops throughout Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia and has even been served at the White House. The company’s ice cream is made at its factory in Silver Spring and then shipped out across the area, including to its two “scoop shop” locations.
Vanilla is always a popular flavor, but some of Moorenko’s other fan favorites are salted caramel with pralines and cookie overload. They also offer sorbets, with mango being one of their most well-liked.
Soorenko notes that making ice cream and maintaining an ice cream company can be more difficult than people might think.
“The ice cream business is extremely competitive, and it’s a very expensive product to make,” she says. “Since COVID, the basic ingredients are expensive, as is the cost of labor. But people still expect ice cream to be as cheap as it was when they were kids. It’s a balance of making sure everyone who works at Moorenko’s is doing okay, while sustaining the business on a narrow profit margin.”
Still, having such a long-running business means that she’s seen the community grow and change around Moorenko’s.
“Children who grew up on our ice cream are now old enough to apply to work at our shops or at our factory,” she adds.
Gemma Gelato — Sold at Various Locations
Gelato used to only be a footnote for Tiger Mullen. It was the most popular dessert offering at the Italian restaurant he used to own and operate, but the restaurant primarily focused on Italian food in general. But during the 2020 pandemic, the restaurant had to shut down. Mullen was now sitting on a 4,000 square-foot facility, several food trucks and a long list of canceled events.
He founded Gemma Gelato in the midst of this seemingly hopeless situation, converting the former restaurant space in Rockville into a gelato factory. The company started selling gelato at nearby farmers’ markets, but was soon approached by Dawson’s Market, a Rockville-based grocery store that expressed interest in selling their products. Since then, Gemma Gelato has spread up and down the East Coast and is now sold at stores as big as Whole Foods Market.
“I started making gelato back in 2008,” Mullen says. “A company I was talking to about buying restaurant supplies said that they were going to host a training program with a few Italian gelato masters. I’ve been back [to the training program] at least three times since then.”
Gemma Gelato’s primary focus is on making gelato with natural ingredients. Mullen notes that even in Italy, where gelato hails from, most gelato produced has artificial ingredients in it like flavorings or colorings.
“With us producing our gelato on a completely natural basis, we’re a real rarity not only in the U.S., but also in Italy,” he adds. “Only about 5% of gelato in Italy is truly Clean Label [certified] and natural.”
Another factor that sets Gemma Gelato apart is the fact that its gelato is double-pasteurized. Double-pasteurization can extend the shelf life of dairy products, and in Mullen’s opinion, makes for creamier, more flavorful gelato. Initially, the fact that Gemma Gelato is double-pasteurized was meant to be a company secret, but they soon started marketing their gelato as such so it would stand out.
By far, Gemma Gelato’s most popular flavor is its pistachio verde gelato. Gemma Gelato staff grind pistachios into paste for this treat themselves with a stone grinder. They also offer vegan sorbetti in quirky flavor combinations like orange basil and lemon jalapeno.
Gemma Gelato currently does not have a dedicated retail location, but Mullen credits local farmers’ markets with the company’s success.
“They helped us keep the lights on during COVID, and is what launched the business, got us into grocery stores and gave us exposure for our gelato cart catering business,” he says.
