By Kevin Howell and Pat Stinson
Editor’s note: After our story went to press last week, we remembered another local establishment that makes its own ice cream: Bear Claw Café in Copemish. Writer Stewart McFerran discovered the café and its home-cooked meals last fall. (See https://freshwater-reporter.com/lending-a-hand-restaurant-owners-help-each-other-during-crisis/ ) We added Bear Claw here, to our online story.
What better way to cool off on a hot sunny day ⸺ shy of a dip in the big lake, of course ⸺ than eating a scoop or two of ice cream? And what could be better than locally made ice cream?
In Mason, Lake, Benzie and Manistee counties, you’ll find delicious choices for the locally made kind: House of Flavors in Ludington, Jones Homemade Ice Cream in Baldwin, Hill Top Soda Shoppe in Benzonia, and Bear Claw Café in Copemish.
Since I’m a Mason County resident and live reasonably close to two of the four, my editor suggested I try a taste at the first two shops. She volunteered to write about the others. All offer other food options as well as ice cream.
First, a disclaimer: My appetite for ice cream has diminished since my youth when I was an ice-cream hound. But on rare occasions I still imbibe, and this little foray back into ice-cream land sounded like fun.
House of Flavors, Ludington
The House of Flavors, 402 West Ludington Ave., began as Miller Dairy, producing milk, cottage cheese, buttermilk and ice cream, according to a statement on the company’s website. In 1948, Bob Neal purchased a 50% interest in the dairy, and after a couple name changes, House of Flavors was born in 1964.
Today, millions of gallons of ice cream are made in the adjoining manufacturing facility. To be more precise, 28 million gallons per year, making them Michigan’s largest ice cream producer, so sayeth the facility’s website. The Neal family still runs the restaurant/ice cream shop. I haven’t tried their meals, but my editor says they make a “mean” cherry chicken salad and the restaurant gets high marks on Tripadvisor.
As a child, I really liked cherry ice cream, and lo and behold, there it was on the menu: Black Sweet Cherry ice cream. But how to eat it? A cup? A cone? A sundae? I noticed they offer waffle cones. I remember sugar cones and regular cones, but I don’t remember having a waffle cone.
I ordered a single dip, which was a REALLY BIG single dip, of cherry ice cream with big chunks of black cherries packed into a waffle cone. Rather than eat inside, I went through an indoor take-out line, where huge cartons of ice cream in flavors such as Blackberry Dark Chocolate Chunk, Caramel Caribou and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough were lined up in front of me and waiting to be scooped. Forty flavors, in all.
Sitting on a bench outside, under the hot sun, I found it didn’t take long before the ice cream dripped down the side of the cone and onto my fingers. I felt like a little kid again and loved it.
The ice cream itself was smooth and sweet with the waffle cone adding a little extra sweetness.
While the ice cream is definitely worth trying, the price was a little more than I expected at $4 for a single dip plus an extra buck for the waffle cone, but then this isn’t the 1960s when my ice cream cone cost less than a dollar.
Jones Homemade Ice Cream, Baldwin
On to Jones Homemade Ice Cream at 858 Michigan Avenue in Baldwin. This trip, I brought my navigator Jean along so we could try two flavors. She tends to favor plain ol’ Chocolate while I took a chance on Blue Moon.
Jones Homemade Ice Cream shop is a much smaller operation than House of Flavors, though similar in age. You could call their ice cream making “small batch.” They were founded in 1942 at the present-day location. The interior of the shop is reminiscent of ice cream/soda fountains of an earlier era. Historic photos from those days line the walls. Stools at the counter and a few tables inside and outside seat customers.
The service, like at House of Flavors, was friendly when we visited, and the shop was busy dispensing treats. An outdoor walk-up window served “take-out” customers.
Instead of a cone, we each decided on a single dip (another decent-sized scoop) in a cup. Sampling each, we found the chocolate was thick and rich and full of chocolate flavor.
“This is good ice cream,” Jean remarked, as she tasted a spoonful.
The Blue Moon was a treat sensation I couldn’t quite define. I asked the employees to help me clarify the flavor. One thought it had a bit of a citrusy taste to it. In a quandary about describing the taste, I did a little research and found one description that came close: “The flavor of Blue Moon ice cream is fruity with strong raspberry and lemon flavors.”
The flavor did indeed have a taste of something fruity, but it wasn’t overpowering ⸺ more subtle, light and refreshing along with that smooth richness you find in homemade ice cream. I think I have my ice cream appetite back!
Other flavors at Jones, (they serve 13, plus two special flavors which rotate, according to “Angela”), included Orange Pineapple, Butter Pecan, Mackinaw Fudge and more. The prices here were a bit more within my budget at $3.25 for a single dip, plus an extra buck for a chocolate waffle cone. The shop also offers sodas, shakes, floats, sundaes and banana splits.
On a previous visit to Jones, my editor was offered a taste of Salted Coffee Caramel. As promised, the flavor was delicious and tasted just like a specialty coffee drink, but she ordered Black Walnut instead. One scoop in a waffle cone of the creamy, walnutty and not-too-sweet flavor put stars in her eyes. Five stars.
Hill Top Soda Shoppe, Benzonia
Hill Top’s ice cream is super creamy, thanks to its 16% butterfat content and the owners’ refusal to whip too much air into the mixture. Their handcrafted chocolate ice cream is double chocolatey, rich and dense. Years ago, when they began making ice cream, owners Chris and Victoria Mekas told me that the little bits of chocolate found in the flavor were a happy accident. Due to operator error the Ghirardelli chocolate bars they chop on the premises did not blend properly into the cocoa mixture and became little flecks of added flavor. Yum.
An interesting aside: Before they opened their ice cream shop, Chris took Victoria to Jones Homemade Ice Cream, so she could learn about ice cream homemade in small batches.
A friend swears by Hill Top’s Malted Chocolate, but the shop rotates flavors, so what is here today may be gone tomorrow. There are currently 23 hand-dipped flavors behind the counter, plus an upright freezer of packed pints. Included are at least a couple flavors of sorbet.
I recently tried a kiddie-sized scoop of strawberry-peach-cherry sorbet, and it was deliciously refreshing, maybe because there’s just fresh fruit, sugar, lemon and water … no corn syrup. The strawberries are from Grossnickle Farms of Kaleva in Manistee County. Hill Top also uses the farm’s berries in its Strawberry ice cream, without added flavors or colors.
Co-editor Mark ordered Chocolate Chocolate Chip and appreciated the small chunks of chocolate throughout the intensely flavored chocolate ice cream.
A single scoop of ice cream at Hill Top is $3.66, and if you choose a waffle cone the cost is $4.72. Place your order inside the shop or at the drive-thru window. As the name implies, Hill Top sits near the top of a hill at 7117 South Street, east of U.S. Highway 31 in Benzonia.
Bear Claw Café, Copemish
Tammy Grant owns and operates the Bear Claw Café at 18571 Cadillac Highway in Copemish. Tucked in the northeastern corner of Manistee County, the café has a steadfast group of customers who keep coming back for good home-cooked meals.
When asked to tell us about her homemade ice cream, Grant replied with her customary enthusiasm.
“Who doesn’t like talking about ice cream?” she asked. “Ice cream reminds us of our childhood, when everything was simpler!”
Grant said she watched a video to learn how ice cream is made and experimented for “about two good weeks,” spending long hours at the café and making changes to the recipes. She said she finally found what worked best for the ice cream product she wanted to sell.
“It’s all about timing,” she exclaimed. “I literally made chocolate butter one night!”
Grant likes to use fresh fruits, nuts and natural flavors in her ice cream.
“The actual ice cream is very low in sugar, so I know my seniors that are watching their sugar intake can enjoy a cup if they choose to,” she explained.
Some weeks she offers 12 flavors. Other times she may be short on storage space or have difficulty finding the main ingredients she prefers to use. A few recent flavors included: Banana, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter, Butterfingers, Caramel Pecan, Superman, Confetti and Vanilla. She said the café’s Michigan Berry is “always a hit” and the café’s signature flavor is, naturally, Bear Claw.
“I create my own secret chocolate, add walnuts or pecans, fudge and caramel,” she said.
Grant’s favorite flavor is Orange Pineapple, a preference that comes with a story.
“When I was young, we lived in South Dakota,” she recounted. “I was able to spend one summer with my grandparents (in) Michigan, and my grandma took me for ice cream and ordered her favorite ⸺ Orange Pineapple. I basically only had Vanilla, Chocolate or Strawberry in my entire life, so the new flavors were definitely a hit. And, of course, it has been my favorite for nearly 50 years now. I never fail to think of my grandma or Michigan every time I have a bite.”
Grant said that no matter what flavor her customers choose, they will find her ice cream is “unique, creamy and will definitely hold up in the heat.”
She explained that her café used to provide full ice cream parlor services. During the pandemic, she found a way to offer her customers “touchless ice cream” by individually packing her flavors into 8-ounce containers. Selling pre-packaged ice cream results in faster service for customers and helps with staffing issues, a challenge faced by almost every area dining establishment.
An 8-ounce cup of Bear Claw Café ice cream costs $4.
Now you know … some of the state’s best-tasting ice cream is within driving distance. Check out the shops’ Facebook pages for the latest flavors. Then, when you’re in the mood for a cool treat on a hot and sunny afternoon, get yourself a dip of rich and creamy local ice cream from your favorite ice cream shop.
Kevin Howell is a transplanted freelance writer from Indiana residing in Mason County. He loves the Michigan woods, lakes, and especially Michigan craft beers, not necessarily in that order. Contact him at kevin@ytci.com.
Pat Stinson is the co-editor of Freshwater Reporter. A scoop of good ice cream can make her day.
