Best Thing We Ate This Week: Lavender ice cream with local raw honey
Editor's Note: "Best Thing We Ate This Week" is a weekly feature highlighting food writers Sarah Griesemer and Gabriela L. Laracca's favorite dishes. Follow along at app.com and Jersey Shore Eats on Instagram.
Last week following LBI's Chowderfest, I ended up trying one of the most sophisticated ice cream flavors I've ever eaten.
Manahawkin-residents Carl and Andrea Manfra, owners of the year-round Ice Cream Shop of Manahawkin, concocted a relaxing blend of Lavender Honey ice cream, sporting a deep purple color with indigo notes.
"We had no idea this flavor was going to be a huge hit," Andrea Manfra said, who used local honey from Backyard Bees Honey, and lavender syrup. "I wanted to take all the fresh floral flavors you see in spring and summer and turn it into an ice cream.
"If lavender is that good in drinks, coffees and baked goods, why not an ice cream?"
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They used the same mantra for other seasonal flavors, like the Mexican Hot Chocolate during the winter months (when they're open 3 to 9 p.m.), and regular hot chocolate with marshmallows.
The shop, which also makes items like pup cups, ice cream cakes and sandwiches, started with just nine flavors in 2014. Now they offer wild specials, like Pineapple Habanero and Black Pepper, and regular hits like Dunkaroos and Fruity Pebbles.
"We like doing things differently ... and we always try to use as many local vendors as possible," she said.
Jack Laudati, a fellow Manahawkin-resident, makes three types of honey at Backyard Bees Honey. The Jersey Shore variety is light and floral; Wild Flower uses various spring and summer flowers, as well as seasonal nectars, like peach and strawberry. The darkest of the bunch, The Pine Barrens, sports fall notes like pumpkin, squash and sunflower.
"It was a great collaboration to be able to provide ... raw honey for Carl [and Andrea]," he said. "And it's local honey, made from bees right here in Manahawkin."
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A massive monster truck sits outside the Ice Cream Shop on Route 9, overlooking Manahawkin Lake and a playground. After lapping up ice cream, you can find children climbing and taking pictures on the truck nearly every weekend.
You also might see this reporter, sitting across the street at the lake, enjoying a cone.
Go: 59 N. Main St., Manahawkin; 609-488-1983, facebook.com/icecreamshopofmanahawkin. For Backyard Bees Honey: jack@bybhoney.com, 732-998-7105, facebook.com/jlaudati.
Follow our eating adventures
"Best Thing I Ate" runs every Wednesday online and on The Asbury Park Press food Instagram, Jersey Shore Eats. Have a suggestion on where we should try next? Email glaracca@gannett.com or sgriesemer@gannettnj.com.
Gabriela L. Laracca joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2021 and eagerly brings her passion for cuisine and culture to our readers. Send restaurant tips to glaracca@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Manahawkin ice cream shop serves lavender honey ice cream
