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When you live in a place as hot as Florida, it's important to chill out on a regular basis. Our favorite way to cool down? By indulging in frozen treats in all their delicious forms, from classics like ice cream, gelato and Italian ice to new favorites like nitrogen, boozy and artisanal ice creams.
You'll find all those options and more in South Florida, thanks to an explosion of creative, chef-driven frozen treats and an infinite variety of palate-popping flavors and textures to discover.
So get your napkins ready - and join us on a tour of 11 places in the area where you can get your licks in.
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Proper Ice Cream
Delray Beach
What started as a hobby making ice creams and sorbets is now a full-time business for Rick Felberbaum, owner of Proper Ice Cream in Delray Beach. The lawyer-turned-entrepreneur trained with top chefs to learn the secrets and science of crafting ultra-creamy ice cream with entirely natural ingredients, no additives and 20 percent less sugar than standard recipes.
You'll want to make repeat trips to Proper Ice Cream to try inspired flavors like caramelized fig and pistachio, coffee and donuts, olive oil rosemary, and cornbread and apple tartin. Unusual cone flavors include salted blue corn, toasted coconut and black vanilla.
Skip yoga class and head over for a mellow, yellow Golden Milk ice cream in a red velvet cone. The flavor is inspired by a 5,000-year-old recipe and includes super-spice turmeric, ginger, coriander and cinnamon.
Info: 561-359-3420, propericecream.com
PheNOMeNOM Nitrogen Ice Cream & Bake Shop
Boca Raton
The nitrogen ice cream trend combines culinary art with scientific techniques. PheNOMeNOM Nitrogen Ice Cream & Bake Shop in Boca Raton uses liquid nitrogen in the freezing process to create ice cream with a super creamy texture - and you get to watch it being made. Liquid nitrogen, at -320º F, produces the smallest ice crystals possible, resulting in extreme creaminess. It's served immediately, so there's no freezer burn taste.
Customers choose from eight Staff NOMinations, such as coffee ice cream with Heath Bar, or design their own by picking a base flavor and adding NOMs (the word represents the sound of someone eating with audible gusto) like cookies, candy, fruit or nuts. Ingredients are put into a mixer with nitrogen and - after a flourish of vapor - you've got flash-frozen ice cream.
Info: 754-216-3478, phenomenom320.com
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La Gelateria della Musica
Boca Raton
Benvenuto to La Gelateria della Musica in Boca Raton! Fabio Brigliadoro, owner and chef of the popular Italy-based gelato bistro, opened his first U.S. location in Royal Palm Plaza last year. Known for its unusual flavors (like bread, butter and jam) as well as classic favorites, the gelateria makes authentic gelato and sorbet from scratch, and the menu changes daily.
What makes gelato so different? Ice cream's Italian cousin is creamier and softer because it has less air whipped in, contains less butterfat and is served at a higher temperature. Less fat means more flavor reaches the taste buds, so every bite explodes with rich intensity.
Info: 305-613-3032, lagelateriadellamusica.it
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Siciliano's Frozen Custard
Hollywood
Tucked away in a tiny white shack in Hollywood is Siciliano's Frozen Custard. Not sure what frozen custard is? It's basically ice cream - but made with egg yolks and a high percentage of butterfat. The result is a thick and creamy concoction with a smoother consistency than ice cream.
The shop sells vanilla, chocolate and swirl frozen custard. Get your flavor bursts from toppings such as Reese's peanut butter cups or chocolate cake crunch. Siciliano's also offers sorbets, sherbets, sundaes and shakes.
Fans of all things pumpkin are in luck as autumn signals the appearance of pumpkin frozen custard on the menu. And it's always hurricane season at Siciliano's: Try a Frozen Hurricane, which is rich custard swirled in a blender with your favorite topping.
Info: 954-985-8050
The Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery
Boynton Beach
The Jersey Shore meets the Florida coast at The Boardwalk Italian Ice & Creamery. The business is owned and operated by the Hurtuk family, who brought memories and treats from seaside visits in their home state to Boynton Beach in 2015. The white storefront, with its red-and-white-striped awnings, outdoor beachscape and whimsical décor, creates a boardwalk-by-the-sea vibe. Look in the "skinny" fun house mirror on your way in before you order.
The menu features homemade ice cream, Italian ice, gelato and soft-serve custard as well as boardwalk favorites like zeppoli, funnel cakes, saltwater taffy, fried Oreos, candy apples and cotton candy.
The signature treat is the Beach Bowl sundae. It comes in four different sizes, with four to 16 scoops and loads of toppings.
Info: 561-600-9593, theboardwalkice.com
La Michoacana Natural
Lake Worth and West Palm Beach
For a taste of the tropics, get on the stick and head over to La Michoacana Natural in Lake Worth and West Palm Beach for Mexican paletas (popsicles). The company has been making paletas and Mexican ice cream since the 1960s.
The unpretentious paleterias offer cream- and sorbet-based paletas in a range of tropical flavors as well as two dozen flavors of ice cream. We're partial to the creamy coconut paleta and the bright-orange mamey fruit ice cream, a Latin American favorite.
Quench your thirst with a refreshing mangonada, an authentic Mexican fruit drink made with mango, chamoy sauce, chili pepper and lime.
Info: 561-514-3030
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Cecilie's Gourmet Italian Ices
Boca Raton
Cool off with a refreshing treat at Cecilie's Gourmet Italian Ices. The first store opened in Coral Springs in 1995, and now there's a location in Boca Raton.
The non-dairy ices, sometimes called "water ices," combine fresh fruit or other flavoring ingredients, sweetener and water in a mixing and freezing process.
Cecilie's has 32 flavors available every day, but experimentation and suggestions from customers have upped the recipe book to more than 200 varieties. Made in-house in small batches "to ensure that every bite you take is exactly the same as you last remembered it," according to Cecilie's website, flavors range from traditional lemon and chocolate to playful watermelon and cotton candy to complex cheesecake and cappuccino Heath Bar crunch.
Info: 561-571-1281, ceciliesices.com
Sloan's
Six area locations
Ice cream + candy + toys = a kid's paradise. But the whimsical Sloan's, a self-described "ice cream utopia for the young and young at heart," also has plenty to please grown-up palates. You'll find ice cream flavors like Almond Joy and Elvis's Favorite, peanut butter and banana ice cream (thank you very much).
Try the Sandcastle Sundae, which comes in a real beach pail with a shovel. You'll need that implement: The sundae comprises five scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, wet walnuts, any two dry toppings, a chocolate chip cookie, whipped cream and cherries.
Sloan's opened its first location in West Palm Beach in 1999. Now, it has six area locations, including ones in Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
Info: sloansicecream.com
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Aubi & Ramsa
Miami
Talk about a happy hour. Enjoy your cocktail by the spoonful at Aubi & Ramsa. The Miami business revels in "expanding the enjoyment of wine and spirits beyond their liquid state," according to its website, by making alcohol-infused ice creams and sorbets. The stylish bar and ice cream den is located in the Design District.
Handcrafted treats, which are served in elegant containers, include The Highland Truffle, a Belgian chocolate ice cream with Macallan 12-year-old Scotch and chocolate chunks; Kentucky Crème Brulee, an organic vanilla- pudding ice cream with Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon and caramelized sugar sprinkles; and the Tangerine Mimosa, a Champagne sorbet with Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut.
The boozy frozen confections are also available by the pint to take home or have delivered. O Info: 305-946-9072, aubiramsa.com
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Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant
Dania Beach
Set your course for Dania Beach to enjoy the Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant experience. A local institution since 1956, it boasts a collection of license plates from around the country and funky, old-timey memorabilia. The restaurant has an extensive fast-food menu, but it whips up a huge number of ice cream flavors daily, including sugar-free varieties as well as fat-free frozen yogurt.
Jaxson’s is renowned for its whopping sundae creations. Save your appetite for the pièce de réstistance, the Kitchen Sink, for parties of four or more. This signature concoction is piled high with ice cream and toppings, served in an actual sink and brought to the table with a fanfare of sparklers.
Info: 954-923-4445, jaxsonsicecream.com
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Taiyaki NYC
Miami
Taiyaki NYC Miami is worth the trip. The Asian ice cream shop is known for its fish-shaped waffle cones (Taiyaki means “fried fish” in Japanese), which are made fresh to order and filled with red bean paste, soft-serve ice cream and toppings. You’ll definitely want to Instagram your treat before diving in.
The cones are chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside and pair perfectly with the small-batch ice cream. Build your own concoction or choose from signature combinations, such as the Matcha Better, with matcha ice cream, strawberry drizzle, matcha powder and a mochi stick. Vanilla and chocolate ice cream are also available, as are toppings like caramel, crushed Oreos and sprinkles.
Taikyaki NYC’s Miami location, inside the Asian food hall 1-800 Lucky in Wynwood, opened recently following the success of the Chinatown flagship.
Info: 786-714-9008, taiyakinyc.com