these halloween ice creams made in hintonburg are deliciously nostalgic
at the merry dairy, flavours like cookie monster and candy bar will only be available for a few more days.
3 minute read
cookie monster ice cream is a special halloween flavour at the merry dairy in hintonburg.
tony caldwell
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postmedia
the merry dairy
102 fairmont ave., 613-680-3144, themerrydairy.com
open: tuesday to thursday and sunday noon to 8 p.m., friday and saturday noon to 9 p.m., closed monday
prices: $10 for pints of halloween-themed ice cream, $4 for a scoop, $6 for two scoops
access: steps to front door
halloween flavours at the merry dairy in ottawa thursday.
tony caldwell
/
postmedia
until last week, i seriously undervalued ice creams with bits of candy bars mixed into them.
give me a refreshing strawberry gelato any day, i thought. if i was feeling more decadent, some rich, no-nonsense dark chocolate ice cream did the trick.
but for me, chunks of skor or butterfinger bars in my dairy desserts were just too-sugary distractions.
or so i thought.
four words changed my mind. the first one was “halloween.” the other three were “the merry dairy.”
after thanksgiving, the hintonburg ice-cream institution recently released almost a dozen new spooky flavours in the leadup to oct. 31. being on the treat beat, i had to visit and try a few samples.
i can tell you i was instantly won over by “chocolate haunted toffee,” which embedded bits of chocolate-covered sponge toffee into surprisingly rich vegan chocolate ice cream. the even more juvenile (in a good way) “candy bar” ice cream, which mixed various nut-free halloween chocolate bars, everything from smarties to coffee crisps to aeros to kit kats, into a premium base, also did the trick.
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i had my ice cream in a cup, but you could get right into the spirit of the season and enjoy your halloween flavours on black vanilla cones.
halloween flavours at the merry dairy in ottawa.
tony caldwell
/
postmedia
some flavours are available by the scoop ($4 for a single, $6 for a double), while all are available by the pint, for $10. the special flavours, which will be available until the merry dairy, or the scary dairy as it’s currently been rebranded, runs out later this week.
pints of halloween ice cream at the merry dairy in ottawa.
tony caldwell
/
postmedia
for extra shock value, you could try “cookie monster,” which tosses house-baked cookies plus oreos into a naturally coloured, cookie-monster-blue ice cream. surely this is ice cream for kids, or at least the young at heart.
on the other hand, “booberry lemon” ice cream, made with canadian wild blueberries and lemon juice, practically smacks of adulthood.
but that’s not really the point of halloween-flavoured ice cream. it’s nostalgia.
with my very first bite of chocolate haunted toffee, i had visions of a six-year-old me, circa 1970, dressed up as a ghost, escorted by my mother after dark through the streets of nepean. with another bite, i recalled taking my young son, dressed up as a wee dinosaur, on his first treat-or-treating session near westboro beach, more than 15 years ago.
proust’s madeleines have nothing on the merry dairy’s ice cream.
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my mother passed away a few years ago. these days, my son is in his fourth year of university in toronto. so currently, they are only as close to me as my memories. thanks, merry dairy.
staff open up the merry dairy in ottawa.
tony caldwell
/
postmedia
do you have a favourite place to get a little treat in ottawa? send peter hum an e-mail to share your picks.
other treats of the week:
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