Desserts rarely get better than the ones offered at Loblolly Creamery in the SoMa district. Long known for its exceptional ice cream and soda selections, Loblolly recently has expanded its operations to include cakes, cookies and even macarons. And with top-notch pastry chef Matthew Lowman leading the charge, Loblolly has become an essential sweet treat stop.
Loblolly has released its new spring menu at its location in the Green Corner Store, which brought me in for some delectable research. However, the most important upgrade on this new menu isn’t a new dish at all. For the first time, Loblolly has introduced an ice cream flight. That’s right, the same tasting vehicle used at breweries all over the city is now an option for dessert.
“It just makes sense,” said Elizabeth Strandberg, Loblolly’s director of brand and marketing. “It lets people get a taste of what we have, it’s perfect for sharing. We are probably going to make this a regular menu item.”
I absolutely applaud that choice. For $10, you get eight one-ounce servings of any ice cream, sherbet or sorbet flavors you want. For me, this is the perfect choice for couples or for families with kids who want to try everything. Heck, it’s not a bad option for just one visitor with a nagging sweet tooth. I predict this will be a popular menu item for Loblolly going forward.
Speaking of ice cream choices, Loblolly currently has 10 options lined up for your enjoyment. Six of them are signature flavors, like salted caramel, buttermilk and double vanilla. Another three are spring-only options. These include “candy bar” ice cream with peanut butter, toffee and chocolate, as well as rainbow sherbet, a fresh blend of orange, lime and raspberry. But the eye-opener was the “piñata punch sorbet,” which Loblolly modeled off of Mexico Chiquito’s popular fruit punch. And when I say “modeled,” I really mean “exactly replicated.” It’s a dead ringer for that popular punch, bursting with chilly fruit flavors.
The tenth slot is reserved for a rotating limited edition flavor, which could change weekly or even daily. When I stopped by, it was a refreshing pineapple-basil sorbet that I hope we get to see in the summertime. You never know what you’ll find in this spot, but odds are it will be worth at least a taste.
Beyond that, Loblolly has a few special treats in store just for the spring months, most of them using the spring ice cream flavors. One of them is the Piñata Punch Freeze, which takes the aforementioned sorbet and blends it with lemon-lime soda for a fruity float. The rainbow sherbet gets served with a lemon handpie, whipped cream and berry sauce. And the candy bar ice cream is featured in the Candybar Sammie, sandwiching the ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies before half of it is dunked in a chocolate shell.
The most dramatic dessert I saw, though, is the Toasted Marshmallow Cake Sundae. The foundation is a caramel cake topped with ice cream and marshmallow crème. The crème then gets torched, and the whole thing is topped with caramel sauce and candied pecans. It is sweet and decadent, with the rich caramel playing beautifully off the char of the marshmallow. This is an excellent dessert, one that is worth stopping in for all by itself.
Take a look at the full menu below. The spring special will last until May, so you have some time to eat your way through this superb lineup.[gview file=”http://www.rockcityeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Ice-Cream-Menu-Spring-2016.pdf”] [gview file=”http://www.rockcityeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Spring2016Specials.pdf”]
