Candy Alley (2024-04-10)

Candy Alley was a local candy store in Downtown New West. The owner (hereafter, “Sheryl”) is a massive trip!

One-liner: Reasonably-priced Birchwood Dairy ice cream scoops from a local candy store.

Disclosure: Sheryl gave me a free scoop in exchange for my honest thoughts and agreeing to stagger this write-up by a week so she can procure ice cream cones.

During my last Candy Alley visit last Wednesday, Sheryl Laine asked me if I’d like to try her handmade ice cream.

I thought she was talking about making ice cream in-house, to which she quickly clarified that she now sources ice cream from Birchwood Dairy…which is handmade. In-house or not, who doesn’t like free ice cream, even if it comes at the risk of spoiling your appetite for dinner?

The ice cream

Sheryl offered me eight flavours to choose from. The flavours that I recall seeing were strawberry marble, maple walnut, chocoholic, choco raspberry, chocolate mint, and bubble gum. I went with bubble gum as each brand seems to blatantly have their own take on that flavour.

The ice cream has the right consistency (not too hard but isn’t like melting fast), has a good mouthfeel from not being too icy, and you can taste the bubble gum in the cream. I also like how it doesn’t have real bubblegum pieces, as I’ve found the texture of those pieces jarring when surrounded by ice cream.

Conclusion

Sheryl made a good call in getting her ice cream from Birchwood, as much as she can choose from other suppliers who could give her a better deal.

Considering that she primarily sells candy, one thing I’d l-o-v-e to do when getting a scoop during future visits is using the rest of the store as a premium topping bar. Raspberry ice cream, strawberry gummy, and some sort of lime candy for a rocket pop inspired treat, anyone? (If I ever do this during a future visit, I will write about it here)