I've been temping in Downtown Annapolis this week. I haven't been back here in quite some time but it's a very lovely area. My proximity to Main Street has caused me to realize the remarkable number of places to get dessert around here. There are 3 homemade ice cream places within a couple of blocks of each other.
I decided to test and compare. I only focused on the shops that didn't have a big brand. The cafe with Hershey's ice cream got skipped. I ranked flavor, portion to price, and flavor variety.
Kilwins
Closer to the waterfront, Kilwins has almost any sweet confection you could crave from fudge to chocolate to caramel apples. I went for the ice cream. Their flavors are mostly traditional but one of the standouts was Peruvian chocolate which was supposed to be richer than regular chocolate. I tried my standard cookies and cream and limited edition raspberry cheesecake.
Flavor: 4 scoops
The flavors were strong and the ice cream rich.
Portion to price: 3 scoops
It was a little close to standard city prices for my liking but the portions didn't skimp.
Variety: 3 scoops
All of the flavors were fairly traditional but appealed to a variety of pallets (chocolate, fruity, caramel, etc.)
Annapolis Ice Cream Company
I noticed this place because of all the stuffed penguins in the windows. They light and fun atmosphere continued inside. Customers can decorate a spoon and have it become part of display. There were pages of spoons on a flip display like at a poster store.
Because of the large flavor selection, not all the cases are visible so there are screens on the wall displaying what isn't front and center. The portion sizes were also unusual. I'd never seen a "scoop and a half" as an option. I got two scoops not realizing that any place with half a scoop as an option is going to be heavy handed with their distribution.
Flavor: 4 scoops
I got peanut butter vanilla and strawberry Oreo. The peanut butter vanilla was perfect. Rich and with a strong peanut butter taste. It overpowered the strawberry Oreo a bit but that was more my pairing.
Portion to price: 5 scoops
I got 75% of a pint of ice cream for less than a container of Ben and Jerry's. I was very satisfied.
Variety: 4 scoops
Most of the combinations are a mash-up of traditional flavors in rarely seen pairings such as strawberry and mint Oreo, maple walnut, Nutella vanilla, coconut chocolate chip, and coffee Heath bar to name a few. Some of the rarer flavors I saw were blackberry and key lime.
Capital Cakes and Cream
The shop is a bit back from the street but the sign is what brought me in. Like Kilwins, it doesn't stop at ice cream. There was a variety of cupcakes as well. I think hedging its dessert bets, CC&C was able to skip some of the cupcake fall out. All of their ice cream comes from a farm in Cecil County so when people say you're buying local, this shop means it 100%.
Small with pink paint and nice design touches, CC&C made the most of the space. The staff was very willing to let me try several samples since I had trouble making up my mind. Some of the flavors were the standard cookies and cream, cookie dough, and moose tracks but with cutesy names. For the shop pink shop with a cupcake tower, it worked.
Flavor: 4 scoops
Independence Explosion (vanilla with raspberry and blueberry swirls) was tempting but I opted for Cookie Monters (blue vanilla with Oreo, cookie dough, and additional cookies) and Mootella (a delicious chocolate-Nutella flavor).
My only complaint was that the ice cream wasn't as rich as the other two. Without the comparison to the others, it would have been a great local kind of Ben and Jerry's (they love stuff in their ice cream). But next to the others, it was a bit weak.
Portion to price: 4 scoops
I got one scoop of each flavor. After Annapolis Ice Cream Company, I was initially a little disappointed in the portion size. Then I heard the price. My first thought was "That works for me." I found the prices very reasonable in relation to the portion size.
Variety: 5 scoops
In addition to traditional flavors, CC&C has a variety of fun and interesting combos. Most of the variety is based on additions to regular flavors but they appeal to folks who like sweet or fruity. They also had two Italian ice style options.
Conclusion
Annapolis Ice Cream Company wins for overall flavor quality but CC&C has such a diverse flavor selection that it shouldn't be forgotten. It's all a matter of preferring simple and rich flavors or liking variety and add-ons in your ice cream. I say, why choose?
One of the perks of being a grown-up is deciding if you want to have ice cream as a meal. And then eating vegetables and fish for the next 2 days so your doctor won't bitch about your cholesterol.
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