Story and photos by Gabbie Burton

If you have as massive of a sweet tooth as I do, you’ve similarly grown used to practicing restraint. However, when I was recently given the opportunity to create my very own ice cream flavor at Hangry Bear Creamery in Kennett Square, I realized restraint was not the way to go. Why be a kid in a candy shop when you can be a kid in an ice cream shop?

Hangry Bear Creamery was opened in December of 2023 by Melinda Shaw, who prior to arriving in Kennett Square operated the UDairy creamery at the University of Delaware for 12-and-a-half years, where she taught the separate sciences of cheese and ice cream.

“We always got people who weren’t UD students looking to learn how to make ice cream, but we couldn’t offer them anything affordable so I thought we should do it ourselves,” Shaw said.

Hangry Bear offers premade ice cream flavors, food, coffee and even a bar but by far the most unique attraction at Hangry Bear is their ice cream studio where customers can make their very own ice cream flavors. With four, gallon-sized ice cream machines, dozens of containers of mix-ins and a few massive refrigerators, the ice cream studio can accommodate just about anything someone can dream of for an ice cream flavor.

“We opened it because we didn’t know anybody else who was doing it, and that was our motivation -- to do it now before someone else thinks of it,” Shaw said.

Their plan seems to working. Shaw said that consumers travel over an hour away to make their own flavors at Hangry Bear, and weekends are usually booked full of customers trying the experience out.

Now, at the risk of damaging my credibility on the subject of ice cream, I must admit that I do not eat dairy and I haven’t since going vegan nearly four years ago. Before you stop reading, I want it known I crushed ice cream in my dairy-consuming prime and since becoming vegan, I’ve fallen victim to the $8 pint more times than I care to admit. So, when I learned Hangry Bear offered an oat-based option for my dream ice cream creation, I truly felt a duty to see it through.

I recently attended one of Hangry Bear’s open sessions – offered every Wednesday – and joined a few other groups, and I admit that I was feeling extremely positive about what was to come.

We started with our base -- mine Oatly – and for the family next to me, a classic 14 percent fat base. Did you know that if ice cream has less than 10 percent fat concentration, it’s not actually ice cream? I didn’t either, so if we are being technical, I didn’t make ice cream but a vegan frozen dessert, but we are going to overlook that for now.

Next, we chose a flavor which given the 37 options at Hangry Bear Creamery was daunting. The flavor is of course entirely dependent on which of the 48 mix-ins and 17 swirls I chose. It’s not a competition, but I entered Hangry Bear with the intention of making the best ice cream flavor ever known. No big deal.

After ensuring which of all the options I could safely eat, I settled on mint with pink coloring, chocolate crunchies and a swirl of fudge and crunchie mixture – similar the middle of a Carvel ice cream cake.

Shaw handed me the little cup of flavor – pink -- and I mixed it in myself, a completely hands-on experience, and soon it was time for the first spin. 

“We mix the base first and then add the inclusions, so they don’t sink,” Shaw said.

Shaw also explained that we were making hard dipped ice cream which requires two freezes. The first was a ten-minute spin in the machine which added air and brought the base to a soft serve consistency.

After the spin came the fun part.

We poured our now very real ice cream into large tubs in order to mix in all of our inclusions. I mixed in my crunchies to evenly incorporate before carefully folding in the swirl. At this point, I was feeling extremely confident in my ice cream capabilities, but the one thing I felt that would absolutely make or break my flavor at this point would be the name I would give my concoction – by far the most difficult part of the process. I ultimately decided on “Cookie’s IT GIRL Swirl,” after my dog Cookie, and the combined “it girl” nature of both her, myself and my beautiful pink ice cream.

After scooping the ice cream into our pint containers, they were placed into the deep freezer for 30-45 minutes to set. During a setting, Hangry Bear customers can enjoy the food, coffee and alcoholic beverages the creamery additionally offers. Our group took advantage of this, but we also decided to play Shaw’s ice cream trivia to pass the time.

“Who invented the ice cream machine?” What makes gelato different from ice cream?” “What’s the most popular ice cream brand in the world?” Shaw asked.

I lost in the tie breaker round, unfortunately.

After our time was up, we packaged our ice cream and I walked out of Hangry Bear with a vegan pulled pork sandwich, a latte, a whole lot of ice cream knowledge and eight pints of the best vegan ice cream I have ever tasted – a successful adventure if you ask me.

I can’t tell if I’m on a sugar high or if the experience just gave me genuine joy, but that kid in an ice cream shop feeling is one I certainly missed and am glad to have tasted again.

Hangry Bear Creamery is located at 660 East Cypress Street in Kennett Square. To learn more about the creamery and how you can book your own studio and make your own ice cream, visit www.hangrybearcreamery.com.