America’s only Black-owned ice cream brand mixes real baked good into its Southern food-inspired pints
In The Know is proud to celebrate National Black Business Month. During this month, our team will highlight a wide range of Black-owned brands. We encourage you to support today and beyond.
Ice cream is one of America’s favorite desserts, and the frozen aisle absolutely reflects that. Don’t believe it? Walk into any grocery store and head to the ice cream section. Now more than ever, there’s a huge range of flavors from an even bigger array of brands. But, there’s only one that combines baked goods derived from family recipes that reflect the history of the South — and it’s called Creamalicious.
Creamalicious is America’s only mass-produced Black-owned ice cream brand, and according to its founder, executive chef and president, Chef Liz Rogers, it’s some of the creamiest ice creams on the market.
The brand launched in March 2020, although Rogers told In The Know that she first got the idea over a decade ago. The goal is to give consumers really good ice cream, but also tell a story through every flavor. And Creamalicious is doing just that! You can already find Creamalicious at stores like Walmart, Target, Meijer, Jungle Jim’s, Schnucks, Rouses and more. Can’t find it near you yet? Creamalicious also sells its ice cream on its own website and ships nationwide.
“It feels pretty surreal,” Rogers said of her success. “It’s not a place that I thought I would be this soon in my career. It’s very historical being one of the only African American ice cream manufacturers in mass production, the only one in the world today in mass production. So, there’s a lot that goes into trying to get onto the shelves. There’s a lot of trials and tribulations as an entrepreneur. There’s a lot of hard work. And now that you’re on the shelves, you actually have to sell ice cream.”
Rogers is an executive chef by trade and a restaurateur (she owns a restaurant called Wing Champ in Sharonsville, Ohio). But she admits she has always loved sweets. All of Creamalicious’ flavors combine fresh baked pastries and desserts, like sweet potato pie and banana cream pudding. The family recipes date back a whopping four generations, and each has its own story.
“The red velvet cake was a celebration cake that the African Americans ate when they got their freedom back,” Rogers said. She also explained the significance of Southern white cake as a peace offering. It was often eaten after dinner in the parlor with tea as a way to forge friendships.
“The actual sweet potato pie, that’s my mom’s recipe,” Rogers said about her Grandma Gigi Sweet Potato Pie flavor. The pint brings her back to the “memories of coming downstairs on Christmas Eve, the whole house smelling like pies and cobblers. You come down, and there’s like ten sweet potato pies lined up on the table,” she said. Within the pint, you get the actual crust, notes of nutmeg and roasted, sweet potato puree — there’s no doubt that it tastes just like the real thing!
Creamalicious currently makes seven ice cream flavors: Grandma Gigi Sweet Potato Pie, Aunt Poonie’s Caramel Pound Cake, Slap Yo’ Momma Banana Pudding, Thick as Thieves Pecan Pie, Porch Light Peach Cobbler, Right As Rain Red Velvet Cheesecake and Uncle Charles Brown Suga Bourbon Cake.
Creamalicious Variety Pack, $55
Rogers is also excited to be cooking up a few new flavors, such as strawberry shortcake crunch that will take you back to your neighborhood ice cream truck. Those flavors are slated to come out next year, but first, the brand is looking to get more recognition, brand awareness and distribution. In other words, as a consumer, you’ll need to try a pint!
“I do believe that Creamalicious — it’s always been my dream to have this come to fruition,” Rogers said. “I do believe there’s a dream in every scoop.”
If you liked this story, you might also enjoy Storm Reid for In The Know’s August cover — Shop her high-fashion looks.
More from In The Know:
Darren Barnet is more than just the heartthrob du jour
5 plus-size button-down shirts to get you ready for the office again
Rothy’s best-selling men’s loafer is back in stock after being sold out for weeks
Upgrade your desk with Page Eleven’s stationery
The post America’s only Black-owned ice cream brand mixes real baked good into its Southern food-inspired pints appeared first on In The Know.
