Great Scoops
Recipes from a Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop
Ice cream really does make everything better. Compiled with love by the team at The Merry Dairy, Great Scoops features a cheerful collection of 80 easy, custard-style and vegan ice creams and delectable desserts. From hibiscus & passion fruit and bourbon black cherry to triple chocolate and caramel popcorn, this exciting new cookbook also includes recipes for signature sauces, toppings, and baked goods (say hello to chocolate chip cookies and meringue kisses). Best of all, the ice creams are nut-free, sesame-free, (and some even gluten-free). What can we say? This is good mood food at its best.
And for those who are new to ice cream making, have no fear: the book includes a chapter covering everything there is to know about making both dairy and vegan ice creams and frozen desserts at home.
Great Scoops is a captivating cookbook about artisanal ice cream, the people who craft it and the community that loves them for it. The delightful selection of classic and whimsical flavours reminds us that delicious homemade ice creams can be made year-round and, more importantly, that you’re never too old (and it’s never too cold) to enjoy a heartfelt scoop.
Teacher-turned-businessperson Marlene Haley is the owner of The Merry Dairy, Ottawa's first ice-cream truck business dedicated to nut-free original-recipe frozen custard and premium ice cream. Since 2012, The Merry Dairy has become a favourite among locals, serving more than 100,000 signature frozen-custard cones from their shop on Fairmont Avenue and their fleet of Grumman trucks. Numerous publications and media outlets, including Ottawa Magazine, CBC Radio, and CTV News have chronicled the evolution of the business from a single ice cream truck to its increasing involvement in Ottawa's amazing community scene. Marlene lives in Hintonburg, Ottawa, with her husband and two children and can often be found at the shop greeting first-time customers and loyal fans.
While growing up in Richmond, in the Ottawa Valley, Amelia Ryan observed how food brings family, friends, and neighbours together. As she completed her major in business and communications, she saw a fork in the road ahead: was she to choose a corporate life in front of a computer or grab that fork and whip up a life of culinary creation? She decided the food door and hasn't looked back. As the creative director at The Merry Dairy, Amelia leads the company's effort to make beautiful ice creams by developing recipes with new flavours and formulating recipes that serve specific diets. She loves how simple pleasures, such as a cone of ice cream, can create everlasting memories. Amelia lives in Ottawa with her husband, Sam.
