By Claire Peretta

An Upstate New York Ice Cream Favorite

“A little piece of heaven on earth, and it’s gonna be in a gas station in upstate New York.” – Ethan Peretta

Fireworks ice cream is a unique, hometown favorite of mine found in Stewart’s Shops, a convenience store chain in Upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The ice cream is made up of a smooth vanilla base with a sweet cherry swirl, creating a tie-dye-like pattern. Like fireworks, the frozen treat packs a punch.  lue and red Pop Rocks are blended throughout, contrasting the ice cream’s smooth sweetness with a crunchy, candied POP!

My love for this treat dates back to my earliest, most euphoric memories. It is the kind of dessert that—similar to when you order the same thing from a restaurant you’ve been ordering at since you were six—makes it hard to try anything elset. Fireworks is nostalgia; it is the sun setting at nine o’clock on warm summer nights; it is the Fourth of July; it is that liminal moment, those frozen bits of time walking small town streets with my brother to our local Stewart’s It is sitting at sticky red tables, and tasting the tart twist of cherry and vanilla that, with every chew, would fizz and spark on our tongues, reflecting the excitement and joy and satiation we felt from the ice cream. There was never a time when we got this Fireworks that the world didn’t feel peaceful, sweet with a little kick, and when we eat it now, years later, it takes us right back to those moments of childhood bliss. I couldn’t tell you why, whether there is a magical spell cast upon the treat or what, but whenever my brother and I find ourselves at Stewart’s, for one reason or another, our eyes hunt for this ice cream. When Stewart’s  briefly stopped selling Fireworks a while back, my brother and I felt as though something was missing. And every time we’d go to get ice cream, whether a different flavor or at a different store, our first thoughts always went to Fireworks. I can’t explain my love for this gas station dessert; I just do. There is a piece of me connected to it that I can say hello to again, and for that, not only do I think it deserves some rightful recognition for its delicious flavor, but to spread the joy of this ice cream you can make it for others. The recipe down below by Be Ice Cream or Be Nothing will let you make a similar version at home!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cherries
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar
• ¼ cup of corn syrup
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Pop Rocks

Directions for the cherry tart sauce:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, pour in the water and leave it to boil. While the water heats, take the pits out of the cherries if needed.
2. Next, take the cherries and dump them into the pot along with the corn syrup and ¼ cup of sugar. Whisk the ingredients together.
3. Over medium heat, let everything sit until it begins to boil. Once it does so, with a masher, flatten the cherries and let the mixture boil for a third and final time. Whisk as necessary, or every couple of minutes until it is a deep maroon color.
4. In a blender on low speed, pour the cherry tart sauce and mix for about 10 seconds.
5. Leave the mixture in the fridge overnight or until cool and thickened.

Directions for the vanilla ice cream:

1. Into a large bowl, pour ¾ cups of sugar.
2. Into the same bowl, pour the milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Use a whisk to combine.
3. Into an electric mixer, pour in the ice cream and whisk at a medium speed for a couple of minutes or until stiff peaks form.
4. Into an ice cream maker, pour the mixture and churn. If you don’t have one, remove the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze until partially stiff.
5. With a large spoon, swirl in the cherry tart sauce and Pop Rocks as you deem fit into an airtight container if you haven’t done so already.

Don’t mix too much, as you want to be able to taste chunks of the cherry tart sauce without it blending into the vanilla ice cream. One way to keep this from happening is to repeatedly layer the ice cream, cherry sauce, and Pop Rocks within a taller airtight container, using a smaller spoon to swirl them slightly.

6. Once this is done, freeze until fully stiff.

Enjoy!!