Sundae Sundays: Amy's Ice Cream

As I promised in my last post, I abjured the brownie sundae option at Amy's and took matters into my own hands by designing my own multi-layered ice cream concoction.

Sundaes at Amy's are sized "small" ($4.25) and "large" ($4.75), and the latter (which I chose) provides you with three scoops of ice cream (any flavor) with your choice of hot and cold toppings, plus a crush-in. I'm a big fan of Amy's "Mexican Vanilla," but in keeping with my tradition of pure, uncomplicated ice cream bases, chose the "Just Vanilla" with hot fudge, butterscotch, and butterfingers.

With no other customers in line, the clerk seemed more than happy to give his full attention to constructing my sundae and certainly didn't skimp on the components. Three densely packed, baseball-size scoops of vanilla were wedged into my bowl, followed by ladles of hot fudge and butterscotch, respectively, and a handful of crushed Butterfinger candies. Minor point of sadness: no cherries were available at this location, but the clerk compensated by giving me a heavy dollop of whipped cream. I forgave him.

One immediate advantage Amy's sundae had over others I've tried was its far superior ice cream. Even Amy's plain vanilla was oxymoronically vibrant in flavor and had a consistency that can only come from a ridiculous proportion of milkfat. The butterscotch and hot fudge were very solid in terms of taste and texture, though the latter could have been a wee bit thicker. What was perhaps most delightful about the toppings was that the clerk sneakily wove them in between the scoops so that every other spoonful, I uncovered a lovely vein of fudge or butterscotch. And, lastly, swirled amidst the vanilla ice cream, butterscotch, and hot fudge were the crunchy Butterfinger pieces, which sparkled like bits of sugar gold in my rich sundae mountain capped with snow-white whipped cream.

My Sundae Sunday at Amy's will be hard to beat, but this success has only fueled my appetite and my enthusiasm for more ice cream expeditions. Stay tuned.