Ices Plain and Fancy - St. Louis

Liquid nitrogen is added to quickly chill the mixture

Butter Pecan, Cookies and Cream, Sazerac

Ices Plain and Fancy is ice cream unlike anything I’ve ever had.  They make up each concoction to order.  Then the mixture is placed in a churn and liquid nitrogen is used to chill it down to ice cream consistency.  It is a fun bit of food theater and the product is delicious.  They have a large selection of boozy ices: sazerac, old fashioned, cherry (not so) cordial and more.  These are actually cocktails, combined with milk and then churned and frozen.  The alcohol is flambéed off with a torch, so they aren’t too strong.  I tried the Sazerac, a classic cocktail with absinthe, rye whiskey and Peychaud’s Bitters.  The ice cream did, indeed, taste like a Sazerac.  There was some alcoholic kick left, so the boozy ices aren’t suitable for children or anyone avoiding alcohol.  My friends stuck to more conventional choices: cookies and cream; and butter pecan.  The ice cream tasted very fresh.  The cookies and cream was loaded with cookie pieces and the butter pecan was topped with candied pecans.

There are several locations for Ices Plain and Fancy in the St. Louis area.  They also have a stand at Grant’s Farm.