When Zach and Ashlie Sanders came back from their Thailand honeymoon, they couldn’t help but bring back a little piece with them. Rolled ice cream, the treat you never knew you wanted, is their product, and it’s gathering crowds at the couples’ pop ups and festival booths.
For Simply Rolled, the big attraction seems to be the made-to-order process. Forsaking gums and stabilizers, they blend fresh ingredients into a homemade ice cream paste. From there the paste is spackled onto a cold plate with a temperature of negative 17 degrees, rolled, and finished off with toppings.
“They love it,” said Sanders. “They kind of stand there and watch it, and then when they see us roll the ice cream, it’s like they instantly go crazy for it. It’s really cool.”
Simply Rolled had its first pop up at Mikey’s Late Night Slice last May. Sanders described the crowd as growing almost exponentially, starting at 20, growing to 60, “Then it just got crazy. Ever since that day we just knew we couldn’t stop doing it.”
Their menu, kept as close to their Thai inspiration as possible, has several signature flavors as well as a create-your-own option. Seasonal flavor Summertime Lovin’ was the “hottest flavor,” Sanders said. They squeezed in some fresh lavender honey and topped it with fresh raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.
They started a pop up partnership with Oats and Barley Market in Italian Village and brought their ice cream rolls to Asian Festival, Com Fest and Park Street Festival. By March, Sanders said a truck will be up and running, but their big goal is finding a partner or joint venture for a more permanent set-up.
Until then they’ll keep popping up at Oats and Barley. This month, they have a pop up on January 28; on February 11 they’ll be back with a signature flavor for Valentine’s Day.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/simplyrolledicecream/.