Well Fed On the Town

Harry Potter mania is everywhere. It’s even in a delicious Virginia ice cream shop. In honor of the release of the final Harry Potter book at midnight tonight, Dairy Godmother will be serving “Dementor’s Kiss.” The flavor is “Blue Moon”- a Midwestern treat that defies description, according to Davis and her staff, sprinkled with moons and stars. The shop will also be serving pumpkin juice flavored treats and lightening bolt shaped cookies (free to those who show up in costume). Donations to the cauldron by the register will go to the Family Literacy Program, and all of the songs in the jukebox will have “magic” in the title. Want to discuss the book? You’re out of luck- The Dairy Godmother will be a “spoiler-free” zone all weekend.

So what is this Dairy Godmother? The Dairy Grandmother loves you and wants you to be happy, which is why she churns out delicious frozen custard that tastes delicious enough to please the inner child and colorful, refreshing sorbets in flavors the adult in you will love. And all have less fat, calories and cholesterol in a 5 oz. serving as compared to a 5 oz. serving of Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen Dazs. Even better, frozen custard has less air in it, so it’s creamy, dense and smoother than ice cream. However, since it is served at 26F (as compared to 10F for ice cream) that also means that if you plan to travel with your custard you should bring a cooler with you.

When you’re a kid, color is everything especially when it comes to ice cream. Mint must be green, bubblegum must be blue, banana must be a deeper shade of yellow than French vanilla, and strawberry has to be baby pink (as opposed to cherry vanilla, which is more of a blue-pink or mauve). But then you get older and color is less important than flavor. And fat content. Boo for adulthood!

Home to the former Del Ray Creamery, the Dairy Godmother is helmed by Liz Davis. Davis, a former pastry chef and erstwhile Wisconsin native, serves up custard and other treats served made in the Midwest way- vanilla and chocolate on a daily basis in addition to daily flavors and sorbets.

Before you go, check their flavor calendar- the flavor of the day changes every two days. In honor of some neighbors of Hawaiian descent whose kids graduated from the local high school- T.C. Williams- Davix created “Ho’omaika’i,” which debuted at the beginning of June. Ho’omaika’i means “Congratulations” and the flavor was a tempting mix of banana custard with macadamia nuts and chocolate shortbread. After that comes “Mozambique”- curious? Go to the website, click on Flavor Forecast link, then let your cursor hover over the flavors with blue underlines and you’ll get a short description of that day’s dessert.

They also serve sundaes (including the “Door Cherry Sour” with sour cherries and housemade marshmallows), shakes, rootbeer floats (they sell Wisconsin-made bottled sodas as well) and other treats like lavender shortbread and homemade dog biscuits. Give them 24 hours notice and they’ll make you a cake featuring the day’s flavor. The sorbets are seasonal flavors- raspberry is a staple, but I’ve tasted apricot ginger, West Indian lime, lemon lavender, pomegranate, and pineapple with cilantro. She also makes flavors infused with sangria and Riesling as well as strawberry rubarb and Thai coconut among others. Call ahead to get an idea of the selection.

On our first visit, the flavor was strawberry and they were making shortcake parfaits with vanilla custard and strawberries. The strawberry custard was fresh, delicious and summer sun kissed- a good as the fresh strawberries we used to pick in Ruskin, Florida, every year when we were kids. A sampling of sorbets revealed the pomegranate to be delicately flavored and only slightly tart, and apricot ginger to have a pleasing tangy bite. On a later visit I took a pint each of Khulfi custard and Rosehip Hibiscus sorbet to a friend’s house- after an hour in an insulated bag during the drive to College Park, Maryland, both pints needed to go in the freezer for a few minutes, but tasted wonderful. On another visit we sampled Davis’s version of meerwasser- a German word meaning “seawater” and a refreshing drink of lime sorbet in ginger ale, which is Davis’s own favorite drink. Dairy Godmother also sells ginger ale and other bottled sodas from the Midwest. The ginger ale has a spicy flavor that is delicious with citrus. Upcoming flavors include lemon blueberry, peppermint stick and peach.

There is also a lovely selection of baked goods, including lemon lavender cookies, shorbread with chocolate chips, gingersnaps and the like. For the pups there are biscuits as well. Take away pints are available and kid’s cones are a perfect size to try if you just want a little something.

The Dairy Godmother
2310 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
(703) 683-7767