Ice Cream: Vermont’s Velvety Dairy Delights
Who can dispute that Vermont maple creemees are the unofficial summer state delicacy?
CHILL OUT
Kingdom Creamery of Vermont - East Hardwick
What makes the cream at Kingdom Creamery of Vermont so good? It starts with 800 head of cows and a lot of hard work, 24/7, 365 days a year.
Nestled in the hills of the Northeast Kingdom, you will find a farm that supplies a large portion, almost 80 percent, of the base for many of the highest-quality creemees served around our state. They also make darn good ice cream. What makes the cream at Kingdom Creamery of Vermont so good? It starts with 800 head of cows and a lot of hard work, 24/7, 365 days a year. This third-generation farm family collectively provides an abundance of care and love to their herd, getting feed in, milking all day, and then transporting the milk in their milk trucks across the road where it is made into base for creemees or ice cream. “The queens of our land, our elite cows, of course are pleased to share with you their Vermont-made dairy products,” sums up their philosophy.
Those cones or dishes of ice cream or creemees in our hand are pure delight and delicious thanks to the generations of families of true Vermonters such as the Michauds, who since the early 1950s have worked their farm with heart and soul, every day of the week.
Their dairy farm began when the first generation of Michauds moved to East Hardwick, Vermont from Quebec. In 2009, after decades of producing milk, they recognized the need to diversify their production to support their family. Everyone agreed that ice cream would be fun. In 2011, Kingdom Creamery of Vermont was created. Milk sourced from their cows at their Clair-A–Den farm is just minutes away from their production plant.
Dawson Michaud with a Kingdom Creamery Maple Creemee after a Little League baseball win
Claire, Denis, Leslie, and Jeremy Michaud, who oversee the farm and business, have impressive educational backgrounds and vast experience. Leslie and Jeremy have degrees from Cornell University, with their eldest son following in their footsteps. A true farm family where all three sons of the second generation run farms and married farm girls, many of the next generation are acquiring the skills and education to carry on their legacy.
Leslie shares, “There is a lot of science in making ice cream and we follow the various recipes that are specific to our customers’ specifications.” They have 30 different recipes that serve the ice cream scoop shops and creemee stands. Kingdom Creamery started their own retail brand to sell to stores and distribute all over New England, including food trucks in Portland, Maine.
In the end it comes down to a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from sun-up to sun-down to provide a product that can easily put a smile on our faces.
FIND YOUR FAVORITE
Here are just a few spots supplied by Kingdom Creamery of Vermont. There are many other places around the state listed on their website, kingdomcreameryofvermont.org/stores-carrying-kingdom-creamery.
Vermont Cookie Love - Ferrisburgh
The Love Shack, a creemee and ice cream stand, utilizes every inch of its limited space located on U.S. 7 in Ferrisburgh. Colorful Adirondack chairs and picnic tables offer seating while you enjoy your frozen selection. There’s always a line, but it’s worth the wait. Matt Bonoma purchased the business in 2021 from Paul Seyler, the original owner. Matt had operated a Colorado-based food-and-beverage consulting business and wanted to move his young family to Vermont. Renowned for the homemade cookies that make delicious ice cream sandwiches, 12 flavors of cookies are shipped nationally in gift boxes and cookie dough is sold as well. For frozen treats, Matt and his crew use the freshest local ingredients sourced from Wilcox Ice Cream and Kingdom Creamery of Vermont.
The Scoop - Shelburne
The Scoop is a perfect spot for family fun with a large lawn, corn hole games, and picnic tables. Inside, a curated collection of old-fashioned ice cream scoops graces the walls and offers an appealing atmosphere to select from four creemee flavors: maple, chocolate, black raspberry, and chocolate-vanilla. You can also choose from 40 handcrafted ice cream flavors. They add their own flavors, such as maple and cocoa, to their high-content butterfat creemee mix sourced from Kingdom Creamery of Vermont. It’s local, handcrafted, and made in-house in small batches, using only the purest ingredients. A friendly and enthusiastic staff greets you, ready to fill your cone or cup.
Palmer Lane Maple's popular ice cream van ready to serve up ice cream and creemees at a summer of love gathering
Palmer Lane Maple - Jericho
This charming maple store located in Jericho’s former parsonage offers some of the very best maple creemees. Paul Palmer, a seasoned sugarmaker, and his wife, Colleen, opened the shop in 2012.
After a month of folks asking, “Are you going to do creemees?” Paul finally said yes. They employ high school students (often their first job) and take pride in their ability to teach them work skills. Daughters Olivia and Julia have been actively involved in this family business since their childhood. Julia operates one of the creemee trucks where they do 150 events a year. Olivia manages all the social media and the second catering truck.
They offer other creemee flavors besides maple, including coffee and butterscotch, and a wide range of local maple products. Most of all they love the personal connections and providing a place for community to gather.
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