Mary Catherine is reading How to Be Here by Rob Bell inside of Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream in the West Village. When she greets me, a wide, welcoming smile spreads across her face and the ice cream shop is introduced to her Southern charm. She possesses an overpowering amiable attitude: she’s the type of customer to whom you would happily serve three samples of ice cream. As the founder of Better Ice Creamed, she embodies her craft; her presence is sugary and refreshing.
“I came to New York from Memphis with every intention that I would live here forever. That was six years ago,” she says, in between little scoops of the vegan Cookie Dough and Vanilla Bean ice cream she meticulously picked off the menu. Now, Mary Catherine’s life looks different than she once expected for herself. Originally coming to New York City to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for Musical Theatre – and subsequently dedicating four years of her life to the strict musical theatre regime – she is now focusing on more than acting.
“In the theater world, you have to be in an acting union, the Actor’s Equity Association, to act on Broadway,” she patiently explains the industry in vernacular I, a non-thespian, can follow. “And to be in the union, you have to be in an equity show, but to be cast in an equity show, you have to be in the union. It’s a catch-22.” She says, before laughing in agreement to my noticeably horrified comprehension.
After graduating in May 2014, at which point Mary Catherine was giving her homemade ice cream away for free, she spent the summer going on auditions. The following few months were spent enduring the acting hustle until she sought a more appetizing use of her time. “Around October, I felt like doing something that was mine and not subjective. Art in general is subjective. People could be like, ‘this is so good!’ or ‘Ah, this isn’t for me.’ Ice cream isn’t subjective. With food, there’s less wiggle room. There’s just a standard of excellence across the board.”
I ask her if both crafts, acting and ice cream, feed through the same creative outlet; if they are fulfilling in similar ways.
“I can see the product in my creativity with ice cream in a way I can’t for musical theatre. There is no physical manifestation of my product in music theatre. It’s different. Performance is fluid; it’s an interaction. Ice cream is a product.” She lets that sit for a moment before reflecting on her theatre training, which she credits for become self-aware enough to realize what she loves. “There is a Japanese word – it’s called ‘ikigai’ – and it’s for what you’re meant to do, what gets you out of bed in the morning. It’s your path, your calling, and it’s fluid, it changes.” She quickly adds with a chuckle, “Gone are the days of one profession.”
Is it possible to develop a passion – or better yet: a career – based on multiple interests?
Mary Catherine hopes so. There’s a common denominator between her two passions: connecting with people. There’s a transaction between both crafts, whether churning a person’s favorite ingredient into a cold, creamy pint of confectionery goodness or tackling a text on stage with a group of people to arouse an audience. There are collaborators and audience members in both realms. People to work with and people to please.
Despite numerous years measured by the remaining counter space free of a looming kitchenaide, Mary Catherine still hesitates at the word “entrepreneur.” In her eyes, Better Ice Creamed is still a hobby – not because it isn’t successful, because it is; and not because it isn’t good, because she even received praise from French Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel (famed for his cronuts and frozen s’mores) – but because she doesn’t make ice cream to pay rent. This isn’t a source of income for her. “It’s like that thing that you love that you don’t want to get paid for because it ruins it, almost, you know?” she asks me earnestly. I nod, recognizing the freedom and bliss in creating for the sake of creating. It’s an indulgence in itself.
Regardless of her reluctant business motive, Mary Catherine still sees the potential for Better Ice Creamed. “This isn’t just a pipe dream. I see the steps. I see a future for it,” she says animatedly, moved by the prospect of her dreams becoming a reality. She speaks of birthday parties with pre-packed cups of custom ice cream. She visualizes a Better Ice Creamed bicycle that she would ride to parks to sell. These are the ideas her heart craves; money isn’t on her mind, but again, she insists on the objective of connecting with people.
Hot Cocoa + Mini Marshmallow Ice Cream
Time: About 20 minutes plus 6-12 hours of chilling in the refrigerator
Yield: 2 pints
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
⅔ cup sugar, divided
2 pinches of sea salt
½ cup of hot cocoa mix
½ cup mini marshmallows
5 large egg yolks
Directions
1. In a small pot, simmer cream, milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, ½ cup hot cocoa mix, ½ cup mini marshmallows, and salt until sugar and marshmallows completely dissolve (about 5 minutes). Remove the pot from heat.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks and the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Continually whisking, slowly whisk the hot cream into the yolks, then transfer the yolk and hot cream mixture back into the pot. Return the pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (5-10 minutes).
3. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.
4. Using an ice cream machine, churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until hardened.
Good food is a luxury. Small businesses are demanding. Yet, Mary Catherine finds comfort in these spaces. Her father inspires her. She grew up living on his small business income. She heard stories about how after fifteen years working at a bank, he quit to follow his dream. She knew him as a man who was constantly stressed and always at work. He put his stock–his money, his assets–into a company. That bravery couldn’t go unnoticed. Especially not by a young and perceptive Mary Catherine. A girl who recalls her father’s gumbo and cornbread and fried okra as her favorite food memory. A girl who, upon moving to New York, once started a grease fire in her kitchen when trying to replicate that taste.
It is her father’s zest that is embedded in her routine. Long days don’t end when Mary Catherine gets home from nannying or assisting the founder of Blue Apron – they merely continue. It is then that she makes the ice cream base – a custard base, meaning it’s made with egg yolk, whole milk and cream. It takes a half hour to make two pints, which she compares to making wine with a shrug: “It takes time.” She lets this sit in the refrigerator overnight to cool down and then puts it through the ice cream maker the next morning. It’s safer to bake in the morning considering her sweet tooth; less appetizing. Overall, the process takes an hour for two pints, the equivalent of one batch.
A noble characteristic of Mary Catherine’s ice cream is that her dairy is homemade and without preservatives. This isn’t the case for people selling ice cream on a wider scale. “Homemade dairy lasts about two weeks on the shelf. The first thing someone trying to make money does is add preservatives to it so it lasts longer.” This is why her ideal business structure would be operating as an event-based ice cream company. If the ice cream is served and eaten on site, it would avoid the need for preservatives. This eliminates the option of her selling pints of ice cream in stores like Whole Foods, which would require her to outsource ingredients from a larger supplier to make the ice cream (which is typically where preservatives and stabilizers come in).
Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream
Time: About 20 minutes plus 6-12 hours of chilling in the refrigerator
Yield: 2 pints
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
⅔ cup sugar, divided
2 pinches of sea salt
½ cup of peanut butter
5 large egg yolks
5 peanut butter cookies
Directions
1. In a small pot, simmer cream, milk, 1/3 cup of sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves (about 5 minutes). Remove the pot from heat.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, peanut butter, and the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Continually whisking, slowly whisk the hot cream into the yolks, then transfer the yolk and hot cream mixture back into the pot. Return the pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (5-10 minutes).
3. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.
4. Using an ice cream machine, churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is nearly finished, break up the peanut butter cookies and add them to the freeze bowl. Let incorporate for a minute longer. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until hardened.
“Sometimes I want to write a cookbook, and that will be my contribution to the world,” Mary Catherine discloses. “And sometimes I want to teach classes, sometimes I want to be a personality, sometimes I want to open a Better Ice Creamed store…” She gets lost in thought of all the possibilities. She wonders aloud, “Where can I flourish?”
She looks around where we are sitting at Van Leeuwen and says, “This is goals.” Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream originated under somewhat similar circumstances as Better Ice Creamed. Initially made in a New York City kitchen before growing into an ice cream truck and then expanding into several storefronts in both New York City and L.A. The ice cream is all natural, with the owners priding themselves on using pure ingredients sourced by artisan producers and farmers.
The ingredients are what make Better Ice Creamed unique. “Everything is better ice creamed,” she assuredly recites her tagline to me. “So you really like coffee and donuts? Think of that combination as an ice cream,” she explains, and, against my aversion to coffee, I salivate at the idea of that ice cream.
Mary Catherine encourages people to request certain flavors; tell her what you love, and she will make it into ice cream. Some of the most peculiar inquiries have ranged from goat cheese and thyme (which Mary Catherine proudly exclaims she added honey to for an incredible mix, “I was like, ‘honey… that sounds nice.’”) and Chrysanthemum tea, an ingredient she traveled to Chinatown for, where she was confusingly handed a bouquet of Chrysanthemum flowers. She wrapped the flowers in a cheesecloth and let them steep like a teabag in hot milk. (“It was so good,” she raves.) These flavors are the product of collaboration – “which is how the best things happen,” she quips.
Right now, people are discovering Better Ice Creamed mainly through word of mouth. “It’s cool, because the world is small,” Mary Catherine beams. “But,” she speculates, “wouldn’t it be cool to have a store with Better Ice Creamed?” Unfortunately, this is nearly impossible in New York City, where just renting commercial kitchen space is upwards of $150/hr.
This makes Mary Catherine reflect on when she first came to New York, on where she imagined herself being at this point in her life. She’s nowhere near where she initially envisioned. And yet, she’s composed, she’s accepting, she’s moving forward.
I ask her what she considers to be the most important mindset behind success.
“Knowing the ‘why’ behind everything,” she answers thoughtfully. “I want Better Ice Creamed to impact people and I want people to be part of the process. I don’t want it to be an individual endeavor, I want it to be as much people’s work as mine.” She pauses, lost in thought, then smiles to herself, and adds, “This is my love language, my heart’s song.”
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