Do-it-yourself delights

Julie Schlosser

A new shop at the Balboa Fun Zone allows customers to choose their

own ice cream recipes.

Since opening in late April, Cold Stone Creamery has offered visitors

a multitude of flavors and toppings -- and employees who sing when

they’re given a tip.

Manager Margaret Adams said customers welcome the challenge of

selecting their own sundae recipe.

“It’s a unique thing and that’s why they want to try it,” Adams said.

As the summer lengthens, so do the lines at the Creamery, but Adams said

people enjoy the incomparable experience and often return on a regular

basis.

“Hundreds of flavors, thousands of combinations” reads the Cold Stone

logo. The easy decision is choosing an ice cream or yogurt flavor from

the roughly 20 on-site, freshly made options.

Once the first decision is made, the challenge escalates. The “cold

stone,” a frozen granite surface, sets the backdrop for the heaps of

toppings that sit in giant tubs. Fresh apple, cherry and peach pie

filling, a liberal selection of candy and scores of sweet, oozing

toppings, including old-fashioned caramel, butterscotch and both hot and

cold fudge, take the ordering process to a new level.

If the customer is overwhelmed by the options, Cold Stone employees

are there to help. Scoopers ask each customer if they need an

introduction to the process, and then help each one accordingly.

Less adventurous customers can find proven recipe combinations posted

throughout the store. Madeline’s Mudd Pie and Don’s Delight are in high

demand, Adams said.

After the customer finalizes their “mix-ins,” the Cold Stone team

member takes it from there. Every morning, “we fire up the stone,” Adams

said. “It’s about an hour-and-a-half process to frost it up.”

Here, on the frozen surface, the ingredients are mixed, folded and

blended before the final product is eased into an enormous plain or

chocolate-dipped waffle cone.

Cold Stone’s upbeat lighting sets the stage for the employees’ second

task -- singing.

“If you fling one, we’ll sing one,” reads the tip jar. And yes, the

Cold Stone employees keep that promise. Jingles fill the air the moment

customers show their financial gratitude.

Newport Beach cousins Chelsea Giger and Blake Gardner, both 9, took a

break from their summer day to enjoy a Cold Stone mixture. When asked why

they chose the Creamery over other Balboa treats, such as the Balboa Bar,

they said it was “because it’s really yummy and good.”

Blake said he had visited a Cold Stone Creamery in Arizona and had

been waiting to visit her hometown store since discovering it had opened.

Although the shop is a franchised operation, originating in Arizona,

it is quickly finding its way into Orange County. There are locations on

the Balboa Peninsula, Huntington Beach and Irvine.

Dana Rodgers, owner of the Fun Zone location, will open her second

store in Dana Point.

Huntington Beach Creamery owner Jeanne Holdren said she and her

husband, Jerry, plan to open their next store in the Costa Mesa

Courtyards later this summer.