Lancaster Sweet Shoppe Serves up House-Made Ice Cream
By Maddy Pontz
The Lancaster Sweet Shoppe — well-known for serving up fresh Stroopies, as well as chocolates and sweets from Groff’s Candies — recently announced an update to their menu: all of their ice creams will now be made in-house.
Jennie Groff — who owns the Sweet Shoppe with her husband, Jonathan Groff — shared that they previously sold Pine View Dairy ice cream in the shop. They had often considered making their ice cream in-house, but the final push to do so came when Pine View ceased their wholesale operations this year.
“We always had the dream of making ice cream on our family farm someday,” Groff said. “Pine View are dear friends of ours and they've served us so well with ice cream, and things are going super well for them, but they are closing down the wholesale division of their company… Sometimes you have these dreams, but you just need a little push.”
The Groffs began testing their own ice cream-making capabilities early this year, and officially made the switch to serving house-made ice cream in May, according to Groff. The reception from their customers has been wonderful, she shared.
“People love it. It’s been great. We were nervous because Pine View’s ice cream is so good,” Groff said with a laugh. “But it’s been fun.”
They are currently serving up traditional ice cream flavors — chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and the like — but are working to add more “featured flavors” and vegan options, according to Groff. Their current featured flavors include a new coconut chocolate chip, as well as a longtime customer favorite that features the shop’s signature stroopwafels (thin, cinnamon waffle cookie sandwiches, stuffed with caramel).
“We already do a chai stroopie, which has been a consistent one that Pine View actually made for us,” Groff shared. “They only made it for us, so they gave us that exact recipe, so it should taste exactly the same. Then we added a coffee caramel stroopie ice cream.”
All ice cream production is currently taking place at their facility on W. Vine Street in Lancaster City. The production facility is also the homebase for their sister-company, Stroopies (of which the Groffs are part-owners).
For Groff, food is love is a true ethos by which she runs her businesses. Stroopies, “exist[s] to provide meaningful employment to resettled refugee women in Lancaster, PA… Stroopies is here to make an impact and to learn from the amazing women we employ,” according to their website.
“I believe that food is something that brings us together… It's a way that we can share a part of ourselves with each other,” Groff said. “When we eat food together, it helps us slow down. We enjoy it with our loved ones… You go out for ice cream with your loved ones.”
