Wonders Ice Cream Rolls Into Maple Grove
Ever so often, something new comes around that generates buzz.
“I have a friend who’s referenced it twice in the past two days,” said Erin Vaughn of Plymouth. “So it’s getting pretty hot reviews in the area.”
Vaughn is referring to Wonders Ice Cream, which just rolled its way into Maple Grove’s Fountains at Arbor Lakes on May 25, attracting plenty of treat-seeking, ice cream-loving customers in the process.
“It’s only been a few weeks,” said co-owner Kit Houngnakhone. “But the response has been phenomenal.”
Houngnakhone is the 28-year-old entrepreneur who, along with his business partner, Joungkong Yang, brought 21 flavors of rolled ice cream to the Twin Cities.
“It’s definitely not scooped ice cream, that’s for sure,” Houngnakhone said. “Each product, or each dessert treat is handmade for you.”
‘We Don’t Want to Rush Things’
The process to make the frozen dessert, which originated in Thailand, is an elaborate one.
The ice cream begins in a liquid form, which is essentially an egg custard with sugar. The first step is to pour the liquid onto a steel surface that’s cooled to -20°C.
“At this point it’s very time sensitive,” Houngnakhone said as he demonstrated how he makes the ice cream. “So you want to make sure you spread the ice cream right, and you have a small window to actually smash the strawberries.”
Next, he smashes the concoction together on the steel surface to bring out the flavor and color. Houngnakhone said the key is to get ‘the perfect thickness all around.’
“If it’s too thin it’s gonna be icy,” he said. “If it’s too thick, it’s not gonna roll.”
The final step after mixing is to push it forward with a scraper into five perfectly-shaped rolls. Ultimately, it forms a picturesque dessert that’s deliberately social media friendly.
“We re-post a lot of [customer] photos,” Houngnakhone said. “They take fantastic photos, ad it’s our job to make sure they have the best product to actually take a picture of.”
As the long lines over the past several weeks can attest, the social media strategy for Wonders Ice Cream has worked. The delicious taste helps as well.
“It’s really good,” said Renee Belzer of Maple Grove. “It was fun watching them make, and it tastes really good.”
“We’re proud to present the product that we have today,” Houngnakhone added.
Maple Grove is the third Wonders Ice Cream location after opening their first store in St. Paul in August of 2017. They have plans to add two more locations in the near future.
