LYNCHBURG, Va. – In times like these, we often look for something nostalgic — something that reminds us of simpler times. Something like an ice cream parlor can be just that.
Kyle Spangler and his family have been pushing the limits on flavors for the past year at Outside the Cone.
Spangler says he’s been making ice cream ever since he was five or six years old, but he only really got serious about it five years ago.
In that time he says, "I’ve made over a thousand different flavors.”
Like most things in the kitchen, making ice cream boils down to a frequently-tested science.
“You could potentially get an icy or really off taste if you don’t correctly calculate the ingredient proportions,” said Spangler.
It’s an art too, with homemade waffle cones and bowls filling the air with a fresh, sweet and comforting smell. The weekly flavor lab takes the art, the science and the fun of making ice cream and gives customers something new to try all the time.
“Every week, we make at least four new ice creams and they’re always different," said Spangler.
And like a brewery, you can test these flavors out in flights of four small cups. Flavors during Halloween ranged from Cereal Killer to Ink Attack.
Ink attack had, “Double dark chocolate and then you double down on that with the squid ink.”
You might think that squid ink would be nasty, but it only adds a little saltiness and a darker color to the ice cream to give off a Halloween vibe. Halloween flavors are done, so it’s onto the next challenge.
Spangler previewed some new flavors.
“We’re doing another one with County Smoke coming up, so I’m not going to say what it’s going to be but there’s going to be a type of meat in it.”
The cool thing is you don’t have to make this a cheat day, as there are healthy options too.
“We’re actually one of the only ice cream shops in the country that makes a keto ice cream scratch like this.”
And if you fall into the camp of, “It’s too cold to eat ice cream,” Spangler has a solution to that.
“Maybe take a pint home and sit in front of the fireplace eating ice cream.”
Be sure to check Outside the Cone’s social media pages weekly to see what they’ll be serving up in the flavor lab. There, you’ll find updated hours for the winter.