There’s a New Ice Cream Sandwich in Town
“It tastes familiar and nostalgic…it tastes like being a kid."
The sunken patio on the corner of First Street and Seventh Avenue is an alluring oasis. On weekday afternoons, it’s often buzzing with chatty tweens and the grown-ups who picked them up from P.S. 321. It’s also a late-night, post-dinner draw for adults and a perfect end to a solo date. But it doesn’t matter how old you are or what you did before you arrived. If you’re there, you’re there for one reason: Heap’s ice cream.
Last September, Heap’s celebrated its grand opening, serving a variety of flavors, from classics, like chocolate and strawberry, to bold options, like Mango Sticky Rice and Caramel Stroop Waffle. Founder Matt Lieber was excited to open Heap’s in Park Slope, his home of nearly 15 years, and he was especially excited about the location.
“It's just a little gem of a place. It used to be a Connecticut muffin, which was always this very strong gathering place where the community came together,” Matt told me during a recent phone interview. “We thought this would be a great place for families, kids, and adults to gather around with a bowl of ice cream.”
What started as a menu of bowls (cups), cones, and sundaes recently expanded to include sandwiches and cakes, both of the ice cream variety. “For me, what was missing when we opened was the cakes and ice cream sandwiches,” said Matt, so he turned to pastry chef and co-owner of Pies n’ Thighs, Sarah Sanneh.
Sarah and Matt met through mutual friends, and as an early supporter of Matt’s vision for Heap’s, he brought Sarah on as a co-founder. Sarah helped Matt think “about how our ice cream should be and how our shop experience should be.” So when it came time to add ice cream sandwiches and ice cream cakes, Sarah was the natural fit.
These days, you can find ice cream sandwiches in various shapes, sizes, and flavors at your local grocery store, bodega, and gas station. But Sarah wanted to create one that was recognizable to Heap’s. She chose a rectangle shape “because you have an entry point in the corner, so it's easier to dive into and eat. And a distinctive ratio. There's lots of ice cream!”
One challenge for the seasoned pastry chef was figuring out the recipe for the cookie. It has to stay chewy, and you have to be able to eat it easily when it's frozen, she explained. “That was a new challenge in my pastry life that was really fun to crack.”
Even as a self-described slow recipe tester, Sarah completed the first run of Heap’s ice cream sandwiches in just a couple months. You can now pick from Confetti Cotton Candy, Salted Toffee Caramel, and Chocolate Chip. And there’s more to come. Matt and Sarah are currently working with other pastry chefs to roll out new flavors, which will be available throughout the summer.
I asked Sarah which ice cream sandwich is her favorite: “The Confetti Cotton Candy is my favorite, largely because I think the cotton candy is so amazing. There's something that's very comforting about it, in a way, because it just tastes like being a kid. It tastes sweet and yummy and soft and cold. I love that one.”
Matt loves the Confetti Cotton Candy too, but his top pick is the classic: “My favorite is the classic chocolate chip cookie with our vanilla ice cream. We're really proud of our vanilla. It's real Madagascar vanilla, but it's twofold, which means it's double the strength. It’s a very bold, tasty ice cream.” All of Heap’s ice cream, including their signature vanilla, is churned at a farmhouse creamery in the Hudson Valley.
As for the ice cream cakes, they are available in two flavors: Vanilla Chip Cake, which combines fresh layers of buttermilk chocolate chip cake, whipped confetti cream, and Heap’s Bold Vanilla; and Chocolate Fudge Cake, a decadent devil’s food cake with layers of fudge and Vanilla Fudge Ripple ice cream.
If there’s one thing I know after interviewing Matt and Sarah, it’s that ordering an ice cream sandwich, as an adult, is an attempt to capture the nostalgia of youth. Those carefree hours after school, hanging out on a sunken patio with chatty friends, fingertips covered in chewy cookies.
I can’t wait to order mine!
(Photos by Paul Quitoriano for Heap’s Ice Cream.)
Gowanus Mutual Aid’s spring and summer clothing drive is accepting donations through April 24th: They’re collecting clean and gently used or new spring or summer clothing, particularly boys and mens (all sizes, XL-4X (all genders) and NEW undergarments (for all). Drop-off locations include Old Stone House, Dancewave, Councilmember Shahana Hanif’s office, and Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon’s office.
Welcome 12,000 honey bees to the neighborhood! Park Slope residents Danny Peña and Maura recently installed a rooftop hive with 12,000 honey bees.
The Prospect Park Alliance completed their restoration of the restrooms at the Picnic House.
REMINDER: the 10th annual Brooklyn Bookstore Crawl starts tomorrow: Twenty six independent bookstores across the borough are participating in the crawl from April 19th-26th, including four local bookstores — Community Bookstore, Terrace Books, 826NYC, and POWERHOUSE on 8th.
04/18 The Seance with Jess Henderson, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Union Hall
04/18 Sorry! Hosted by Rachel Coster and Zach Schiffman, 7:30PM 📍The Bell House
04/18 Apollo's Ghost // The Wave // PartyOwl, 8PM-10PM 📍Littlefield
04/19 Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza, 8AM-4PM 📍Grand Army Plaza
04/19 Dance Fitness with Shape Up NYC, 10AM-11AM 📍Prospect Park Boathouse
04/19 Easter Egg Hunt, 10AM-12PM 📍Prospect Park Bandshell
04/19 Park Pitch In: Earth Day Service, 10AM-2PM 📍Parkside + Ocean Avenues
04/19 Spring Family Discovery Weekends, 10:30AM-12:30PM 📍Brooklyn Botanic Garden
04/19 Plants to the People with Herban Cura, 1PM-4PM 📍Brooklyn Museum
04/19 Climate Café: Renewable Energy: To be or not to be electric, 3PM-5PM 📍Central Library
04/19 Blake Rosier LIVE! 5PM-6:30PM 📍Union Hall
04/19 Exploration: LIVE! 7:30PM 📍The Bell House
04/19 Ask A Fuckboy, 10PM 📍The Bell House
04/19 Ladies Who Ranch Give You What You Want: Improv! 10PM-11:30PM 📍Union Hall
04/20 Outdoor Afro Community Birding Tour-Fallkill Trail, 9:30AM-11:30AM 📍Litchfield Villa
04/20 Earth Day in Prospect Park, 10AM-1PM 📍Audubon Center
04/20 Brooklyn Pop-Up Market, 10:30AM-5:30PM 📍Brooklyn Museum
04/20 Erotic Drawing at a Sex Shop, 11AM-1PM 📍Please - An Educated Pleasure Shop
04/20 Global Youth Service Day in Prospect Park, 11AM-1:30PM 📍Prospect Park Peninsula
04/20 Smorgasburg, 11AM-6PM 📍Breeze Hill
04/20 'Beat the Bunny’ Easter Sunday Funday, 12PM-10PM 📍Kick Axe Brooklyn
04/20 Fam Jam with Our Pal Isaac, 2PM-4PM 📍Parklife
04/20 Fu*king Off with Clare and Nick, 5PM-6:30PM 📍Union Hall
04/20 April Queer Lit Book Club, 7:15PM-8:30PM 📍The Ripped Bodice
04/20 Good God, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Union Hall
04/21 Stomp Clap & Sing- Ms. Araceli Poma, 10:45AM-11:30AM 📍Pacific Library
04/21 Frankenstein’s Baby, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Union Hall
04/21 & 04/22 Stamptown, 8PM 📍The Bell House
04/21 Post-War, 10PM-11:30PM 📍Union Hall
04/22 Stomp, Clap and Sing with Bilingual Birdies Duo Concert in Spanish & English, 10:30AM-11:30AM 📍Central Library
04/22 Jack and Friends Earth Day: Hopalong Andrew, 4PM-4:45PM 📍Park Slope Library
04/22 Collage Workshop with James Gallagher, 6PM-8PM 📍Hot House
04/22 Cécile Wajsbrot and Tess Lewis present Nevermore, moderated by Christine Smallwood, 7PM-8PM 📍Community Bookstore
04/22 ApoHA-HAcalypse: Make Polluters Pay on Earth Day, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Littlefield
04/22 Grace Reiter & Friends, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Union Hall
04/22 LATE BLOOMERS a lineup of unexpected solo characters, 10PM-11:30PM 📍Union Hall
04/23 Stroller Tours: Breaking the Mold, 10AM-11:15AM 📍Brooklyn Museum
04/23 Spring First Discoveries, 10:30AM-12:30PM 📍Brooklyn Botanic Garden
04/23 Radiolab’s Terrestrials, 4:30PM-6:30PM 📍Old Stone House
04/23 BKCM Jazz Faculty, 7PM 📍Barbès
04/23 MESS, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Union Hall
04/23 ONSIGHT with Sam Jay & Keith Johnson, 8PM 📍The Bell House
04/23 Marie Antoinette with live pre-show drag performance by Miss Malice with special guests C'ètait BonTemps, God Complex & Mauve, 8:45PM📍Nitehawk Cinema
04/24 Real-Life Meal Prep for Busy People, 4PM-5PM 📍Central Library
04/24 How to Green Your Block, 6PM-8PM 📍Brooklyn Botanic Garden
04/24 Brooklyn Poetry Slam, 7PM-9PM 📍Brooklyn Museum
04/24 Playwrights in Process (PIP), 7PM-9PM 📍Old Stone House
04/24 Speed Portrait Night, 7PM-9PM 📍Hot House
04/24 Youngmi Mayer and Friends, 7:30PM-9PM 📍Union Hall
Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap/click the heart or share it with a friend. I really appreciate all your support! I hope you enjoy the weekend — it’s supposed to be beautiful.
Kelley xo
I. want. all. of. these.
I will definitely be making a stop here soon!!