19 June 2020

Smashing flavours at Cold Rock

15 November 2018 | My Gungahlin

Gungahlin is home to a rare beast, the only remaining Cold Rock Ice creamery in Canberra. Those strange southside neighbours or ours are even known to trek all the way north to get some ice cream goodness. As author Don Kardong is quoted “Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos”. Some northsiders would agree this sums up southside perfectly.

Keeping the darkness at bay is young couple Ben and Milly. They love everything about owning an ice cream shop and really, who wouldn’t? You are literally spending every day filling peoples bellies and making them happy. The concept behind Cold Rock at its most philosophical is individualism. Everything is tailored made. You can combine and smash flavours with every lolly, cookie dough, biscuit and brownie imaginable to make your own flavour explosion.

My son when we visited refused to get in the spirit of things. “I want rainbow”, “Nothing on it, nothing in it…..just rainbow”. Thankfully the staff are understanding with a considerate “You do you little dude!” ethos.

Can we just take a moment to wonder why kids always order rainbow ice cream? They never finish it and then I have to eat it and I hate rainbow ice cream. Major first world problems. Le sigh!

Aside from the rainbow, there is up to 100 flavours available any given day, with more sorbets during the hot steamy months. If you are a regular they will even make sure they stock your favourite flavour. How nice is that!

The choice can be overwhelming for the indecisive but there is also a suggested list of tried and tested flavour combinations. “After Dinner Mint” is a winner with me and one of Milly’s favourites. Chocolate chip mint ice cream is combined with brownie chunks, Kit kats and Lindt dark chocolate. The “For-a-Rare-Share” lives up to its name with nutella ice-cream, chopped up Picnic bars and Ferreros through-out. An experiment in chocolate flavour combines chocolate ice cream with peanut butter, Tim tams, Oreos and cookie dough. Chocolate, on chocolate, on chocolate…oh my!

The ice creams can also be incorporated in any flavour shake you can dream of or, for special occasions, an ice cream cake. Milly has really found her passion when it come to making ice cream cakes. There is a range available in the fridge if you need something last minute. If you have some time Milly will come up with something to blow your mind. We are talking about three tiered ice cream extravaganzas! Thankfully you can order to your precise specifications on the website so all you need to do is pick it up on the day. You can find Milly’s amazing creations on Instagram for some cake inspiration.