Extreme Chocolate

Went out to the Hopkinton Winter Farmer's Market since it was an unusually nice day for February and I wanted to check out Edward's Coffee Company and Pure Pastry. As far as I can tell, every ice cream shop in Hopkinton proper is closed for the winter, but T. C. Scoops in the next town over was open.¹

There's no outdoor seating (just a dozen or so spaces of shared parking lot) but the interior space is huge - lots of spread out tables and a long serving counter. They have an unusual number of brightly colored ice cream flavors - some conventional, some you just have to ask about (like "Crazy Vanilla".)

T. C. Scoops serves Hershey Ice Cream, FoMu non-dairy (coconut-milk based) dessert, and an oat-milk-based option; they also have sorbet and "Incredible Ice".

Toppings are divided into wet (hot fudge, strawberries, whipped cream) and dry (oreo bits, heath bar bits, gummy bears), including Chocolate Jimmies and Rainbow Sprinkles. They also have "Crunchy Cotton Candy" and "Plantain Chips" which might be worth a try just for the novelty.

They have four serving sizes of ice cream, and corresponding sundae sizes, along with a top-it-yourself sundae bar. They also have specialty sundaes like banana split, brownie, and waffle cone.

They have frappes, floats, ice cream soda, smoothies, and raspberry lime rickie; they also list a decadent-sounding "frozen hot chocolate".

First Visit

I started with their "Extreme Chocolate" with Chocolate Jimmies (sort of redundant, but they're more for added texture anyway.) It was an almost black color with a strong (but not bitter) chocolate flavor; nothing mixed in. Not quite as creamy a base as I'm used to but the richness of the chocolate flavor made up for that.

A closeup of the Extreme Chocolate ice cream itself, without the layer of Jimmies hiding it.

The "Creamsicle" deserves the name - a bright orange with a "cream" swirl that reminds me exactly of the true Creamsicle® bars from my childhood. (It's not unusual to make a Creamsicle variant by swirling in vanilla ice cream - which is also a tasty treat and I'm not suggesting it's wrong, but it doesn't hit the exact nostalgic notes the way this version does.)

Another view showing the density of the cream swirl after getting halfway through the Creamsicle part.

Next Visit

Holliston is kind of small and out of the way (before this review, the town was entirely absent from my travel photography collection) so it isn't likely to become a regular haunt - but I'm likely to find an excuse to stop back at Gaetano's Bakery for their Florentine Cookies, so that would be a good chance to stop in and try some of their more unusual flavors like "Playdough" (colorful vanilla base with cookies mixed in), "Crazy Vanilla", or "Butter Brittle Crunch" - or maybe just get a Frozen Hot Chocolate (perhaps in the summer, just to compare with the classic Serendipity 3 version.)

Happy Solistice! After Thanksgiving I'd gotten out of the habit of doing regular ice cream shop explorations, but the days are getting longer and it seemed like a good time to visit the places that are staying open over the winter.

Today's shop is Moozy's, a corner shop in Belmont (right where Trapelo Road meets Belmont Street.) There are a bunch of outdoor tables and a half dozen indoor booths; the interior is dominated by a large ice cream counter, with a self-serve frozen yogurt bar tucked in one corner, and a burger and grill section on the far side.

Their ice cream menu includes Graham Central Station, Black Raspberry Chip, and Moose Tracks. Aside from the usual cups, cones, packed quarts and pints, they have Sundaes, Banana Splits, Frappes (including an Espresso Frappe), Floats, and Smoothies. For toppings they have a list of fresh fruit options, a range of Sundae toppings, and a "candy & crunchies" section including Real Chocolate "Jimmies"¹ and Heath Bar Pieces. They also have three sizes of Ice Cream Cake (custom orders need 48 hours notice, per their website.)

First Visit

I started with a sample of my friend's Eggnog (a christmas-season-only flavor.) Really strong, even a little bit tangy - very convincing eggnog ice cream with a rich base. Sufficiently strong that it overwhelmed my intended followup, the Peanut Butter Oreo - I made it about halfway through before the peanut butter taste actually stood up to the eggnog; though I don't think that would have been a problem by itself, maybe add the "creamy peanut butter" sundae topping if you want to go all in on peanut butter flavor.

The second half was their Extreme Chocolate, which earned the name - a rich chocolate base, chocolate chunks, and a dark chocolate sauce, delivering chocolate on multiple fronts. This was a much better flavor experience than the peanut butter oreo - no subtlety at all, and no need for it either.²

Wally's Wicked Good Ice Cream is in the Auburndale "village" of Newton, just northeast from where 128 and the Mass Pike cross (and not far from the Auburndale commuter rail stop.) It's a narrow store front tucked in next to a pizza place; a couple of indoor tables, but no sidewalk seating. I was there the day before Halloween - if their website is accurate they may have closed for the season after that.

Bright and cheerful interior¹ with counter service and a freezer. Aside from a couple of dozen ice cream flavors, they have frozen yogurt, sherbet, sorbet, italian ice; they also have lime rickeys, floats, frappes (with or without malt), and frozen lemonade. They also have cookie sandwiches and sundaes - mostly build-your-own but they had a "Fluffernutter Sundae" on the specials board.² Their Toppings board had a long list of candy, along with the usual nuts and sauces.

First Visit

I started with Extreme Chocolate, which was a rich, strongly flavored chocolate base, with brownie bits, chocolate chips/chunks and chocolate swirl completing the picture. It's an appropriate use of the term "Extreme", and if you're in the mood for chocolate, you can just get that and be satisfied.

Since I like to try at least two flavors, and I'm a big Thin Mints™ fan, I combined the Extreme Chocolate with Mint Chocolate Chip³ which was a good pairing. Clear mint flavor, without going all the way to Grasshopper.

Next Visit

I'm actually tempted by the Fluffernutter Sundae, but they also have Cookie Monster and Graham Central Station. They also have Moose Tracks and PB Oreo (they have five different oreo-based flavors plus a S'moreo Frappe, which is certainly a theme.) I'd also consider their Peach ice cream in summertime.

Getting There

Wally's comes across as the kind of place you'd mostly want to walk to (possibly after pizza next door) but Newton is the beginning of the high density/high traffic/insane road design "inner suburbs" of Boston, and being so close to the Pike⁴ it looks on the map like a "you can't get there from here" sort of place. Once you do get there, even the road it's directly on is under construction.

The trick is to go down Melrose Ave - the little side road just south of the shop - where you'll find a bunch of parking and several GreenSpot electric car chargers. If they're full you can continue to Melrose St and make two lefts back on to Auburn St which has street parking.