Ed’s Real Scoop: For Maple Bacon Ice Cream Lovers!
Ed’s Real Scoop, Beaches (Leslieville), 2224 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
Beaches (Leslieville), 2224 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
Taking a break from condo shopping, we decided to duck into Ed’s Real Scoop in Leslieville for ice cream and a blast of air conditioning. The paralyzing heat of Toronto summers takes some getting used to.
I have heard endless stories about Ed’s Real Scoop: that they use fresh ingredients for their homemade ice cream, their flavours are original and delicious and they’re a landmark in Toronto’s beaches district. There’s nothing more comforting than the slam of cold air in the face and a whiff of fresh waffle cones as soon as one walks into a crowded but cool ice cream shop in the summer. That’s what it’s like walking into Ed’s Real Scoop.
The front display counter at Ed’s Real Scoop features a grand selection of gelato. I didn’t see any unique flavours so I ventured deeper into the store. What do you know? Another whole two display cases of ice cream was available and the flavours were creative and witty.
Normally, I prefer gelato over ice cream, gelato is thicker, creamier and richer. Gelato is churned at a slower speed than ice cream and contains more egg yolk, more milk and less cream and no air. Most ice creams are whipped at such a fast rate that a lot of air is incorporated.
Maple bacon crunch, Ed’s Real Scoop, Beaches (Leslieville), 2224 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
I’ve always thought gelato was more decadent of a treat, but the fluffy creaminess of ice cream also hits the spot on a hot day. Especially when I spotted my all time favourite flavour in the display case: maple bacon crunch!
For those of you who are in love with the maple bacon ice cream from Vancouver’s Meat and Bread, you’ll go wild for the maple bacon ice cream at Ed’s Real Scoop. At Meat and Bread, they add bacon bits into their ice cream, at Ed’s Real Scoop, there are literally large chunks of bacon mixed in with the nutty sweet maple ice cream. I was impressed. You would think the meat would freeze inside the frozen treat but the salty bacon was actually crunchy, true to this ice cream’s name.
Burnt marshmallow, Ed’s Real Scoop, Beaches (Leslieville), 2224 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
I also tried the burnt marshmallow because the name was curious and the streaks of golden brown looked appetizing in the nearly empty bucket of ice cream. One of the secrets of choosing a delicious ice cream flavour at a shop with lots of flavours: pick the nearly empty bucket, it’s nearly empty for a reason. And true to my theory, the burnt marshmallow was scrumptious. I didn’t think it would be possible for an ice cream to actually taste smoky and sweet simultaneously but anything is possible, I suppose.
Mango gelato, Ed’s Real Scoop, Beaches (Leslieville), 2224 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
I also tried a small scoop of my friend’s mango gelato, which was sweet and fruity and really tasted like a slice of that addictive, juicy Filipino mango that everyone’s always crazy for.
Pistachio ice cream, Ed’s Real Scoop, Beaches (Leslieville), 2224 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON
We also ordered a fail safe flavour: pistachio which was also full of flavour and lived up to our high ice cream flavour standards.
Frozen treats always make hell-like heat more bearable.
Which do you prefer, dear readers, ice cream or gelato?