National Ice Cream Month is quickly melting away, but Tamara Keefe, culinary ice cream diva and founder of Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery, doesn’t seem to mind. As far as she’s concerned, ice cream month should be celebrated every month of the year.
And why not? Ice cream is an indulgent treat. No matter how it’s scooped – in a cone or dish – people love ice cream, 365 days a year.
“Ice cream has always been my passion,” said Keefe, who believes ice cream can unite people. “I also have a passion for bringing people and ice cream together to do just that. Ice cream is something we can share together that makes memories. One of my fondest memories is sharing my first ice cream cone with my grandmother.”
Fond memories for Keefe also include making ice cream as a child, which then became a hobby; a hobby that would inspire her to abandoned the corporate world for a more satisfying life of an entrepreneur. This was the step she took five years ago with the original goal of opening a small neighborhood ice cream shop. After five years, Keefe has just opened her fourth store, located in Lake St. Louis, with a fifth store planned for Town & Country. That is good news that proves the old adage to be true: Do what you love and happiness and success will follow.
“The process of making ice cream has always been pleasurable and calming. It’s always made me very happy. And today, I couldn’t be happier,” Keefe said.
With the phenomenal success Clementine’s is enjoying, I wondered if there was a real Clementine. There was, and it seems she was quite a classy lady.
“She was one of my grandmother’s best friends,” Keefe said. “She had this long, gorgeous silver hair and was so classy. She was the most elegant creature I had ever seen. I thought, ‘Someday, I’ll grow up and have a little girl and name her Clementine. I wasn’t blessed in life with that, but my company was my baby, so I named it Clementine’s.”
Clementine’s is as classy as its namesake. The shop reminds me of a turn-of-the-century ice creamery, painted in black and white. The rail, aka the counter, where the ice cream bins are, hold the day’s selection of old-fashioned, full-flavored ice creams, which are naughty (with booze) and nice (without booze). Each are made in small batches, which echoes the hand-cranked tradition.
“We make everything in small batch because we’re not committed to making a million gallons at a time. Instead, we make 40 quarts at a time,” Keefe said. “That’s why our ice creams have a hand-cranked feel and flavor. It’s what helps define us as a micro-creamy.”
Micro-creamy ice cream – by definition – must be made by hand in small batches, contain all natural ingredients, have a low overrun (less than 30% air) and contain more than 16% real butterfat.
“We‘re a super creamy brand. Our butterfat content is way higher than anything you can find commercially,” Keefe said. “Our overrun is lower, and our ingredients are all natural. And someone actually makes the ice cream. Big commercial brands are made in these big continuous running machines. Our ice cream is made with care and love with somebody standing in front of the machine. It makes a huge difference in taste and texture.”
As Keefe explained, once you know how ice cream can be made, without all the artificial stuff commercial brands do to ice cream, ice cream is amazing. As she said. “Ice cream made with pure ingredients tastes so much better and is so much more decadent, richer and flavorful. That’s how I remember we would make it as a kid. That’s how we make at Clementine’s. It’s exciting to me to have created an ice cream company that makes ice cream the old-fashioned way, which in my mind is the right way.”
Keefe’s recipe for ice cream “done right” has earned national kudos, with the best recognition being bestowed on Clementine’s Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream. It landed on Oprah’s “O List” as the sexiest ice cream alive. Keefe describes the flavor as an elevation of a St. Louis classic – mixing chunks of gooey butter cake throughout a tangy cream cheese ice cream. It’s a sexy dish indeed, not to mention a flavor that’s to die for.
“Gooey Butter is now our best seller. There’s nothing in the country that can compare to it. I think it’s probably my favorite,” Keefe said. “But there are lots of flavors, and we’re always creating new ones. That’s the joy of our small batch approach. It allows flexibility and the ability to make fun and interesting flavors.”
What’s the best flavor for this week? There’s a “nice” Salted Crack Caramel, Honey Lavender and the triple dark chocolate, Midnight Pleasures. On the “naughty” boozy side, try Tequila Chocolate Mole, Amaretto Sour or the Clementine classic, Maple Bourbon with Salted Candied Pecans, which I recommend dished and topped with hand-whipped cream, of course.
When I asked Keefe what her plans were for the next five years, she said, “Keep doing what I love to do – making ice cream and spreading the love. The world really needs it, especially now.”
