Sweet Potato Sweets in Vardaman is always adding to their endless array of products, but they’ve gotten a jump start on summer with their latest creation – sweet potato ice cream.
Daphna Cook shows some of the many new sweet potato products available at the Sweet Shop in Vardaman including sweet potato ice cream.
The ice cream is produced at Mississippi State University using the Sweet Shop’s sweet potato puree they make for all their products.
“We did do several batches to make certain it had the right consistency and did several tastings to get the spice just right,” Judy Holder said.
The first batch of ice cream arrived three weeks ago in Vardaman.
“It’s been successful so far,” Holder said. “We have several customers coming in for it on a regular basis. We have many others coming in curious to see what it taste like.”
Holder said she expects to soon have half gallons to sell, but currently they only have pint size containers.
In addition to the ice cream, the Sweet Shop has also developed its own salsa, sweet potato sour dough rolls, sweet potato peanut butter cookies, “Classic Southern Sweet Potato Caramel Cake” and a pineapple sweet potato cake that is becoming one of their more popular items.
“The cake has no oil or butter in it, but it is a scratch cake,” Holder said. “We make it in one layer, two layers or sheet cakes. It’s doing really well. We’re having to make them every day.”
The test kitchen is always busy coming up with new ideas and is currently putting the finishing touches on a spicy dipping sauce for chips.
“I really like it,” she said. “It tastes to me like the sauce you would have with a blooming onion.”
Holder explained that incorporating sweet potatoes in so many different dishes is not just promotional, but purposeful for a quality product.
“We would love to have a sweet potato taste in everything, but in some products it’s hard. But at least you’re still getting your vegetables,” Holder said. “But if you take the sweet potatoes out of any of these products they taste very different.”