27 Below

It’s a sunny spring afternoon in the kitchen at The Local Scoop in Orleans with owner and general manager Mary DeBartolo and operations manager Julie Greenspon. We are making a batch of vanilla ice cream. The process begins with the careful combining of ingredients. While the mixer hums, DeBartolo shares her exciting summer plans to expand The Local Scoop. This summer a new basement kitchen called 27 Below will open to the public for a series of scrumptiously fun classes.

The new commercial kitchen will offer weekly classes, which will be kept to a maximum of ten people to ensure individual attention, with a price range of $35 to $45 per person. Classes start in June and are designed to appeal to a variety of age groups, with a focus on local ingredients. As the following list of course offerings shows, if you want to make ice cream yourself, a class at 27 Below is the place to go.

Ice Cream 101

Make your own artisanal ice cream from recipes. The class will explore a variety of unique flavor combinations along with decorating techniques and the scientific principles that will help you better understand the functionality of ingredients so you can produce better ice cream. This is a hands-on class, and participants will take home a quart of homemade ice cream.

Farm to Scoop

This class embodies DeBartolo’s passion, the local food movement on Cape Cod, through an exploration of using local ingredients from Chatham Bars Inn Farm to create luscious ice cream flavors. Participants are also encouraged to bring in goodies from their gardens, but The Local Scoop will also have plenty on hand to develop recipes together. Everyone takes home a quart of ice cream along with the “local scoop” on the food artisans and farmers that make up our community.

Cape Cod Pops

Participants make their own artisan ice cream, frozen yogurt and fruit pops using local Cape Cod ingredients. Everyone gets to take home their popsicle creations.

Cake Decorating 101

Learn to create your own edible masterpiece. Participants will learn all the basic skills needed to make ice cakes look professional and delicious. Class includes an eight-inch ice cream cake made with homemade ice cream and homemade icing with toppings and tools. Participants can take their cake home to share with family and friends.

Essential Oils

The Local Scoop uses essential oils to make many of their cream flavors because they add flavor and are amazingly healthy. Learn the basics of essential oils, and churn out a batch of ice cream to share with the group. You will also learn how to incorporate essential oils into everyday meals, with a focus on frozen desserts.

Breakfast for Dinner

The younger crowd will love preparing this deliciously sweet evening meal as they learn how to spin a crepe and make a batch of homemade ice cream, all from scratch while eating everything they make. These classes are designed for kids and teens to create the best foundation for a lifetime of cooking as they learn how to read and write a recipe, practice kitchen safety, and explore food science. Classes are hands-on, and participants will also take home a pint of homemade ice cream. For kids age 6-12, and teens age 13- 17.

Fun with Liquid Nitrogen

This ice cream class incorporates the science behind liquid nitrogen with a lot of fun. Kids can churn their own liquid nitrogen ice cream with dream ingredients to create their own unique flavor. For kids age 6-12, and teens age 13-17.

Back in the kitchen, DeBartolo and Greenspon hold a container to catch the slowly churning ice cream. “It tastes best at just this point when it’s completely fresh,” DeBartolo says, offering me a sample. The ice cream is perfect, not too cold, creamy and sweet.

Class participants can enjoy this same experience, but don’t worry if you can’t make it to class, you can still get the scoop. DeBartolo’s ice cream and yogurt can be found in a variety of locations across the Cape. Be sure to also keep an eye out for The Local Scoop at the Truro and Chatham Farmers’ Markets, and don’t miss Cape Cod Pops, which can be found at the East End Market, Far Land on the Beach, the Whydah Pirate Museum, Cape Cod Beer, Capabilities Farm, the Snowy Owl, on the distinctive Local Scoop trucks, and at local beach stands.

34 Cranberry Highway (Route 6A)
Orleans, Massachusetts
508-255-0101 / thelocalscoopcapecod.com