The newest ice cream trend has made its way to Cherokee County

Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer

Marble-slab ice cream has finally arrived in Cherokee County.

It may be the dead of winter, but that didn't stop Ray Champagne from making his shop, Courtyard Coffee and Ice Cream in Canton, the first in Cherokee County to offer slab ice cream to its customers.

"I wouldn't say it's a craze - it's been around for a while - but we're the only one in Cherokee County," said the Canton resident, who "moved so fast with this" to beat the March 5 opening of Cold Stone Creamery in Towne Lake. "I can't believe it's taken off as fast as it has. I've been blown away. It's January we're talking about."

The ice cream is placed on a marble slab that's kept at 36 degrees by a refrigerated unit underneath it, and various types of candy, nuts, fruits, cookies and other toppings are mixed into it with a paddle and a cutter.

"We use the hard, hand-dipped Blue Bell ice cream so it stays more firm," said Champagne, who has renamed his shop Riverstone Slab Creamery at Courtyard Coffee and Ice Cream. "The fact that it's Blue Bell is a big deal. Just because a shop might make its own ice cream doesn't make it good."

Though he had "seen the concept" of slab ice cream while visiting North Carolina, he "didn't really think I could incorporate it" into his business, which is not a franchise.

But two of his eight employees, Blair Dowdy and Ashleigh Cagle, both sophomores at Kennesaw State University, convinced him to give it try after they had witnessed the success of Cold Stone Creamery near the campus.

"They told me the kids love this stuff and were lined up out the door," said Champagne, who opened the shop with his wife, Mary, a Cherokee County teacher, 5 and a half years ago. "They were pushing me to go down there and see for myself. They hounded me to the point where I went down, checked it out and said, 'Yeah, we can do that.' I was a doubting Thomas, but they were right."

He bought a refrigeration unit, had a cabinet built for it and started offering the novelty ice cream Jan. 14.

With more than 20 flavors of ice cream - including no-sugar-added and yogurt - and 41 toppings to choose from, the combinations that can be created are endless.

Customers can jazz up a plain flavor like chocolate or vanilla by adding one topping for an extra 40 cents, two toppings for 75 cents or three toppings for $1.

"Some of the toppings are outrageous," said Champagne, who's been in restaurant management for 34 years. "Snickers, fudge, Butterfingers, mint patties. I'm sure we'll come up with more, but I had to stop at 41. The national chains only carry 30."

But they can get even more elaborate concoctions if they add toppings to flavors that already have toppings in them, such as chocolate chip cookie dough or rocky road.

"They only pay for what they add," he said. "I think that's a much better value than other places."

Some of the available toppings are bananas, Whoppers, marshmallows, chocolate and peanut butter chips, raisins, Milky Way, coconut, pineapple, vanilla wafers, gummy bears, chocolate-covered raisins and peanuts, graham crackers and caramel.

Customers can have their custom-made ice cream placed in a cup (with a sugar cone stuck on top if desired), waffle cone or waffle bowl, and for 50 cents more, they can get a decorated cone or bowl that's been dipped in chocolate and rolled in candy or nuts.

"We can do whatever you want," Champagne said.

The shop also plans to offer several "Scrumptious Suggestions," special slab ice cream creations that are already mixed and sold at a preset price.

People who don't want funky mixtures, however, can "still just get an ice cream cone and be on their way," he added.

Slab ice cream seems to appeal more to the younger generation, the owner said.

"Pecan praline, black walnut, mocha almond fudge, the heavier ice creams are more adult flavors," he said. "The kids go more for the cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, the new stuff. They just load them up."

He added that a group of Reinhardt College students came into the shop the other night and "flipped out" when they saw the slab ice cream.

But Patti Vinelli is one adult who enjoys the novel treat.

The Canton resident, who brings her children, Isabelle, 5, and Max, 2, to the shop often, said she had never heard of slab ice cream until she tried it in Florida a few months ago, but she's already had it a few times since the shop started offering it.

"I just like that it's all mixed in together," she said, adding she gets chocolate ice cream with Heath toffee pieces each time.

She said she will try more combinations "eventually."

"I've got the luxury of having children who try different things so I can try theirs, too," she said.

dharris@cherokeetribune.com