This Week's SWEET of the WEEK!

St. Clair Ice Cream is a specialty ice cream and sorbet dessert supplier located in Norwalk, CT. The company was founded in 1987 to carry on the artisanal tradition of hand molded frozen desserts. Our unique process is reminiscent of a time when ice cream wasn’t just served, it was presented.

Fine Living: Insiders List with Julie Moran

Today, St. Clair Ice Cream offers its 40 fruit, flower and specialty shapes in 17 ice cream and kosher sorbet flavors to wholesalers and consumers nationwide. St. Clair desserts are offered by some of the finest restaurants, hotels and caterers in the U.S. And of course, no wedding is complete without them.

A Brief History

Molded, hand-crafted frozen desserts graced the tables of royalty for centuries. In the Victorian era, household servants would use pewter molds to produce ice cream desserts in the shape of swans, flowers, birds, and even vegetable bouquets.

Molded ice cream desserts remained popular through the early part of the Twentieth Century, when local dairies would produce delicacies similar to what we now offer.

During The Great Depression, the practice of molding ice cream began to wane. By the middle of the Twentieth Century, makers of molded ice cream were hard to find. One such shop remained on St. Clair Avenue in Toronto, Canada. Its desserts were a childhood favorite of our founder, Barbara Zernike, and the inspiration for what we do today.

When super premium ice cream or sorbet is tempered and then scooped and packed, by hand, into molds, the process removes much of the extra air from the product, yielding an even richer tasting, creamier result. Even better, the process yields a truly sensible form of indulgence: because the tiny treats are as flavorful and sumptuous as they are, guests find they are satisfied without over indulging. Add to that the visual appeal of the unique edible art pieces we produce, and it's easy to see why our products consistently achieve that unique “wow” effect wherever and whenever they are served.

We ship our desserts packed in dry ice in a Styrofoam container to arrive within 48 hours. We ship to all parts of the United States via UPS, and can ship via courier service in the New York Metropolitan area. Shipping and Handling costs will vary per order depending on the shipping weight and destination.

For most shipping destinations within New England and Eastern New York State, we ship via UPS Ground service to arrive the next day. Next Day orders shipped on Friday for Saturday delivery will involve additional costs. For shipping destinations outside the New England area, we ship most orders via UPS 2nd Day service. We do not ship 2nd Day orders on Thursday or Friday. Orders needed for Monday or Tuesday events must be shipped to arrive on Friday of the previous week.

To ensure freshness, we try to ship all orders so that they will arrive as close as possible to the date they will be served. Because everything we make is hand crafted, we normally require a week to ten days lead time in advance of the shipping date to process an order. We do try to fill all orders, but cannot guarantee availability for orders placed for same day shipping.

During our busiest seasons - Spring and Fall Wedding Seasons, Thanksgiving, and especially
Christmas - we recommend placing all orders 3 to 4 weeks in advance. Of course, we can take orders several months in advance.

Saint Clair Ice Cream desserts can be served in a virtually unlimited number of ways. The only thing to avoid is serving them on a metal tray, which will conduct heat to the frozen products and hasten their melting.

It's best to let them temper for a few minutes out of the freezer. At that point, the ice cream within is beginning to soften, while the outer glaze retains its unique icy crunch.