Holy Cow Ice Cream Café – with locations in Peabody, Salem, Gloucester and Dennis Port – doesn’t offer the same standard flavors as other ice cream shops.

So no, you won’t find the usual chocolate ice cream or blackberry ice cream here. Instead, you’ll see sweet and wonderful concepts like the Fruity Pebbles-infused “Cereal Milk” or the brown butter ice cream with brownies called “Corner Piece.”

It’s not all crazy stuff. They have souped-up versions of Cookie Dough, Cookies & Cream, and Coffee Oreo. There are even award-winning versions of the standard vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry varieties.

But the craziest thing you’ll see at Holy Cow isn’t an ingredient. It’s a trophy for the North American Ice Cream Association’s 2022 Flavor of the Year.

It’s called “Ritzy AF” and is a prime example of the ice cream parlor’s unconventional approach and commitment to making top-notch ice cream.

The best ice cream in the country

How good is the ice cream at Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe? Their best day ever was one of the coldest days in Massachusetts history.

Holy Cow owner Mike Schifino remembers stopping by one Saturday during a record cold snap in February 2023 and being shocked by the number of visitors.

“There was a line out the door and we just thought, ‘Oh my God. Right now the wind chill is literally minus 10 degrees and we’re selling ice cream,'” he says.

Why? They had heard of Ritzy AF.

The previous evening, Holy Cow had appeared on local television after the North American Ice Cream Association named Ritzy AF the best flavor in America for 2022.

So what is Ritzy AF? It’s an ice cream base of salted butter crackers with a house-made “Ritz Cracker Toffee Bark” mixed in. It’s a brilliant blend of sweet, salty and savoury elements. You get a not-too-strong sweet kick from the toffee and ice cream. You also get a satisfying savoury base from the chocolate and crackers. Finally, the saltiness of the Ritz gives this flavour bomb a neat little bow that makes you want to take another bite.

Ritzy AF isn’t the only ice cream with hardware. The Eazy Peazy (lemon curd ice cream with homemade lemon bars) won third place in the 2022 Flavor of the Year contest. And then there’s Jackpot (salted butterscotch ice cream with homemade Biscoff rind), which won the 2023 award for Best Flavor in the Northeast.

Why an ice cream parlor must also be a bakery

“Homemade” is a phrase you hear over and over at Holy Cow. But it wasn’t always that way when Schifino opened in 2014.

“We started by selling ice cream to other people. First we bought it,” he says.

At some point, Holy Cow started baking its own cookies, which were a huge success. Then they started adding homemade specialties to their lineup. When these specialties became the best sellers, Schifino started changing course, and as of 2019, Holy Cow made all of its own ice cream.

They also make their own cookies, pistachio baklava, lemon bars, graham crackers and of course the famous toffee bark. The only ingredients you’ll see that aren’t made in-house are the Oreos and Fruity Pebbles.

It’s difficult to keep up with demand for all the eye-catching ingredients. Schifino admits there are times when they run a bakery as well as an ice cream shop. However, the process is made somewhat easier by Holy Cow’s centralized production.

All of Holy Cow’s ice cream is baked and churned in its own production facility and then shipped to each location. This way, Schifino says, customers get the same quality ice cream at each location from employees who can focus on making the best ice cream without having to worry about serving customers.

Why go to all that trouble? For Schifino, that means no shortcuts. Every detail counts, from the taste of the ice cream to the smell of the waffle cones, which are made fresh to order.

“We try everything to produce the best possible quality of ice cream because we are obsessed with ice cream,” he says.

Holy Cow has made a name for itself with its “wow factor” flavors. But Schifino knows they’re not for everyone, so he put a lot of emphasis on the final three flavors added to Holy Cow’s house-made flavors menu.

That would be vanilla, chocolate and strawberry – or as he calls them, “The Big Three.” That way, Holy Cow can serve those who happen to drive by and want vanilla.

“We will continue to try to offer both classic and unusual things. So we will continue to be competitive with our core flavors of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.”

Holy Cow also submits its vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors to the North American Ice Cream Association for evaluation. Unlike Ritzy AF, the “Big Three” flavors are blindly evaluated by food scientists and judged on certain qualities.

Holy Cow’s chocolate and vanilla were awarded blue ribbons, representing first prize in this category. The strawberry received a red ribbon, representing second prize.

Schifino says he felt a little crazy while researching the basic flavors. At one point, he came home with 15 flavors of vanilla ice cream and let people try them.

However, he believes it was worth the effort to excel in both classical and creative areas.

“It helps us not to be gimmicky,” says Schifino. “You could say, ‘Oh, just because they soak their ice cream in Fruity Pebbles, that’s why they’re so notorious.’ We do that. But we also make the vanilla to a high quality.”

Still a little different

If you go to an ice cream shop and ask what their best-selling flavor is, the answer is almost always vanilla.

Holy Cow’s vanilla is a success. But Ritzy AF remains their No. 1 flavor – and that’s just how they like it.

“The fact that Ritzy has surpassed all of that is, for me, the final nail in the coffin when it comes to fulfilling our mission,” says Schifino. “We want our exceptional flavors to be our best sellers.”

Holy Cow’s mantra remains quality over quantity, which means the flavor choices are limited. At the time of writing, there are 17 permanent flavors on the menu, eight limited-time flavors, and three vegan options.

Schifno stressed that customers should not expect “a large portion the size of their head.” Holy Cow’s ice cream is not as foamy as other ice cream flavors.

“That’s because we don’t put as much air into the product,” he says. “Half a liter of our ice cream is heavier than another type of ice cream because there’s more cream and product in it.”

This focus on quality has earned Holy Cow a trophy for North American Taste of the Year, and they’re aiming for another this year.

Schifino says that for legal reasons, they are not yet allowed to reveal which flavor they are submitting. Fans will have to wait until the contest in November to find out which flavor will be competing for more sweet hardware.