BlS—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 16,1983
BY KIMBERLY HERR
NEW HOLLAND Be patriotic
eat an ice cream cone.
That’s right, folks, this week was
national ice cream week. And what
a wonderful reason to splurge on a
large, triple-dip ice cream cone in
your favorite flavor. 1 mean, af
terail, if you need an excuse to
blow your diet, just chalk it up to
your duty as an American.
And, while you’re splurging, you
may as well go all the way and
treat yourself to real, honest-to
goodness homemade ice cream.
Some of the best to be found is on
a farm nestled in the New Holland
area. This farm, complete with
cool breezes from the many trees,
is inviting enough on a hot sum
mer’s day, add the temptation of
freshly-made ice cream, and the
scene becomes irresistible.
The farm and ice cream works
belong to Ben Z. Lapp and family.
They have about 50 cows on their
60-acre farm. They get about 350
gallons of milk per day and make
about 400 gallons of ice cream each
week.
The Lapps went into the ice
cream business about eight years
ago. Since that tune he switched
from milking twice a day to
milking three tunes a day because
they needed the extra milk.
Lapp, who is a member of the
Amish church, explained he began
making ice cream for members of
his church, and his interest grew
from there.
So, apparently, did the demand.
Lapp sells his ice cream at a
small shop on his farm, at the
Green Dragon Market and Auction
and at a market in Reading.
During the summer months, his
employees hand dip about 4,000
cones per week.
His customers have a choice of
19 flavors. All of the ingredients
are fresh and natural. Ten days
after milk is taken from the cow,
the purchaser will have consumed
the ice cream, according to Lapp.
The whole process takes place on
Lapp's farm. An observer can
follow the milk all the way from
the cow to the finished product
without ever stepping outside.
The process begins in the barn
when the cows are milked. From
Jonas and John, Lapp's four-year-old twins, enjoy the ice
cream made on Daddy's farm.
1 & ” 1 •' " * '■'’* '' *.j _
there, it is taken upstairs m the
barn. It is placed in a 200-gallon
steel vat where the ice cream mix
is made. The mix consists of milk,
cream, sugar and dry milk.
Both cane and com sugar are
used, and the cream comes from a
local cheese company.
The mixture is then heated and
moved onto the next step of the
process where it is homogenized. It
then moves on to the holding tank.
From the holding tank, the
mixture travels down into a first
floor room which is connected to
the bam.
If you are fortunate enough to be
there at the right time, you can
grab a taste of your favorite flavor
while it is still in soft form.
In this room is Mary King, one af
Lapp’s busy employees.
She actually makes the mix into
ice cream. Containers of won
derful-looking ingredients line this
room. From strawberries to
blueberries to walnuts in a maple
sauce, this room holds all the
goodies that make the ice cream
complete.
Mary, who works about 20 hours
per week, is kept busy making the
ice cream and cleaning the
equipment every tune she starts a
new flavor. Hanging above her
head are biblical verses of en
couragement. •
"I sometimes need that en
couragement through the sum
mer,” Mary laughed.
After Mary makes the ice
cream, she places it in containers
and puts them into a freezer, which
can hold Boo gallons of ice cream.
A door on the other side of
Mary’s room leads the visitor into
the ice cream shop.
Here are two more huge
freezers. One stores ice cream to
be dipped by hand and another
stores the ice cream that is already
packaged.
The shop is open Monday
through Thursday from noon until
dark. Fridays and Saturdays, the
shop opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 7
p.m. At least they try and close at 7
p.m., however, some nights people
just keep arriving for more ice
cream.
The Lapps prefer to sell their ice
cream by the cone, but do package
some of it for the convenience ot
those who want to take more than
one cone along home with them.
The packaged ice cream really
comes in handy during strawberry
season when everyone wants to
buy gallons of vanilla ice cream,
according to Lapp.
Vanilla is the favorite flavor of
those people buying packages,
however, raspberry takes the lead
for those buying cones.
And it isn’t only the customers
who like to nibble on Lapp’s ice
cream.
Esther Ghck, another one of
Lapp’s employees, works in the
processing room, where the milk,
sugar, and cream are combined.
Although she works around ice
cream all the time, she never tires
of it.
In fact, she was on her way to
treat herself to a cone when she
was interrupted by a reporter.
Before Esther, Mary and some
of their other employees came in
the picture, Lapp and his wife Lena
did all the work themselves.
They made the ice cream in their
home at night after working
around the farm all day.
For the past several years, the
ice cream has been made every
Tuesday and Wednesday. The mix
is made on Thursday and then
allowed to sit for several days.
According to Lapp, this makes for
a better flavor.
Although the mix is kept for
several days, the original milk is
not, and it is often put into the mix
the same day it is taken from the
cow.
The milk that Lapp also sells is
sometimes in the hands of the
consumer just two hours after it
comes from the cow.
By the end of the week, the ice
cream that is made on Tuesday
and Wednesday has been sold.
While Lapp has created a suc
cessful operation, he is determined
to keep the business a family one.
John's favorite flavor is vanilla, even if it melts quicker than
he can eat it.
That way he remains in control of
what goes into his ice cream and
where it is sold.
His ice cream currently contains
about 16 percent butterfat, which
makes it rich and creamy, and,
you may be thinking, much more
fattening.
However, Lapp explained that
the difference in calories from an
ice cream that is low in butterfat to
one that is high is not as great as
people think.
Therefore, it is perfectly proper
for you to go ahead and order an
ice cream cone and not even think
of the calories.
If it’s any consolation, while you
are taking the very first lick of
your'cone, millions of others are
doing the exact same thing.
Last year Americans ate more
than three billion quarts of ice
cream. That averages out to about
15 quarts per person.
So, go ahead, if you didn’t have
an ice cream cone during this past
week, spoil yourself this weekend
and cool the heat with ice cream.