Sweet treats bring taste of summer to barrier islands

Memorial Day, the traditional start to the summer season, is behind us, so what’s ahead for the next few months?

A lot of hot, a lot of humid and a lot of perspiration.

Need a break or a cool treat? Thankfully, there’s a way to satisfy your sweet tooth and cool off all at the same time.

We asked some local shopkeepers about their favorite and most popular summer treats.

Simply Susanne's Cafe

3172 GMD

941-702-8526

We tested out Simply Susanne’s Tropical Smoothie, and it was super refreshing. The smoothie mixed pineapple, banana and a splash of orange juice, which is perfect for a beach day.

The other two popular smoothies are the Green Monster, which is kale, spinach and pineapple, and the Hyper Monkey, which has iced coffee, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, banana and milk.

All the smoothies are made with fresh fruit and juice. Other smoothie options are Strawberry Dream, which combines strawberry and apple, and Very Berry, which mixes berries and apple. All smoothies are $6 and can be adjusted for dietary needs.

Along with smoothies, the cafe sells five Big Olaf ice cream flavors, including fan-favorites blueberry cheesecake, Kahlua crunch and salted caramel pretzel. Ice cream can be served as a shake or in cups, cones or sundaes. One scoop is $3.99 and two scoops are $5.99. Milkshakes are $5.75.

Simply Susanne’s summer hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Tyler’s Homemade Ice Cream

5350 GMD

941-383-6935

Farther north on Longboat Key is Tyler’s Homemade Ice Cream.

With rotating flavors, the shop has something for everyone. We went with mint chocolate chip, and it was a solid choice.

Owen Dan Alderson said that, unexpectedly maybe, vanilla and chocolate are the most popular flavors. He said the vanilla is more of a French vanilla, and the chocolate is made with fudge. Beyond that, other popular options are Mississippi mud, sea salt caramel, strawberry and moose tracks.

During the Fourth of July, the shop sells an apple pie flavor that consists of actual pie crust baked in butter and cinnamon and then crushed up and put in ice cream with apples. Other seasonal options are red velvet, peppermint and pumpkin.

Aside from regular cones and cups, the shop has milkshakes, root beer floats and sundaes, which Alderson said come in just about any variety.

Single scoops of ice cream start at $3.95 and the prices range up to $9 for a banana split.

Tyler’s is open from 1-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
 

The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Pops

438 St. Armands Circle

941-388-3330

Among the various ice cream and gelato shops around St. Armands Circle, is The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Pops.

The Hyppo, which started in St. Augustine, sells gourmet ice pops, made of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.

Hyppo Executive Assistant Jessi Streator said the most popular flavors range from peanut butter pie and Straight-Up Strawberry to blueberry lavender lemonade.

The gourmet ice pop shop rotates through about 450 flavors annually and 30 to 40 flavors weekly. The company works with several farmers around the state and purchases items based on what’s seasonally available. All pops are handmade in St. Augustine.

All ice pops are $3.75 plus tax. Pops can be dipped in chocolate for an extra dollar.

The Hyppo is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Settimi’s Gelato

367B St. Armands Circle

941-388-4485

For those looking to expand their tastes outside of traditional treats, drop by Settimi’s on St. Armands for gelato.

While the store does offer smoothies and Italian coffee drinks, it’s specialty is the Italian ice cream.

Ester Lodi, who owns the shop with her husband, said the most popular flavors are salted caramel, cappuccino, pistachio, limoncello and nocciola, which is a combination of hazelnut and Nutella.

The gelato is made from scratch in the store with no preservatives or corn syrup. A few options can be dairy-free.

The store has about 36 flavors that usually stay the same, though a few rotate such as pineapple and passionfruit. We tried the chocolate, and it was sweet and creamy and made us want to be roaming the streets of Italy.

The store’s smoothies are made with frozen fruit mixed with coconut water or milk, whichever the customer prefers.

A small, which is two scoops, runs $4.55. A medium, which is two large scoops, is $5.55 and a large for three scoops is $6.10.

Settimi’s is open 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. seven days a week.