Get the Scoop on Local Ice Cream

July 15, 2024
By Molly Krupat
• In celebration of National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day — coming Sunday, July 21 — Needham Local explored some of the tasty ice cream spots around town and spoke with the people behind them.

Needham Junction Ice Cream

The Junction, located on 51 Junction St. in Needham, has been a staple of summer ice cream for town residents for more than 20 years. The local and easily accessible one-window storefront, stationed just off the Commuter Rail stop bearing the same name, opens in the spring and runs through the full summer season. A variety of ice cream types are available, including traditional ice cream, soft serve, frappes, slush and more exciting combinations.

One such offering is the Glacier: fresh-but-not-too-icy slush topped with a generous layer of soft serve. The combo is a mix of textures, and the creamy soft serve melts into the juicy slush.

The Junction’s Monster Mash — a vanilla-based ice cream churned with Oreos, M&Ms, caramel and other cookies — is another unique option. The creamy ice cream paired with chunks of toppings makes for a smooth and crunchy combination.

Needham resident Jonathan Sussman is a fan. His family makes a weekly trip for ice cream and visits the Junction about once a month.

“Apparently Monster Mash is a favorite,” Sussman said.

Many other locals frequent the Junction, including the Wilkes family, who stop for a cold treat “once a week in the summertime,” Steven Wilkes said. He said the Junction is top on their ice cream list.

“Our favorite ice cream place in Needham is Needham Junction,” father Steven Wilkes said.

These locals also have their go-to flavors to look forward to: “Blue raspberry slush for me. One of my daughters likes the ice cream and slush together, and my other daughter likes the soft serve” Wilkes said.

If you are heading to the Junction, keep in mind that cash is the only form of payment accepted, so make sure to carry a few bills in your wallet in case of a spontaneous outing.

Volante Farms

The family-owned farm and marketplace has been a staple in Needham for decades, opening in 1917. It is known for its abundance of local items and fresh food, as well as the ice cream counter, which is now open year-round at their farm stand.

Co-owner Teri Volante Boardman said they source their ice cream from Crescent Ridge Dairy, another family business out of Sharon, MA.

Some of the most popular summer flavors are watermelon sherbet and Black Bear — raspberry ice cream with chocolate chunks and chocolate raspberry truffles — which is often scooped into a waffle cone. Volante Boardman’s favorite flavor is the English toffee crunch, which is sweet with a vanilla base and mixed-in toffee pieces.

The ice cream counter opens up around 8 a.m. in the morning along with the rest of the market and stays open until 9 p.m. Families enjoying their ice cream can also get free entertainment — Volante Farms is featuring local talent in a series of concerts on Thursday evenings. At its next show on July 18, visitors will hear the jazz stylings of the Unreal Quintet from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The experience is one Volante Boardman hopes will be a fun way for families to socialize while sampling some frozen desserts. The business prides itself on local products and the ability to share those through a connected community, she added.

“There’s always a surge right after school, and soccer and baseball teams will come to celebrate,” Volante Boardman said. “It’s all about the sense of community. We try to keep everything local and have an inclusive environment.”

Abbott’s Frozen Custard

Talk of Needham summer treats is incomplete without mentioning Abbott’s Frozen Custard. The popular Highland Avenue location opened 16 years ago and serves frozen custard, which is smoother and softer than traditional ice cream.

Owner Mary Pat Dauria said the store makes the custard fresh every morning.

“Frozen custard has very similar ingredients to ice cream but has a little bit more egg in it,” Dauria said. “The real key to frozen custard is that we churn it… very slowly, versus ice cream which is churned much faster so it has a lot of air in it, frozen custard does not.”

A small chalkboard out front displays the daily custard flavors, and inside, a variety of sweet treats are on display, including chipwiches, chocolate-covered bananas, brownie bites and mini to full-sized custard pies, which they carry all year.

Those treats are “pretty consistent,” said employee Kate Chladny, who is also a rising junior at Needham High School. Adults favor the chocolate almond custard, while kids enjoy flavors like cotton candy, she said. Chocolate almond, chocolate and vanilla are always available, but other flavors vary.

“I’d say it’s probably the best ice cream, but I’m a little bit biased because I work here,” Chladny said. “It’s just my favorite.”

The custard pies specifically are a staple at Abbott’s. A thin pie crust — either graham cracker or Oreo — covers the bottom, usually spread in fudge and some other chocolate or candy pieces. The custard is thickly filled in, along with some buttercream frosting on top. Abbott’s also allows for custom custard cakes, pies or sundae kits.

Abbott’s also carries seasonal flavors, one of the most popular being pumpkin, Duaria said, which will arrive after Labor Day. Her favorite flavor is pistachio.

Besides the ice cream, another key element Abbott’s serves is community.

“It’s a family place,” Duaria said. “During Covid, when everything in the world was closed, we stayed open the whole time because we have the takeout window. It was the only safe place that a family could come and have a little bit of enjoyment.”

If your sweet tooth is calling, or you’re hoping to enjoy a summer night with loved ones, stop by one of Needham’s many ice cream shops this summer for a sweet moment to share a sweet treat.

Molly Krupat is a rising junior at Needham High School. She has previously written for The Hilltopper and NewspapHER, both out of NHS, as well as the Needham Observer.