Three years ago on June 12, Alex Carter opened Black Cat Ice Cream in a standalone brick building on Cottage Grove Avenue in the Drake neighborhood of Des Moines.
The day marks a milestone for Carter. By his own admission, he said he only knew how to make ice cream when he opened his shop.
“I had never run an ice cream shop before,” he said. “But this was a completely different scenario. … The first year we didn’t really know what we were doing. We were just trying to stay afloat. The second year, we learned and we were still kind of putting more pieces of the puzzle together. Now I’d say we know what we’re doing.”
Carter will soon take his knowledge of ice cream to Valley Junction, where residents will be munching on ice cream nuggets and Killer Bee ice cream. Black Cat Ice Cream plans to open a second location in the West Des Moines neighborhood around Sept. 1.
Carter said he’s spent the past year looking for an ideal location for his scoops of artisan homemade ice cream in novelty flavors such as sugar cookie, campfire s’mores, and gluten-free orange creamsicle. Right now, the Black Cat Ice Cream truck participates in the Valley Junction farmers market on Thursday nights.
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The 1,700-square-foot space at 134 Fifth St. in West Des Moines previously occupied by a retail store will have more seating inside for customers and a larger kitchen for experimenting on new flavors and novelty ice cream dishes such as the nuggets.
Carter wants to do more catering and create half-gallons for sale. “We literally don’t have room to do any of that here,” Carter said while sitting on the patio of the Drake location. “We’re maxed out. That’s how little the kitchen is.”
What should first-timers order at Black Cat Ice Cream?
Black Cat is known for its novelty flavors. Killer Bee — which combines honey, some habanero peppers and burnt sugar — won flavor of the year in the Midwest from the North American Ice Cream Association in 2022.
The awards keep piling up.
Last year, Black Cat’s Jala-Piña Colada Sorbet won runner-up best non-dairy frozen dessert in the nation at the North American Ice Cream Association’s annual convention. Chef James Doyle’s vanilla won a blue ribbon, and his chocolate won a red ribbon. Carter’s vanilla won a white ribbon, and his chocolate won a white ribbon.
“If you want to play it safe, get the red velvet Oreo or brown butter cookie dough,” Carter said. “Those are our top sellers and almost always available. But I would say choose an adventurous flavor. There’s always at least one or two of those. And grab some nuggets. Then you’ll really get a feel for what we’re doing here as far as trying to push creativity and do some different things; that’s really our hallmark.”
For Halloween, Black Cat served spooky flavors including Slasher with white cake batter ice cream with red velvet Oreos and maraschino cherries; Poltergeist with salty vanilla with mini marshmallows and Oreo crumbs; Children of the Cornbread with honey cornbread with a strawberry swirl; and Peanut Butter Werewolf with peanut butter whiskey ice cream with Nutty Bars.
At Thanksgiving, the shop made sweet potato and marshmallow, turkey stuffing, cranberry Champagne sorbet, and biscuits and apple butter renditions. Pie Mates Australian Bakehouse teamed up on a lamington variety with cake batter, coconut ice cream and lamington pieces, similar to the Australian dessert.
At Christmas, Carter’s favorite holiday, he makes Gas Station Gift with all the things you find at a gas station for last-minute gifts: potato chip ice cream with powdered sugar doughnuts, M&M’s, Little Debbie Christmas Cakes, and Rice Krispy treats. He also goes traditional with spumoni with chocolate, pistachio, and maraschino cherry ice creams.
Other times, Black Cat makes special flavors for local sports teams, such as the Tiger Kings with cake batter ice cream, fudge and Oreos for West Des Moines Valley High School or a version for the Oscars, dubbed Barbenheimer, to celebrate the “Barbie”/“Oppenheimer” craze with smoked cotton candy ice cream with a Black Cherry Warheads candy swirl.
Carter also started collaborating with other local businesses for special ice creams such as a wildly popular Champagne cake version with pink Champagne cake batter ice cream using cake from Cha Cha’s Hiland Bakery in the Highland Park neighborhood of Des Moines.
What are the ice cream nuggets at Black Cat Ice Cream?
Carter came up with his ice cream version of chicken nuggets while watching “Is It Cake?” the reality contest on Netflix. His aha moment came when the competitors sliced into a chicken that turned out to be a cake.
Carter thought an ice cream version of nuggets rolled in cereal like Frosted Flakes with sweet dipping sauces to go with them would be a clever addition to his menu. Each is made by hand and come in flavors such as Banana Pudding Nugs with banana pudding ice cream with Nilla Wafers dipped in white chocolate and coated in Nilla Wafers and Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Brookie ice cream with brownie batter ice cream with brownies and chocolate chip cookies dipped in chocolate and coated with Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Krispies.
Who owns Black Cat Ice Cream?
Black Cat Ice Cream owner Alex Carter really got into making desserts after his mother, Kathy, started baking and entering food contests at the Iowa State Fair.
“I was just kind of getting into food then and getting interested in breadmaking,” Carter said. “So really, she kind of inadvertently spurred me on in that direction. And then she gave me my first ice cream maker, which was the attachment you put onto a KitchenAid mixer.”
He recalled going home for Sunday dinners and eating his mom’s cakes and ice creams for dessert. “It was so good. You forget how good homemade ice cream is.”
Carter worked as a pastry chef at Table 128 when it was still located in Clive (it’s since reopened at MLK Parkway and Ninth Street in Des Moines).
“One of the main things that I had full reign over was having a rotating ice cream menu. We always had three flavors that we rotated every few weeks or so,” he said. Customers told him they enjoyed his ice cream, he said.
Carter started selling his ice cream at farmers markets in 2015. He originally opened Black Cat Ice Cream, named for his tuxedo cat Boo Bear, on the side of the Gas Lamp across from Pappajohn Sculpture Park in 2016. Three years ago, he opened his current location in the Drake neighborhood.
More:Black Cat Ice Cream rambles into Des Moines this weekend
He appeared on “Chopped Sweets” in Season 3, Episode 2.
Carter also does stand-up comedy at Teehee’s Comedy Club, comedy nights at the BeechWood Lounge and other places around town.
Fun things to look for at Black Cat Ice Cream
Head to the patio to see the Black Cat mural, painted by local artist Jacob Kuperman. Carter said he will likely have a mural inside the new Valley Junction location since it does not have a patio.
Inside Black Cat, look up at the black-and-white autographed photos of celebrities.
Diners can walk out of Black Cat to the patio through a small hallway. Stop to admire framed photos of many of the local black cats that inspire the ice cream shop.
Many of the employees at Black Cat are also comedians. “I just looked at people I knew who needed a job and I know a lot of comedians and most are underemployed. So yeah, there’s a lot of my friends who were also comedians helping me do this,” he said. “Hiring comedians means that you have fun people to work with. We’re always running bits on each other and having fun.”
Yes, you can find the flavors of the week on the Black Cat Ice Cream website and in the shop, but you can also follow on Instagram for a channel dedicated strictly to flavors. Find it at instagram.com/blackcatflavors/.
Black Cat also frequently holds cat adoptions. Follow along on Facebook at facebook.com/desmoinesicecream to find out when.
Black Cat Ice Cream by the numbers
At any time, Black Cat generally has about 100 gallons of ice cream on hand.
Since the beginning of the year, Carter and Doyle estimate they’ve made at least 2,000 gallons of ice cream.
Each container of ice cream holds three gallons.
Each batch of ice cream yields nine gallons.
Where to find Black Cat Ice Cream
Location: 2511 Cottage Grove Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-689-7466 or blackcaticecream.com
Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 12:30 to 9 p.m.
Flavors of the week: Instagram at instagram.com/blackcatflavors/
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
