It was only six months or so ago when we first told you about the new Astro Craft Ice Cream, located in the same plaza on the north side of S.R. 56 as Mellow Mushroom.
Even so, there’s so much new happening at Astro that we knew we needed to update that story.
Still owned by Ferdian Jap and Gio Tran, the co-owners of Zukku-San Sushi (located about a 1/4-mile east of Astro) and Ato at the KRATE Container Park, Astro now has a new ice cream chef — Adrian Carter. Carter, who is proud of his love of ice cream, completed an online course through the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts based in Boulder, CO, and also completed the intensive one-week Penn State University Ice Cream Short Course in University Park, PA, now in its 128th year — where representatives of Ben & Jerry’s, Baskin-Robbins, Blue Bell, Haagen-Dazs and many others have learned the secrets of ice cream making.
“It’s super-competitive,” Carter says of the course. “But you really learn the best ways to make the best ice cream.”
Carter, who first met the Astro owners at their location at Armature Works near downtown Tampa, is proud of the changes he’s already made to Astro’s already delicious flavors and he promises to continue to add new varieties, starting with the unique new passion fruit-raspberry sorbet, which is made with oat milk, “so it still has a creamy, more ice cream-like texture and taste,” Carter says.
He also has made subtle changes to many of my already favorite flavors at Astro — including adding real bananas to the banana pudding peanut butter cookie flavor (which is still my #1 favorite).
Carter says that most months, Astro offers a new “signature” creation. For June (which still has a few days left), the Father’s Day-inspired special was the brown sugar whiskey cookie dough (made with a newly upgraded whiskey), with chocolate-covered pretzels, a caramel “flavor shot” and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Also new is the ube ice cream with dark chocolate chunks. Ube is a purple Fillipino yam (sweet potato) with a mellow flavor that blends well with the chocolate.
And, despite my concerns, Carter also has begun baking Astro’s brownies and chocolate chip cookies in-house, rather than buying them from Mike’s Pies. I loved the Mike’s brownies, but the house-baked brownies are equally delicious, chewy and decadently dense — so good as the base for a brownie sundae with a chocolate, caramel or honey flavor shot.
One thing Carter didn’t mention changing was Astro’s exclusive Cuban ice cream sandwich (above, right), made with Cuban bread from Tampa’s La Segunda Bakery, pressed around Tampa guava cream cheese or creme brulée café con leché ice cream. So good.
Photographer Charmaine George and I both also raved about the cinnamon snickerdoodle marshmallow ice cream, made with marshmallow Fluff, graham crackers and lots of cinnamon. Charmaine said it “tastes like Christmas.” The seasonal flavor for July is red, white & blue vanilla ice cream, “for the kids,” Carter says, adding that Astro’s mobile ice cream van also is available for catered events.
Astro Craft Ice Cream (25700 Sierra Center Blvd.) is open Mon.-Thur., noon-9:30 p.m.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. & 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sun. For more info, visit AstroCraftIceCream.com, find the location on Facebook or Instagram.
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