Marigold Creamery opens on Kings Highway
On April 2, Marigold Creamery began serving customers small-batch, homemade ice cream next to the Station on Kings in Lewes. The upscale ice cream truck offers a variety of unique flavors using mostly local ingredients.
Laura McKeown initially began work at Marigold Creamery after stepping back as the head of the pastry department at Station. Involvement in the restaurant industry runs in her family, where their roots trace back to California. Her mother, Leisa, is the owner of the Station on Kings and Edie Bees on Second Street; her brother, Chris, owns Agave; and her sister, Sarah, formerly owned Nectar.
During COVID-19 three years ago, McKeown began experimenting with new dessert creations.
“This whole thing came about because when we had to close for quarantine for COVID in March of 2020, I had a refrigerator full of pastry items at the Station that I had to do something with because I didn’t want to just throw everything away,” said McKeown. “I turned a lot of it into ice cream and we sold pints of ice cream every week with baked goods.”
At the Station, McKeown and her team participated in bake-offs once a week during quarantine. When customers would pick up the pastries they ordered, the new ice cream was offered at the same time and gained much popularity. After the Station reopened, McKeown decided to devote her full focus to the ice cream beginning in September 2021.
McKeown’s main goal is to provide customers with locally sourced ice cream that features unusual tastes. Some current flavors include pineapple chili lime sorbet, lavender Earl Grey with mandarin jam, and ceylon cinnamon with apple jam and fennel crumb – a recent fan favorite. She even has taken a new perspective on the classic flavors like vanilla, chocolate and mint chocolate chip, which includes real mint leaves rather than mint extract.
What McKeown takes most pride in is the selection of local produce and spices that are featured in her tasty assortments. She uses peaches and blueberries from Bennett Orchards in Frankford, strawberries from Fifer Orchards, melons from Kalmar Farm in Harrington, and herbs from HSEN Organic Farm in Selbyville. McKeown is looking forward to testing out new varieties of ice cream using produce from farmers markets beginning in May.
“Whatever is in season, I am going to use,” said McKeown. “The farmers market is going to help me develop my flavors. The flavors are going to change constantly; not just seasonally, but within the season.”
The majority of ingredients are sourced in the greater southern Delaware region, but those that cannot be found locally are bought from high-quality vendors.
“People are enjoying the ice cream,” said McKeown. “Everybody seems happy, so I can’t really ask for much more than that. I think it’s going well.”
Marigold Creamery is located at 720 Kings Highway, Lewes. Its hours of operation are 12 to 8 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. Go to www.marigoldcreamery.com to keep an eye on the changing flavors.
