If you could turn New York’s hometown newspaper into an ice cream flavor, what would it be?
One answer comes from Malu, a mom-and-pop ice cream parlor in Long Island City that has teamed with the Daily News to create the ultimate Father’s Day flavor: Daily News Dads On the Go, which goes on sale Friday.
Owners Jennifer Dudek, 35, and her husband Sergio Garcia, 39, invited the News to create the flavor with espresso ice cream with chocolate-covered corn flakes.
The flavor, which is meant to appeal to the city’s busy fathers, is like breakfast with a lactic kick.
“It’ll be a hit,” said Dudek, a former yoga instructor who opened Malu two years ago. “It has a really nice combination of chocolate and coffee.”
It provides a jolt of energy and a bold finish — just like its namesake paper.
Dudek and Garcia, a loan specialist at a Manhattan bank, opened Malu after the financial collapse.
“Everybody I knew started getting fired, laid off. [And] we were expecting our first kid,” said Garcia, who still works full time at the bank. “I was looking for a Plan B.”
So the couple, now proud parents of two young boys, bought an ice cream maker, attended a few classes on how to make the popular treat and opened up shop.
“It’s recession proof,” said Dudek. “It’s an affordable luxury.”
Since opening, Malu has partnered with local restaurants to make some unusual flavors that include roasted garlic, tomato basil sorbet, black sesame, and lavender marscapone. Yet vanilla remains the most popular flavor.
“If we don’t have vanilla, people get mad,” said Dudek. “And we’re not talking abut kids.”
I downed a variety of flavors — strictly so I could accurately describe the incredibly complex tastes and fully describe the process of making it.
RELATED: BEN JERRY’S CREATES ICE CREAM FLAVORS FOR U.S. CITIES
The first thing I learned is that ice cream may be fun, but making is seriously hard work.
There’s special clothing to don and plenty of elbow grease to use. But the good news is I impressed my would-be bosses, who told me if I ever tire of covering crime scenes, celebrities and corrupt politicians, I could have a career in ice cream.
“You had great whisking skills,” Garcia said.
Malu, 12-09 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, (718) 729-6258.
