5 must-try frozen treats in Atlanta

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Es Campur at Gula Indonesian Dessert Cafe

Gula means “sugar” in Indonesian, and there’s no shortage of sweetness at this Indonesian dessert cafe.

Found in the same shopping center as LanZhou Ramen, Gula creates a world of its own with warm, thoughtful decor. Earth tones, traditional Indonesian elements and family photos of the sisters who own the cafe create a cozy atmosphere. Though the cafe also serves coffee and tea, it’s not the kind of place you’ll want to tap-tap away on your laptop; instead, settle in for a conversation.

For a frozen treat, look under the “es” (ice) category. Each dessert arrives in a beautiful glass dish piled high with shaved ice and a multitude of toppings that seem like they shouldn’t work together — but somehow do.

There are many options to choose from, but I was drawn to the es campur, a colorful combination of sliced avocado, coconut, cubes of bright green grass jelly, jackfruit and condensed milk. A healthy pour of rose syrup imparts a lovely floral flavor as well as a soft pink hue. For those who like to keep their palates guessing about which texture will come next — crunchy, gelatinous or maybe both? — this is the dessert to order. If you need your chocolate fix instead, try the es kepal Milo with chocolate cereal puffs, Fruity Pebbles and a chocolate sauce made from Milo powder, a malted chocolate beverage mix.

5177-A Buford Highway NE, Doraville. 470-359-4899

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Shaved ice at Meet Fresh

You’ll find Meet Fresh, a national chain, in the H Mart shopping center in Doraville. The minimalist cafe specializes in Taiwanese desserts like milk tea tofu pudding and purple rice soup. On a hot day, however, the black sugar boba milk shaved ice is a treat, both visually and for the taste buds. Powdery-soft, fluffy ice is piled mountain-high and topped with a heaping pile of black sugar boba, red beans and springy caramel pudding (akin to flan). A scoop of vanilla ice cream sits on top. It’s like boba milk tea in shaved ice form, making it refreshing yet sweet.

6035 Peachtree Blvd., Atlanta. 678-691-9986, meetfresh.us

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Halo halo at Kamayan ATL

There are many reasons to visit Kamayan ATL, the colorful Filipino restaurant that recently moved into a larger space next door to its original location. When the heat is sweltering, its halo halo rises to the top of the list for me. Served in a parfait glass, the eye-catching dessert features layers of shaved ice, condensed milk and a variety of jellies, including coconut and palm, along with tapioca and mung beans. Additional accouterments adorning the stack include a scoop of ube ice cream, a piece of flan and gummy candies. The name “halo halo” means “mix mix,” so don’t be afraid to dive in and grab as many different ingredients in one bite as you can. The medley of textures is worth the potential brain freeze.

5150 Buford Highway NE, Doraville. 678-938-3584, kamayanatl.com

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Rolled ice cream at ICE-NY

It’s not surprising that Thailand, a country with a tropical climate and year-round heat, gave rise to rolled ice cream. Also known as I-Tim-Pad, or “stir-fried ice cream,” the treat is made by pouring a liquid ice cream base onto a subzero frozen metal pan, where it is mixed with additional ingredients as it quickly freezes before being skillfully scraped into paper-thin rolls.

Metro Atlanta has its very own location of the national chain ICE-NY in Doraville, and though the preparation may seem like a gimmick designed for social media, the ice cream is fresh, light and creamy.

Rolled ice cream is not as dense as an American scoop, and fresh fruit is mashed into the base as it’s prepared. The delicate rolls melt on your tongue, immediately encouraging the next bite.

The choices of flavors and toppings are overwhelming, so consider starting with one of the popular options like mango sticky rice. This one incorporates chunks of mango into the ice cream, which is topped with warm coconut rice, more mango and coconut sauce. The combination is texturally interesting, especially with the contrast between cold ice cream and warm rice.

5177-B Buford Highway NE, Doraville. 470-275-3762, icenyicecream.com

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Paletas from Michoacana Gourmet

You can’t go wrong with a paleta, the traditional Mexican ice pops, on a muggy summer day.

In Plaza Fiesta, the busy Latin mall in Brookhaven, you’ll find paleta heaven at Michoacana Gourmet. Stroll past the food court, with its tempting aromas of arepas and tamales — or better yet, stop for a bite — and shops selling cowboy boots and planters, and eventually you’ll find the paleteria, where myriad flavors await.

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

The chamoy and mango paleta beckons with its beautiful mahogany swirls of spiced chamoy, a Mexican condiment that’s simultaneously sweet, salty, spicy and sour. The paleta’s spice is tempered by icy-sweet mango, making it a refreshing summer treat.

4166 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta. 404-458-2147

Credit: Kate Blohm

Credit: Kate Blohm

Chef Spotlight: Amber Latimore of Chai Box Cafe

There’s plenty to love at the recently opened Chai Box Cafe, from the jewel-box design to the creative tea and coffee beverages. The reason I’ve visited several times since the cafe opened, however, is the pastries dreamt up by chef Amber Latimore. One peek at the case filled with Indian-inspired treats, and it’s easy to see that these aren’t run-of-the-mill coffee shop muffins and croissants.

Latimore didn’t plan on becoming a pastry chef. She grew up in Stone Mountain and Smyrna before attending Howard University in Washington, D.C. After graduating, she moved back to Atlanta to work in healthcare, but she was dissatisfied. Meanwhile, her twin sister was preparing to attend medical school, and it struck a chord with Latimore.

“I’m still working the same job that I’m not happy with, but I know that there’s something else that I want to do with my life,” she said. “So I just applied to culinary school.”

She was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, but kept it to herself until right before she moved.

“So I quit my job, and a week later, I was on a plane to California,” said Latimore.

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Her time at the CIA led to an internship with Dominique Ansel of Cronut fame in New York, followed by a return to Atlanta, where she worked with a catering company before landing at Evergreen Butcher + Baker. There, she spent three years perfecting the art of lamination — the process of repeatedly rolling and folding dough around butter to create flaky layers in pastries like croissants and danishes.

That connection eventually brought her to Chai Box. As a kid in Smyrna, Latimore lived next door to Sunny and her family. The families are still neighborly, and when Latimore’s parents found out about the chai cafe, they immediately suggested Sunny chat with their daughter.

“So we’ve been talking about this for a year and trying to figure out things and coming up with, like, ‘OK, let’s try this, let’s try that,’” said Latimore.

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

For Latimore and Sunny, it was important to craft a pastry program that thoughtfully married Indian flavors with French techniques. The saag paneer danish, for example, blends Sunny’s family saag recipe with Latimore’s pastry expertise. The result is a buttery, tender pastry that balances the curry’s spice.

The jewel of the pastry case may just be the rose pista tart, a riff on the flavors of Hill Station, Latimore’s favorite Chai Box tea, which blends cardamom and rose. Latimore chose a pistachio cookie base for the tart — the earthy nuts balance the rose’s floral notes — then filled it with pistachio cream and adorned it with cardamom rose icing. It’s one of the more time-consuming pastries that Latimore makes, but she doesn’t mind.

“It takes so long, and you’re trying to be so delicate with it,” she said. “But when you’re done, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is so cute and so pretty.’”

Credit: Lia Picard

Credit: Lia Picard

Even the rusk, a twice-baked, biscotti-like cookie, is proof of Latimore’s careful process. It could easily be bone-dry, but instead, it’s tender and aromatic. When dunked into a cup of steaming chai, it still holds its shape, making it an ideal tea companion.

For Latimore, seeing the positive response to her pastries has been a pleasant surprise.

“I think I expected a lot of attention for the cafe, but I don’t think I expected me to be anything,” she said. “That was never the intent of me getting out here. I just wanted to make pastries that taste good.”

Credit: Charmain Ware-Jason

Credit: Charmain Ware-Jason

Upcoming dessert events

Sug After Dark

Pastry chef Charmain Ware-Jason leads the pastry program at Murphy’s, but occasionally hosts an evening dessert pop-up called Sug After Dark. Her next one is Sept. 16, beginning at 8 p.m. at VinoTeca. She’ll serve three dessert courses paired with dessert wines chosen by sommelier Janeen Jason (who happens to be her wife).

8-10 p.m. Sept. 16. $75. 299 North Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. events.humanitix.com/suga-after-dark