The Scoop on the 2nd Annual Spiked by the Scoop

What a fabulous way to help out another great cause in Houston. The Homemade Hope Foundation is a local non-profit that benefits homeless and at-risk youth by providing opportunities for them in culinary arts and activities.

The event was sponsored by Yellow Rose Distilling on a not-too-humid-anymore September evening. This year’s sweet competition was held at the central grassy area in City Centre Plaza in West Houston. The teams showed up ready with freezers, cold slabs and dry ice in tow, ready to entice with tipsy frozen treats.

Participating teams included B&B Butchers & Restaurant, Bosscat Kitchen & Libations, BRIO Tuscan Grille, Eddie V’s, Fellini Gelato & Caffé, Floss Dental CityCentre, Grub Burger Bar, Sweet Creams, Karbach Brewing Company, Lee’s Creamery, Sweet & Mellow, Triniti/FM Burger, and The Capital Grille.

After trying all 13 samples, my gal pal, Terry and I picked our top three favorites. I’m not sure who the judges picked . . . we didn’t stay all night (jeans to protect against mosquitos equals a less than cool time on a 96 degree Houston night) :/

1st Favorite: Spiced Pumpkin Egg Nog Ice Cream by Jeffrey Meyer of The Capital Grille – Spiked by Yellow Rose Outlaw Bourbon. Who can say no to pumpkin and egg nog?

2nd Favorite: Caramel Whiskey Candied Bacon Gelato by Daniel Albelice of Fellini – Yellow Rose Outlaw Bourbon based gelato with a small touch of vanilla bean layered with caramelized bacon chips

3rd Favorite: Camp Vibes by Kathleen Morgan of Honeychild’s Sweet Cream – smoked sea salt, torch toasted marshmallow, bourbon with a pine scent

Some honorable Mentions of the evening include:

Booziest Prize goes to newcomer on the scene Bosscat Kitchen & Libations with a “slushee” style libation with Yellow Rose Bourbon, house infused lemon simple, angostura bitters, fresh rosemary and fresh citrus. Things started to heat up after this sample.

Most Fun Name to Say Prize goes to the B&B Whiskey Whoopie by Brandon Walker of B&B Butchers & Restaurant. It was a bite-size whoopee pie with whiskey whipped cream and a pistachio and bacon crunch.

Weirdest Bite Prize goes to the Chile Mango Sorbet by Dr. Elyse Sears of Floss Dental. The pico goma was unexpectedly tart and strangely un-chewable. (For my Asian folks, think “xi mui”)

We had scoops of fun and cannot wait until next year-hope it is back at City Centre again! The space was perfect!