Sweet of the Week: Frozen Custard at Lickity Split

The onset of summer means it's time to binge on frozen desserts for a solid three months. When it comes to frozen custard in Chicago, options are few and far between. Most people queue up at Scooter's Frozen Custard, but allow me to veer from the norm and say that Lickity Split Frozen Custard & Sweets has the best frozen custard in Chicago. I don't understand why people would bother screaming over ice cream when there is frozen custard this good to wail about. Since frozen custard is made with egg yolks, the texture is richer, smoother, and softer than ice cream, thus making it easier to eat and frankly more delicious. It's also not as bone-chillingly cold, so you can savor it without tormenting the lining of your skull. Lickity Split is an adorable Edgewater cafe decorated like the inside of a grandmotherly cottage. While frozen custard is the centerpiece, available in concretes, sundaes, cones, and shakes, Lickity Split offers a dizzying array of candies, cupcakes, chocolates, and much more. Hone in on the frozen custard on your first visit, though, as you don't want to miss this creamy goodness.


My favorite thing at Lickity Split is their concretes. Think Dairy Queen Blizzard, minus the poison. They take one of their frozen custard flavors (chocolate, vanilla, or a seasonal flavor) and blend it up nice and thick with various toppings, sauces, and in some cases, cupcakes (!). I like a gluttonous cupcake concrete as much as the next Biggest Loser hopeful, but my most recent pleasure is their concrete blended with smashed up bits of ice cream cone. Basically, it's like an inverse ice cream cone, with the cone blended directly into the custard (I like their buttery vanilla variety) along with nuts and chocolate sauce. It's relatively simple as far as Lickity Split's menu goes, but considering how fantastic their custard is, simplicity is best.


Frozen custard
(Frozen custard concrete at Lickity Split. Photo: Matt Kirouac)

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