You may have seen some of our disgruntled tweets, and threatening Tumblr photos and videos addressed to the folks in The Buffalo News newsroom—which is housed just one floor below Buffalo.com headquarters—when they hijacked an ice cream delivery intended for our team. Since waging war on the newsroom, we’ve seen an outpouring of sweet support from local ice cream innovators, including some new friends at Sweet Jenny’s in Williamsville.

Howard and Tara Cadmus, who took over Sweet Jenny’s six months ago, contacted us on Facebook when they’d heard of our recent ice cream theft. The generous duo dropped off five flavors of homemade ice cream last week to ease our pain and suffering—and it worked like a charm!

We’d heard good things about Sweet Jenny’s from some of our co-workers, but the none of the Buffalo.com content team members had ever sampled the ice cream before, so we weren’t sure what to expect when the Cadmuses presented us with five varieties of ice cream: peanut butter, black raspberry, Oreo mint, orange chocolate and cinnamon-nutmeg.

We were blown away by the accuracy of the flavors and the creaminess of the ice cream. It might sound silly, but the flavors tasted authentic, not like some chemically-concocted copy of the real thing. The black raspberry flavor was simultaneously refreshing and creamy. It has the same flavorful zing of a fruit salad with the richness of a cheesecake.

Unlike some ice cream varieties that include a peanut butter swirl or peanut butter cups, Sweet Jenny’s peanut butter ice cream is legit—peanut buttery though and through. I’d be willing to bet that, if topped with strawberry sauce, this creamy confection would taste a lot like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Cinnamon-nutmeg was a personal favorite of mine because it surprised me in a very good way. I’ve tasted cinnamon ice cream before, but it was reminiscent of the hot flavor in a cinnamon gum drop. And we’ve all fallen victim to accidentally eating a cinnamon candy because it’s red, thinking it was cherry-flavored. Sweet Jenny’s cinnamon-nutmeg was nothing like this spicy hot candy. It tasted much like an autumn pie, probably because cinnamon and nutmeg are both essential ingredients in an apple or pumpkin pie. Then the Cadmuses confirmed that thought, informing us that some some restaurants do serve pie slices with sides of the spice-infused ice cream. How could they not? It’s too perfect a match.

For anyone else who loves orange chocolate as much as I do, definitely try the ice cream of the same name. It was rich and decadent, and the hint of citrus gave the dark chocolate base a zesty kick. The taste of this ice cream reminded me of childhood Easters when I’d sniff out all the orange chocolates first, then SLAM them.

Ben T.‘s favorite ice cream of the day was the Oreo mint. This mint maniac has a soft spot in his heart—err, stomach—for the refreshing herbal taste of mint, combined with some type of chocolate. I noticed that the mint had a fresher taste than other mint ice creams I’ve had. It didn’t have that toothpaste taste of a Shamrock Shake. There’s no doubt, this was the real thing—a standard of quality to which I will hold other mint ice creams.

So what’s the Cadmuses’ secret to a successful batch of ice cream?

Well, there is no secret. They don’t use chemicals, they use real cream instead of milk, and they don’t infuse their product with air to fluff it out. Essentially, they’re keeping with Sweet Jenny’s tradition this way, and just adding a little personal flair. They envisioned the shop with a 1920s look, a throwback to the days of soda fountains. But they also wanted to capture a little bit of Europe—“something right out of Paris,” Tara Cadmus explained. 

And Tara Cadmus is no stranger to Parisian confections. While working with the European Union, Tara Cadmus took some time to study the art of chocolate-making in France. And Howard Cadmus has a bit of a sweet history, himself. His great-grandparents owned a soda shop in Brooklyn, “so it’s a family business,” he said.

Craving some ice cream now? Visit Sweet Jenny’s, 5732 Main St., Williamsville.