Splendora's Gelato

10/15/2026

pain can be research when making spicy gelato. whether you think frozen treats should have capsacin heat is a conversation you can have with your tastebuds. i like spicy and i like playing with profile expectations in my gelato.

my buddy jason brought the danger fruits of his hot pepper bounty last month. i took little slices of peppers to taste which would be the most impactful for a gelato flavor. historically, the move has been ghost pepper honey raspberry. but the white ghosties he brought didn’t have the oomph i wanted. the reaper sbagliato felt like it would make an infusion with equal parts pain and flavor when steeped in wildflower honey. so a few weeks later, it is time. the brighter tartness of raspberry felt like too much of a high note in a honey that has overt front fruitiness. i didn’t want a gelato that was only sharp notes. opting for blackberry swirl this time, on the hope the earthiness will be a grounding foil for the spice.

thursday and shop is open 12-8. working on the rest of the gelato flavors from the new list. shop looked struggle city yesterday but i suppose if i bashed folks over the head with the homemade of it all, people would have patience. but maybe not. all i know is the flavors i make take time. i think it is worth it but since i’m shuttering end of the year, i’m probably wrong.

10/14/2026

cupcakes frozen from friday: chocolate coffee. vanilla vanilla.

Flavor List 7-9 Oct
Dairy-free
Chocolate
Mango*
Lemon
Strawberry*
Raspberry
Oatmilk Pumpkin Spice*
Apple C***r*
Pomegranate*
knocking around from last week: Kiwi

Dairy-based
Cookies and Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip
Chocolate
Vanilla
Stracciatella
Coffee
Salted Caramel
Gianduia*
Coconut
Goat Cheese Honey Fig
Ube Flan^
White Rabbit^
Hazelnut^
Reaper Sbagliato Honey and Blackberry^ (yes it's spicy)
Espresso Chip

knocking around from last week: Chipotle Chocolate (dried peppers from Amigo Mercado), Tiramisu, Pistachio

*Production day today and not immediately available
^Production day tomorrow and not immediately available

10/10/2026

closed until wednesday 14 october.

the cooler of guilt scoops will be at little market at lampo of a tuesday but splendy’s is not vending officially.

have an excellent weekend. go to a farmers market. stop at a stall you’ve never been. give your friend ten dollars to buy a vegetable that looks the most like you. drink virginia w**e. go to an event for a non-profit that is new to you. go to the welcome gallery and look at the arc of the piedmont art. tell a tree you hope it has a good rest now that cold is coming. make extra snacks. share them. be extra. share that too. see you wednesday maybe. xoxo

10/08/2026

it remains to my everloving delight that hispanic heritage month and filipino american history month overlap by two weeks.

hispanic heritage month starts in september and bridges the following month to encompass many nations’ independence days, shaking off spain’s colonial rule. october is marked for filipino american history month as a nod to the landing of a spanish galleon at morro bay, the first documented asians to set foot on this continent and 189 years before the american declaration of independence. the common thread is the bounds of colonial subjugation but the cultural exchange from the forced proximity means recognizing pieces of home in other cultures.

i’ll try to stick to filipino american history. (but mexico in particular has long been entangled with the philippines, through commerce enacted along the acapulco-manila galleon route.) america has her own tales that star the melding of hispanic and filipino forces. racialized socioeconomic status drew lines in neighborhoods that brought filipino workers together with other marginalized groups, giving rise to generations of self-identified mexipinos, whose parties undoubtedly draw from raucous traditions of both cultures and most likely slap. california labor unions that started with cannery and farm workers linked filipinos and latinx migrant laborers together for a cause. this is american history in the only way filipinos know how, bringing together the collective for a greater good.

an off shoot of shared colonial history is that flavors and food words are the same even across the pacific. empanadas differ in every latin country but filipinos have a version too. guisado is a different stripe of caldareta and afritada but the same cloth. let’s not forget how the popularity of coconut translates on either side of the ocean. ube flan gelato is a small nod to those similarities. leche flan, a rich vanilla custard found everywhere spain touched, broken up and folded into what is now the iconic purple earthiness of ube. the two week overlap of months intended to celebrate seemingly disparate cultures, smashed into something maybe familiar enough to both.

thursday open 12-8. CLOSED SATURDAY-TUESDAY

10/07/2026

10/06/2026

pleasant reminder that we are closed 10-13th october! sneak in here with a quickness this week.

tuesday and the brick and mortar is closed but popping up at the little market at lampo. she’s a wee event but the intimacy and slower pace of an evening, weekday market means good folks stop for chats. the other market, james asked after kiwi and why it’s hard to find as an ice cream flavor. he was expecting an answer about what chemical properties make kiwi a rare flavor when the truth for splendora’s was that i don’t know what kiwis are meant to taste of. having time and brain power yesterday, i made a minuscule batch to bring to little market at lampo. chose to do a sorbetto to give me a better idea of kiwi profile. since the flavor is mild but tangy, i’m not sure if the sugar content stays true to what is expected. but the sorbetto tastes of green apple and unripe strawberries? is that what green kiwi tastes of?

swipe to the next caption for the full list of little market at lampo offerings.

scoops ($5) and half pints($7g)!

dairy-free
kiwi
raspberry
oatmilk pumpkin spice

dairy-based
chocolate
goat cheese honey fig
tiramisu (contains
coffee heath bar
mint chocolate chip

toting along gf/vegan cupcakes this week. flavors tbd.
bags of pizzelle pieces (gf but contain dairy and egg)
no abc bread

oh if you’ve missed the spicy flavors in the splendora’s arsenal, buckle up for next week. didn’t get fresh ghost peppers this year but a friend gifted beautiful reaper sbagliato and peach datil hot peppers. left them to sit in honey a bit. i’m not sure we can do an easy sub for the ghost pepper honey raspberry. i’m leaning toward blackberry since this spicy honey is gorgeously fruity and requires more of a depth to act as a grounding flavor note. raspberry feels too tart for what’s happening with the reaper sbagliato. stay tuned 14-18 october for that flavor to appear.

10/03/2026

nighttime post to let you know, i sold out of tiramisu unexpectedly. that’s what i get for posting about it. i was going to get a jump on the new list tomorrow, but i’ll repeat this flavor for next week’s menu. glad it has been well received! open sunday 12-8.

ALSO IF YOU WERE THE COUPLE WHO POINTED OUT THE DAHLIAS, i gave you the wrong container. i’ll save pawpaw for you when you come back.

10/01/2026

tis october. the veil thins. spirits walk among us, whispering salutations or are they warnings. the days grow shorter as the night takes her turn to dominate the sky. the angled measuring cup, er, cauldron glows orange with the swirl of a mysterious oatmilk, drat it, i mean potion. what will the witch hand you once the spell is cast?

it’s thai tea vegan gluten-free cupcakes. that’s what’s happening today. cinnamon frosting! baking up other flavors also: triple chocolate and black sesame plum. thursday at the shop is open 12-8. xoxo

PS some of the pans are cute this week. particularly jazzed on the tiramisu. i went a little heavy-handed on the marscapone which might not be to everyone’s taste. i find most folks like stronger coffee flavor and while powdered espresso did make it into the blend, it won’t satisfy the more caffeine ravenous amongst us. in lieu of adding lady fingers, i damn near burned milk powder so you can the maillard reaction feeling of the outside of a baked thing without adding gluten. so the gelato is gf and egg-free but does contain a fair bit of marsala w**e. small layers of dusted natural cocoa powder lend pops of bitterness now and again.

09/30/2026

like the cyclops bagel said. CLOSED 10-13 October

baking tbd.

Flavor List 30 September-4 October
Dairy-free
Chocolate
Mango
Lemon
Strawberry
Raspberry
Soursop

Dairy-based
Cookies and Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip
Chocolate
Vanilla
Stracciatella
Coffee
Espresso Chip
Salted Caramel
Pawpaw Matcha*
Hazelnut
Peanut Butter*
Coconut
Gianduia*
Tiramisu*
Coffee Heath Bar*
Ube*

*Production day today and not immediately available
knocking around from sunday: Burnt Honey Black Sesame, Lotus Seed Salt Yolk, Cinnamon Pear Ginger

09/29/2026

tuesday and the brick and mortar is open, 3-8! a portion of sales today goes to get erika belsaas to roller derby worlds in malmo, sweden. plus! she’ll be on hand taking photos if you want a quick cute headshot moment with your scoops.

skipping little market at lampo but scoops will be there. nina once told me a kiddo looked for my stall at market on a day i wasn’t vending and lost it. guilt cooler was born. a few snack minutes so a kid’s adult can shop local produce and flowers and honey and granola is worth the schlep. last week was a rough one so support small business friends at little market at lampo if you’re able.

market scoops (only)
dairy-free
raspberry
mango
kalamansi

dairy-based
coffee heath bar
vanilla
burnt honey black sesame
chocolate
salted caramel