While you sleep, they make magic

Jonathan Zilka offers a little of the latest magic concocted at Shannon’s Ice Cream in The Dalles.

By Tom Peterson

You may know Shannon’s Ice Cream by day.

Shannon and Jonathan Zilka serving up a little pumpkin ice cream in a black waffle cone. Quite Striking. Flavor even more so. Pumpkin Pie better, but difficult to eat while riding a bike.

But when the door closes at the quaint little cottage on Fourth Street at 9 p.m., things change.

While people sleep, Shannon and Jonathan Zilka perfect flavors.

“Nine to midnight are the magic ice cream hours,” said Jonathan as he poured black waffle cone batter on an iron in honor of Halloween. The smell of vanilla enveloped the room.

They’re kind of ice cream scientists. 

They work over their concoctions, taking fastidious notes, and varying batches of pleasure until their tongues land on something marvelous. They go through a lot of tasting spoons.

Perilous work.

This is not mass production - but rare and interesting flavors that are a joy to explore. 

The couple have rolled out some new seasonal flavors, locally sourced and, well, pretty darn delicious.

Pumpkin, Maple Walnut, Cinnamon Snickerdoodle, Fresh Peach, Honey Quince, a non-dairy Peanut Butter S’Mores, Sasquatch Pumpkin Hazelnut, Raspberry Sorbet.

“Ingredients change as the fruit and nuts become available,” Shannon said. 

And then there is this. 

Call of the pawpaw

Son of Man can’t even resist the call of a cone. Shannon Zilka gave this painting by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte her own twist.

It’s kind of top secret. 

But Shannon was willing to spill.

The native North American fruit is not widely known about, but it came through their front door a while back. 

And it’s the latest flavor.

It’s a cross between mango and banana with hints of vanilla and caramel. 

“A pawpaw's flavor is sunny, electric, and downright tropical: a riot of mango-banana-citrus,” according to seriouseats.com

But where do you get pawpaw?

The Dalles, of course.

Bryan and Lisa Chambers planted the trees some 8 years ago at their home on east 11th Street in The Dalles. Bryan babied the plants for five years waiting for the first crop - the first taste.

His father Darrell, originally from Oklahoma who had eaten pawpaw as a child, inspired him to grow them.

Bryan Chambers with his pawpaw trees on East 11th Street in The Dalles. Not only do these trees produce a delicious fruit but they burn yellow in the fall.

“When he came out here to Oregon, he wondered if they could grow,” Chambers said. “So, I told him I would plant some myself and I put those five trees and they took off.”

Chambers said the trees took an immense amount of care when they were small, but it all paid off.

His Dad, now 91 and living in Dallas, Oregon, has also tasted the spoils of Bryan’s work. 

Neal R. Peterson - Johnny Pawpaw Seed

Chambers now has 41 trees some of which were developed at Kentucky State University and by Neal R. Peterson, A.K.A. ‘Johnny Pawpaw Seed.’ The plant geneticist in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, spent his career cultivating several varieties of Pawpaw trees all named after rivers - Shenandoah, Wabash, Allegheny- to name a few.  

“I hope to do something with them commercially,” Chambers said, noting they would be great in ice cream, ales and cider.

A little History  

Native Americans utilized the pawpaw before colonists arrived and the trees eventually were planted west of the Rocky Mountains.

Here’s an example of a smaller pawpaw fruit.

They are indigenous to 26 states in the eastern and midwestern United States, often found along the banks of rivers.

Inside the pawpaw fruit.

George Washington loved chilled pawpaws for their sweet custard flavor for his favorite dessert.

And National Public Radio confirmed that Thomas Jefferson planted a grove of pawpaw trees on his Monticello estate.

Pawpaw kept the Lewis and Clark Expedition from starving, Brian Chambers said.

It’s no Looker
The fruit, 4 inches to 6 inches long and is green and mango-shaped. Weight varies from 4 ounces to a pound, depending on the variety. And it is quite finicky, coming ripe in August, September and October, and it’s prone to bruising. It lasts only a few days before falling to fermentation. It’s a tough one to ship. Growers often pulp the custardy fruit and freeze it for later use or just make it into ice cream.

“It’s just one of those fun daily discoveries,” Shannon said, noting Lisa Chambers and her mom had come by the ice cream shop with their fresh quince fruit and pawpaw pulp recently. 

Shannon’s Ice Cream is at  318 E. 4th Street. They are open Wednesday through Sunday from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.