Colorado specialty ice cream celebrates season with Bob's Babka Ice Cream, raises money
Hanukkah runs from Dec. 7 – Dec. 15 this year. The Jewish Festival of Lights celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple and observes the miracle of one day's worth of sacred oil burning for 8 days. As the Jewish community gathers to celebrate, one Denver business is serving up a delicious twist on a traditional treat.
Bob's Babka Ice Cream is being scooped up at High Point Creamery locations across Denver. The tasty treat is named after Robert "Bob" E. Loup, namesake of the Jewish Community Center of Denver building, and a huge supporter of the Jewish community in Denver.
"He's kind of known in the community as a mensch. A mensch is a Yiddish word for an exemplary person," said Daniel Siegel, Engagement Program Manager of the Jewish Community Center of Denver.
The Jewish Community Center of Denver teamed up with High Point Creamery to develop the specialty flavor and sell pints of it as a fundraiser.
"The Jewish Community Center of Denver runs a variety of different summer camps and childcare programs, and sometimes people need some help paying for those things, so the ice cream sold in Bob's name helps fund his scholarship fund," Siegel told CBS News Colorado.
Erika Thomas is "Boss Lady" at High Point Creamery. She invented Bob's Babka Ice Cream five years ago.
"We make high-end artisanal ice cream so everything that goes into our ice cream we've personally made," Thomas said.
As one might expect, Babka Ice Cream starts with freshly made babka.
"Which is a Jewish pastry which has chocolate and cinnamon," Thomas explained as she chopped the babka.
She adds a crumble of brown butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and then hand mixes it into the ice cream.
"This is an olive oil ice cream," she said of the ice cream base.
Thomas had always wanted to develop an olive oil ice cream and thought this was the perfect project for just such a flavor.
"I thought it would be a nice tie-in to Hanukkah, kind of honoring that tradition of oil for 8-days," Thomas told CBS News Colorado.
The sweet treat ties-in to many holiday traditions including giving back to a good cause.
LINK: Jewish Community Center of Denver
Pints of Bob's Babka Ice Cream are for sale on the JCC website. You can also get it at High Point Creamery locations across Denver. This is one of many celebrations happening throughout the holiday season.
LINK: Mile High Holidays
