Ryan O’Hara’s grandmother would surely be tickled to know that her pecan pie continues to be a crowd-pleaser. She died three years ago on Thanksgiving, but her recipe lives on in Georgia Nell’s Pecan Pie ice cream at two Big Spoon Creamery locations in Birmingham.
“This time of year, it’s probably the most popular item on the menu,” says Ryan, the owner, along with his wife, Geri-Martha, of the small-batch artisanal ice cream shop they started in 2014. “It’s fairly simple, but so good.”
When he was growing up, his grandmother’s pecan pie was “sort of a staple of the holiday season in my childhood,” he says. He remembers her making one for every family gathering between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. “There’s no telling how many she made. She would crank them out.”
A year or so after he and Geri-Martha opened Big Spoon Creamery, he decided to try turning her delicious pecan pie into a seasonal flavor. “She loved the idea,” he says. Today, it has become a much-anticipated seasonal favorite. The pie is made in large pans, then chopped into pieces that are folded into vanilla bean ice cream.
Both Ryan and Geri-Martha come from fine-dining backgrounds. They met at Birmingham’s Bottega Restaurant, where they were both working as chefs under the tutelage of Frank Stitt.
“We knew we wanted to do our own thing, and we were passionate about ice cream,” Ryan says.
Ryan and Geri-Martha O'Hara met while working at Bottega in Birmingham. Shortly after they married, they opened Big Spoon Creamery, an artisanal ice cream shop. (Photo courtesy Big Spoon Creamery)
Three months after they married in 2014, they started Big Spoon Creamery with $500 and an old-fashioned ice cream cart they’d take to various farmers’ markets. By 2016, the couple upgraded to an ice cream truck. And in 2017, they opened their first brick-and-mortar location in Avondale. Two years later, they opened a second location in Homewood.
Having worked for a renowned chef for years, the couple had learned how to build menus based on high-quality ingredients and seasonal, local items. They decided to translate that knowledge to ice cream and create a niche. “There was no one doing artisanal ice cream in this area,” says Ryan. “Birmingham is such a good food city. We knew we could put our fingerprints on it.”
Some of the seasonal flavors available for the holiday season include Christmas Cookie Dough; Peppermint Stracciatella (pure peppermint ice cream with Valrhona 66% dark chocolate flakes); Holiday Eggnog with spiced ice cream, Bulleit bourbon and rum; and Crème Brûlée. “Most of our flavors you won’t get from anyone else,” Ryan says.
The ice cream shop also offers several sammies (ice cream sandwiches) made with homemade cookies and two kinds of homemade waffle cones.
Throughout the year, Big Spoon Creamery offers seasonal special flavors by the scoop or pint. Customers look forward to having their favorites return. “Each fall, people start asking, when’s Georgia Nell’s Pecan Pie coming back?” says Ryan.
It’s back now and will be available through the end of December.
The Link LonkDecember 02, 2020 at 09:00PM
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This pecan pie ice cream honors a beloved grandmother - AL.com
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