Since 2016, Nicole Spikes has been known for her delicious, sweet and handmade Sweetport ice cream, sold first from a truck known as “Sweetie” and more recently from her store brick and mortar at 3301 Line Ave in Shreveport. .
Spikes has been making her ice cream — classic favorites like vanilla or strawberry, and unique options like Elvis Left the Building, a peanut butter and banana combo — for seven years now. He and his shop have a loyal following of ice cream lovers who stop by to get one or two of the 19 to 20 flavors he usually stocks.
Ice cream is still something he wants to do. But not the only thing.
“I always want to try new things. Jeffrey (her husband, Jeff Spikes) will tell me, stop trying new things, but that’s the fun part of it,” she said. “I’ll see something on Instagram or Facebook, my diet is whole foods all the time.”
A sample of items made for afternoon tea at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Spikes sees what international chefs are doing that you can’t find locally.
“That’s why we started doing the Pavlova and the black and white cookies that you can find all over New York, but you can’t find here,” Spikes said.
English friends made her think of something else, a traditional English High Tea with sandwiches, scones, desserts, and tea. All of Britain, all steeped, like the unknown loose leaf tea, in tradition.
“It’s been on my mind to try, and one day, I said, ‘I’m going to try to make clotted cream, I’m going to try to make scones that taste good,'” ” Spikes said. “When I was able to do it, I was like ‘Okay, we can do tea service.’
A customer drinks tea during afternoon tea service at Sweetport, an ice cream parlor, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Visitors to her intimate English Teas, which opened in March, were greeted with a tray of handmade items. The bottom section has a variety of sandwiches that currently include a classic cucumber, egg salad and chicken salad sandwich.
In the second phase is where the joy of the grain begins. This is scone status. Now, she’s making blueberry scones, which come with homemade lemon curd and whipped cream.
Making clotted cream is a dedicated process that takes three days.
On the Monday or Tuesday of English Tea week, you start cooking the whipped cream.
“It’s a process of cooking for 12 hours, then cool and refrigerate for 8 hours, then remove all the cream from the top,” Spikes explained. It must cool to room temperature and refrigerate overnight and then separate.
Stability, he says, is like butter.
Nicole Spikes, owner of Sweetport, an ice cream shop, has started offering afternoon tea services on selected Saturdays at the shop. Guests can choose…
The third category is small desserts.
“I usually make a small Pavlova meringue and fill it with lemon curd, whipped cream and sprinkle with strawberries. Also a macaron,” he said. “I usually make chocolate because there needs to be something else chocolate.”
It wouldn’t be tea without tea. Spikes’ tea selection ranges from English breakfasts and Earl Gray to the Black Bourbon flavor it reserves for men who come to drink tea.
“I was surprised how many men came to the tea and they didn’t seem like they were under any pressure or anything,” she laughs.
Dress codes are left up to the participants. He saw families in shorts and T-shirts and groups in hats and gloves. Children are welcome if they stay longer, he said.
A customer pours lemon curd onto a blueberry scone during afternoon tea service at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
To date, Spikes has received about a dozen English teas, all of which have been sold. He took time off this summer, and now he’s ready to get back to his tees, and find a way to not let his perfectionist side get the best of him.
“I want to make sure that everything goes well. I have never thought of it as a perfect balance. I feel like I’m bothering the customers or I’m not around enough,” said Spikes. “One customer said, ‘Just have a flag on the table like Pancho’s.’ I don’t have a flag on the tee table, so I end up going very slowly.”
Spikes says he gives an hour and a half for the experience. Some customers finish in 30 minutes, and some finish in two hours. He is good too.
Guests visit each other during afternoon tea service at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
The next English Teas will be Aug. 17 and Aug. 24. Will post dates soon on Sweetport’s Facebook page.
Recently, a family who had attended an official English Tea in England and New York City told her that hers was like the most expensive and fancy teas they had ever visited. For Spikes, someone who was allowed to be imperfect, that was enough. For now.
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