A suburban strip mall in Katy recently welcomed a very trendy arrival in the form of Stacked Ice Cream, a new hub for macaron and donut ice cream sandwiches. Located on N. Fry Road at Saums Road, there’s a selfie wall inside for every social media feed and plenty of creative ice cream flavors to either eat by themselves or to pack into a sweet sandwich.
Zaid Mohabbat and Marouf Suleiman opened Stacked this past November, and customers have already decided on favorite ice cream flavors. Popular flavors include the jasmine milk tea, Thai tea, cookie monster (vanilla with Oreos and Chips Ahoy!) and Speculoos cookie butter. There’s also Turkish coffee, churro and classic flavors like vanilla and chocolate.
For a Do’Boy (donut ice cream sandwich, $5), you have the choice of either a glazed or plain donut. The macaron sandwich ($6) features Sukaina Rajani’s Macaron by Patisse shells, a Houston favorite. Both of these confections include a free topping: cereals like Cap’n Crunch and Fruity Pebbles, mochi and sprinkles.
I recently stopped in for a late afternoon pick-me-up, and the place was busy with customers requesting free samples and snapping photos. A sample of the jasmine milk tea highlighted a creaminess with muted notes of jasmine; compared to the Thai tea, it needed more robust flavor. The Thai tea, on the other hand, impressed with a congenial balance between sweet and bitter, its pale orange hue disguising its strong, tea-centric taste.
So I opted for a scoop of Thai tea ice cream smooshed between birthday-cake macaron shells and adorned with sprinkles. The only way to eat it without making a mess was in a cup, and near the end it resembled a puddle of ice cream and jagged macaron pieces left. At the table across from me, however, one girl impressively ate her sandwich in clean, neat bites with her hands. I liked the way the ice cream’s smooth texture contrasted with the macarons’ gritty sweetness.
It’s refreshing to see creative food shops like Stacked Ice Cream popping up not just inside The Loop or Chinatown, but in the far-flung suburbs, too. Katy, get ready to have your sweet tooth satisfied.
Stacked Ice Cream, 2211 N. Fry Road, Katy, TX 77449
Hours: Mon. to Sun. noon to midnight