August is historically the steamiest, stickiest, sweatiest month of the year–brilliant move, Founding Fathers, building the nation’s capital on a swamp–in these parts. We’ve tracked down 31 frozen treats (one a day for the rest of this month) to provide you with some temporary, and often insanely delicious, relief.
The place: JoJo’s Original Soft Serve – 17986 Jefferson Davis Highway, Dumfries; 703-221-6363; www.jojosoriginal.com
The prescription: S’mores sundae. Short of sitting around a campfire, the opportunities to indulge in real, honest-to-god S’mores are few and far between. Mind you, I come across various iterations in the restaurant world–molecular gastronomists break it down into curious powders and foams, Cosi trots out lue flamed-hibachis for table-side roasting, etc–but they are almost always obsessed with melting the marshmallow and making a sticky mess of things. JoJo’s has gone in the entirely opposite direction, depositing its warmed but still intact pillows of fluff into a jumble of frosty soft serve, cascading hot fudge sauce and crushed graham crackers. I fully expected for the graham crackers to carry the day, but genuinely enjoyed the tacky, gummy sweetness of the puffed sugar, which proved integral to recreating that signature S’mores experience.
I doubt I’m alone in my admiration of JoJo’s S’mores tribute. But one cheery attendant informed me that the top seller this summer has been the cheesecake shake (cherry-topped shake mixed in with crumbled cheesecake pieces plus your choice of fresh strawberries or blueberries).
Go on with your bad selves, trend chasers. I’m perfectly happy staying old school.
–Warren
————————————————————————————————————————————————
Keep tabs on the month long Freeze Jag trek here.