Behind the name
Bridging that gap between drinks and dessert, Creme de Liqueur is the brainchild of Elizabeth Nash.
Back in 2014, Nash took a business class and had to create a product. Inspired by classic cocktails and memories of a favorite dessert, she worked to create a liquor-infused frozen custard. She happened to be in school in Boston when she created it, and they’re not so familiar with frozen custard. The description of ‘liquor-infused ice cream custard’ became her standard.
Nash moved back to Milwaukee in 2015. This summer, after years of work with her Boston-based business partner, Nisreen Galloway, she began selling four flagship flavors of Creme de Liqueur. The first sales were in July at the farm market at Cathedral Square. Holiday flavors are in the works, and now Creme de Liqueur is available at Enlightened Brewing, Nehring’s Sendik’s on Downer, and West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe.
An entrepreneur is born
I was born in Milwaukee and would visit here even when my family moved away. I’ve always been in love with the city. I went to school at Emerson College in Boston. I ended up with a minor in entrepreneurial business.
There was this yearlong course where you really did have to start a business. I came into it with this idea. Growing up I had two wonderful family friends. … They weren’t actually my grandparents but felt like that. They’re European. We’d be at their house for these wonderful dinner parties. Even as a kid you were at the table until midnight.
For dessert they’d bring out a lemon sorbet with a little shot of vodka on the side. You’d pour the vodka over the lemon sorbet. It is delicious. Everyone went crazy for it. It was something we hadn’t seen before. My gears start turning as I get older. I think my gosh, this should be a thing, liquor-infused ice cream.
Building her business
I’m self-taught and love to cook. I get an ice cream maker and start learning to make ice cream and custard from scratch. I came up with a trade secret recipe to incorporate the liquor into the ice cream.
Liquor has a very low freezing point, so it will make ice cream melt rather fast. I found something that worked. I take it to this class, and that’s my business idea. I incorporated in 2014. That’s also where I met my business partner, Nisreen Galloway.
Return to her roots
I graduated, knew I wanted to live in another city and knew it was Milwaukee. Nisreen is in Boston. We are kind of in love with our little big cities. Every year or so she’d phone and say hey want to do something with that business? It was 2019 when we really started to get
Lemon Vodka Creme is one of four flagship flavors at Creme de Liqueur.
our ducks in a row.
My company is Creme de Liqueur, (we make) a liquor-infused ice cream custard. It’s a mouthful, and we put the whole thing on the label. …
I say ice cream custard because I wanted it to translate across the country. I came up with this on the East Coast and guess what? Frozen custard is not a thing there. But custard is ice cream, so ice cream custard is what we’re calling it. A custard has a certain number of egg yolks in it, and we absolutely hit that mark.
First flavor
I have four flagship flavors. The first flavor was lemon cream vodka, to pay homage to the lemon sorbet my good family friends used to serve. That’s made with candied lemon peel in it. … I also have a vanilla bean horchata made with real vanilla beans. I like that one a lot, with that cinnamon hit of the horchata. Then there is a pistachio amaretto, chockful of nuts, the most pistachios I could get in it. The last one is a chocolate brownie bourbon.
Local love
We use local everything. We use Central Standard bourbon, Twisted Path vodka.
Between two cities
Nisreen and I knew we wanted to work together. Neither of us was going to move, so Nisreen helped me get started in Milwaukee. I’m helping her in Boston. She’s in her own kitchen out there in Boston, using local liquors there.
Looking ahead
I love Brandy Old Fashioneds from Wisconsin. The bar is super high for that one. I haven’t gotten there. I am going to get there. We do have a lot of fun holiday flavors planned, including a pumpkin spice made with Twisted Path’s chai liqueur.
Developing her recipe
I don’t think I’d ever made ice cream at all before, let alone custard. A lot of my tries were delicious but very liquidy and melted very fast. I had the flavor. I needed to figure out a way to get the creamy consistency. That was back in 2013.
Small batch, hand-packed
I rent freezer space from Upstart Kitchen, 4323 W. Fond du Lac Ave., and I need more. All of this ice cream is handmade small batches and hand-packed.
Big detail
We do have to get our flavors approved by the TTB (U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau). We’re working on that right now for the holidays. We’re working on peppermint, apple pie, s’mores. We have pumpkin. That is definitely one thing that sets us apart.
There is a real amount of alcohol in our product. It is up to 2% ABV (alcohol by volume). You can taste it. I love the sensation of the freezing ice cream and the burn of the liquor, but it means we do have to get our flavors approved.
Where to find
You can find us at Enlightened Brewing, 2020 S. Allis St. Now, we also sell at Sendik’s on Downer, 2643 N. Downer Ave. I am proud of that, because I live in that area and I do all my grocery shopping there. For years, I dreamed of walking into Sendik’s and having my products there. … West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe will also be carrying pints.
Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.