Carnival Barker’s Beats The Heat

by Steven Doyle

Almost a year ago local musician Aaron Barker was sitting back enjoying a little Food Network action when he spotted a piece on something called Ice Cream College. This is a place where you go to learn the fine art of making ice cream, both the right way, and the wrong way.  

It didn’t take long for the thought of attending such a university went all haywire in Barker’s head and soon he left his position as a copywriter for JC Penny’s and set out for a week of book learning and frozen dairy confections.

It was at the college he learned about the science of making ice cream. He learned short cuts big manufacturers take in making their cream, and he learned the more expensive process of making the treat correctly.

“When you see a product in the grocery store it is fifty percent ice cream and fifty percent air. It is made to thaw out and freeze again staying exactly the same,” explained Barker. He also learned the differences between varieties of vanilla, and visited dairies in his cow-to-cone lessons.

It wasn’t long before Barker was back at home in Dallas starting his own ice cream business with his fiancée Sarah Miller, and thus began Carnival Barker’s Ice Creams.

Working out of a professional kitchen in a Deep Ellum, which is primarily used for catering, Barker and Miller work side-by-side each day producing imaginative flavors such as the Fat Elvis which is made with peanut butter, bananas, candied bacon and a honey swirl. Or the fun Nutella and Vodka.

For now you may purchase your favorite flavors across the city at such places as Bolsa Mercado or Bryan Street Tavern and City Tavern. We were in the Barker kitchen yesterday as the couple prepared to pitch Jimmy’s Food Store. They are also looking at space in shed two at the Dallas Farmers Market to scoop the cream themselves.

Carnival Barker’s is made pretty much with each order that is made so it is always fresh. You can order a custom flavor if you are willing to purchase at least one gallon, or you can buy the ice cream by the pint for about six dollars.