Questing for creameries offering everything from light fare to rich desserts, scribe Nicole Denardo recently set out to visit five local cold spots in the Central Jersey area to find the creamiest and coolest ice cream around.

Jersey Freeze

Jersey Freeze is the place to go if you're craving soft serve ice cream on the lighter side. This local favorite has many non-fat flavors for those who want a refreshing treat, but still want to fit in a swim suit this summer. Non-fat varieties include Butter Brickle, Vanilla Malt and Kahlua. In addition, they serve premium soft serve in flavors like Dutch Chocolate, Banana and Butter Pecan.

For those with a sweet tooth, Jersey Freeze has special sundaes including the delectable Katie's Kreation (3 scoops with mini peanut butter cups, fudge and peanut butter sauce) and Brownie Delight (two scoops, brownies, fudge and whipped cream). For the lactose intolerant, Jersey Freeze also has fast food restaurant and snack bar next door. It features jumbo hot dogs, pork roll, burgers, cheese steak, chicken fingers, sandwiches, wraps and fries.

If you like a large selection of flavors or hard ice cream, The Jersey Freeze is not the place for you. Soft ice cream is the only option. For families, there's plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and it's located conveniently across from Freehold Raceway Mall.

Nicole's Rating: 3 out of 5 scoops

Try this: Katie's Kreation

Four Boys Ice Cream

Formerly known as Jack Frost, Four Boys Ice Cream and luncheonette sits in the heart of Englishtown. Four Boys' ice cream tastes fresh and creamy with many options to choose from. Their Italian ice and hard ice cream is homemade boasting original flavors that you may not find anywhere else: Reeses Pieces, Cannoli, Double Fudge Brownie, Cotton Candy, Strawberry Cheesecake, Cherry Vanilla and Creamsicle are just some of the choices.

They also offer Crunchi Creme, which blends your favorite topping (such as Nerds and Heath bar) into their soft serve. They also have malts, milkshakes, slushies, Italian ice and floats, in addition to frozen coffee drinks and frozen hot chocolate. Four Boys even has choices for the diet conscious, such as sherbet and sugar free flavors. During the day, Four Boys is also a luncheonette offering homemade soups, wings, daily specials and breakfast items. It's not as good as Jack Frost once was, but it has many choices to satisfy every craving.

Nicole's Rating: 4 ½ out of 5 scoops

Try this: An original flavor like Reeses Pieces or try a Crunchi Crème blend

Café 360

You don't have to fly to Italy to get gelato! This Italian dessert is Café 360's specialty.

The difference between gelato and ice cream is that gelato is made with a greater proportion of whole milk to cream (5-7 percent fat, rather than ice cream's 10 percent). Also, gelato is churned at a slower speed, which gives it a fluffy "marshmellowy" look. When walking into Café 360, be prepared to be bombarded with tubs of creamy delight.

There are so many tempting flavors here, it's hard to choose. Their gelato has chunks of flavor, literally. The mocha gelato contains coffee beans and fudge chunks. The Cherry Bliss is decorated with large Maraschino cherries. Their Mint is swirled with fudge and their Peanut Butter is loaded with large peanut butter cups.

Some of their gelato looks like a work of art. Take their Tiramisu, for example. Lady fingers stick out, like a tower. The gelato tastes slightly different from ice cream. It has a more "cream ice" taste with a stronger burst of flavor.

Café 360 is open until 12 a.m. for those late-night cravings. It draws a large, diverse crowd with seating inside and outside. They also sell pastries (biscotti, cheesecake, flan, S cookies), a wide selection of coffee and specialty teas. They have a full food menu complete with paninis, hot and cold subs, wraps and salads. The setting, with its cozy, relaxed atmosphere, barista machines and rows of pastries and coffee reflects the "downtown Freehold" feel. For Old World flair, this is the ice cream shop for you.

Nicole's Rating: 4 out of 5 scoops

Try this: It's all good!

 

Carnival Treats and Sweets

With its bright colors, novelty items and psychedelic feel, Carnival Treats and Sweets resembles an outer space funhouse.

Carnival prides itself on selling carnival themed treats: candy, popcorn, funnel cake, fried Oreos, cotton candy, waffles and ice cream and ice cream waffle cones. They have fun flavors like the day glo orange PB and J (containing scoops of jelly) Blueberry Waffle, Black Forest, and Banana Nut Bread. Opened about a month ago, Carnival is the most imaginative ice cream and treat shop I've ever seen. Their pricing is reasonable and with every ice cream purchase, you get to pile your ice cream with the toppings from their toppings bar at no extra charge! It's a kid's dream with toppings such as Swedish Fish, mini Twizzlers, peanut butter cups and Jelly Belly jelly beans.

They also have a make-your-own candy bar stand; an M&M machine (with every color) a Jelly Belly machine and a slew of scoopable candy. There is really something to satisfy every sweet palate here including gourmet popcorn in chocolate and cheddar flavors. Funny t-shirts and goofy toys (there is a joke toy section) are sold here too. For the Willy Wonka in you, this is your place. For the traditional ice cream lover, this is not.

Nicole's Rating: 5 out of 5 scoops for creativity

Try This: PB and J

Magnifico's Ice cream

Voted best ice cream in Central Jersey in 2008 by The Home News Tribune, Magnifico's certainly is popular (we had to wait on a line of about twenty people to order), though it lacks in flavor choices.

Because of its popularity, I was hoping Magnifico's would live up to its reputation. Unfortunately, there are only about five rotating soft flavors to choose from.

However, Magnifico's has hot waffle sundaes, waffle bowl sundaes and plenty of toppings to dress up that dessert (including cheese cake pieces, cherry dip and huge chunks of Heath bar). They offer special sundaes that ooze with flavor such as Cherry Jubilee, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Marshmallow Peanut, Strawberry Shortcake and Pineapple Peanut, to name a few.

For summer celebrations, they have various ice cream cakes including fudge logs and heart shaped cakes.

Other flavor varieties include Artic Swirl Candy Blend-Ins, which mix your favorite candy with soft serve. With malts, milkshakes, gelati (soft serve mixed with Italian ice) and various sundaes combos, this is definitely the place for the traditional ice cream lover.

Nicole's rating: 3 scoops

Try this: any special sundae