I tasted Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream just minutes after being introduced to my first grandson. Stepping through the doorway, I was totally focused on him. But soon other priorities reared their heads. I’d driven more than 16 hours, mostly through rain, sleet and snow. I needed a bathroom and some water.

When I emerged from the bathroom, my daughter, Anne, was opening the freezer for ice. Spying me she said, “You have to try this,” grabbing a carton with a handwritten label, “Bangkok Peanut,” and a spoon. “These Jeni’s ice creams are incredible!” Anne was right, it was exceptional: from its mouth-feel to the subtle peanut/toasted coconut flavor and hint of heat. But I didn’t dwell on it long; I was far more interested in my grandson.

Spending most of the next three months in Brooklyn gave me ample opportunity to experience Jeni’s ice creams. I didn’t just try Jeni’s. Brooklyn Fare, the grocery store in the same building as my kids’ apartment, had an entire freezer section of local/artisanal ice creams. Others were wonderful, too. But there was something extra special about Jeni’s, and not just because it was the priciest. Partly it was the flavors: Salty Caramel, Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs, Wild Berry Lavender, Ylang Ylang with Clove and Honeycomb, Lime Coriander Sorbet.... The flavors were unusual, to be sure, but always balanced and harmonious.

The other thing that set Jeni’s apart was that incredible mouth-feel. It was certainly rich, but not cloyingly. The finish was clean, without the annoying sensation of a coatedwith-butter mouth sometimes found in overly rich ice creams.

Incredible as they are, Jeni’s ice creams wouldn’t have been an appropriate subject for this column if Jeni Britton Bauer, a Peoria native, hadn’t written a book, released earlier this year. It contains not only recipes, but also her passion for local/artisanal ingredients; the philosophy behind her organization; the secrets behind that mouth-feel; sources of inspiration for those amazing flavors; practical nuts and bolts instructions and pictures; and tips for creating your own flavor variations.

Reading Britton Bauer’s book made me want to try her techniques and recipes. But it also made me want to find out more about her and her company. Last month, again traveling to Brooklyn, I stopped in Columbus, Ohio, where Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is located.

“It all started with a dinner party,” she told me. “I decided to make hot chocolate ice cream as a kind of oxymoron – something cold that was also hot. So I added cayenne oil to some store-bought chocolate ice cream. And everybody just went crazy.”

Thus began a journey that became a passion, a time of trial and error, a scientific exploration and utilizations of her art major that Britton Bauer hadn’t anticipated.

As an art student, Britton Bauer had developed an interest in essential oils – used for perfumes, but also as flavorings – which resulted in the sensory expertise she uses to create new ice cream flavors. As she delved into ice cream-making, she also became “geeked out” on ice cream science.

“Ice cream is a frozen emulsion of water, butterfat, proteins, sugars, starch, air and flavors,” she writes. “The balance of all these ingredients, on a molecular level, determines the flavor, texture, consistency, and finish of the ice cream. Other additions (fruit, chocolate, alcohol, etc.) can disrupt the balance. In addition, if the proportions [are] out of balance, it can make the ice cream feel too cold or too warm on the palate. Understanding the interplay of these ingredients on a molecular level is what ice cream making is all about.”