Pittsburgh Gets Its First Vegan Ice Cream Shop

Sugar Spell Scoops will open on February 22 in the Sharpsburg borough of Pittsburgh, PA as the city’s first vegan ice cream shop. Amanda Burk—who previously worked at Austin-based vegan ice cream shop Sweet Ritual—ascertained demand for dairy-free treats in the area when the two pop-ups she hosted during the winter months sold out. Sugar Spell (which gets its name from a witchcraft spell that is believed to bring happiness) will offer hand-dipped, cashew-based vegan ice cream scoops in cones, cups, and as sundaes, in flavors such as Salted Caramel, Almond Butter Maple Cookie, and Rocky Road. The shop will also sell custom ice cream cakes such as Burk’s popular unicorn cake filled with chocolate ice cream, chocolate ganache, cookies, topped with whipped frosting, and decorated with a marzipan horn, cookie ears, and a buttercream-icing mane. The shop will initially operate only on weekends, with plans to extend the schedule to include late-night hours (eventually with a menu that caters to beer-drinkers) to take advantage of its location between Dancing Gnome Brewery and Hitchhiker Brewing.