I got a press release recently about the newest ice cream cart, Bend Creamery, and it sounds intriguing: they make their ice cream from scratch using liquid nitrogen. And according to that press release, it’s made on the spot for you, to order:

Bend Creamery, creators of Bend, Oregon’s only made-from-scratch organic ice cream, recently opened its tiny and powerful cart downtown. Mixing and flash freezing the ingredients right in front of visitors with a unique process that always brings a smile, this local company serves up delicious, organic goodness each weekend.

They’re going all-in on the organic angle as well, keeping it simple with only three base ingredients going into their ice cream: milk, cream, and sugar (all organic). Here’s a bit more from the press release about the process:

New flavors are added seasonally and the cart is currently serving fresh mint, sweet cream and chocolate ice cream, along with fresh waffle cones, fudge, caramel and raspberry sauces all made in house.

The ice cream is flash-frozen right in front of the customer using a tank filled with something that’s found in 78 percent of the air we breathe: nitrogen. This liquid nitrogen is -321 degrees and it freezes the ice cream ingredients 10 times faster than commercial batch freezers (after which it evaporates). Faster freezing means there’s simply not time for tiny ice crystals to form, and results in the creamiest ice cream possible. This process is also why Bend Creamery does not need to use any gums, stabilizers or any other “extra” ingredients.

So far they are only open on weekend (Friday through Sunday) from 1 to 8pm, in the Riverfront Plaza (by Crow’s Feet Commons). I haven’t personally tried their ice cream yet so I can’t vouch for it, but it’s sound interesting enough to check out!