Kaley and Shanan Lau. Photos: Chris Emeott
Ice cream sandwich cart adds fun twist to special events.
Kaley Lau has always been inspired by creative, delicious food and beautifully designed spaces. When the Excelsior resident started dating her now husband, Shanan Lau, the couple dreamt of starting a business fueled by a mutual admiration of creativity. When the couple were gifted an ice cream maker for their wedding in 2018, a longtime dream started to take shape.
The duo now owns and operates Honey + Milk, an ice cream sandwich cart that features custom, handmade-from-scratch ice cream sandwiches.
“I’ve always been a big baker, so this idea of ice cream sandwiches just naturally came together,” Kaley says. “We started making tons of ice cream for our friends and family and making up our own recipes.”
Kaley says she has been the designated baker in her family since she was young. After college, she started baking more for friends and loved trying new recipes and techniques but didn’t have any specific goals or business ideas in mind at the time. “I studied communication in college, and Shanan studied chemistry, so our education backgrounds were not specifically tailored toward the food or events industry,” she says. “I do think we lean heavily on both of those majors at times. It’s really fun to see the surprising ways that happens.”
When Honey + Milk launched, everything was made from scratch, including the ice cream. With the addition of mini dessert catering (see sidebar) to the business two years ago, it was time to simplify the process to make it manageable, especially while raising their children, Ava, 5, Sophie, 3, and Caleb, 5 months. “That’s when we decided to source our ice cream from an amazing local creamery Sweet Science Ice Cream,” Kaley says. “Their ice cream is incredible, and most of their flavors happen to be gluten free. So now, we make everything ourselves from scratch, except for our ice cream.”
Any way you stack it, ice cream sandwiches provide just the right amount of sweetness and whimsy to any celebration, including this month’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
Six years into the Honey + Milk endeavor, Kaley says creating a fun service element for events is one of her favorite parts about running the business.
“You don’t often attend a wedding [for example] and have a chance to customize your dessert,” she says. “I think ice cream sandwiches hit the perfect mark of being classic and nostalgic, while also being a fun and surprising dessert for an event. I think the service element of our cart is also a really fun and unique experience for guests.” (Honey + Milk was included in the Tastemakers section of Lake Minnetonka Magazine’s February debut wedding issue.)
Kaley says when Honey + Milk is booked for an event, clients set the ice cream and cookie menu ahead of time. During the event, guests create their ideal flavor combinations. “We scoop and assemble it for them on the spot,” she says. “It’s such a fun and unexpected guest experience.”
Some of the most popular cookie and ice cream choices are Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Bean; Chocolate Chip and Cookies and Cream; Chocolate and Peanut Butter Crunch; and Snickerdoodle and Berry Crumble. “My personal favorite is Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, but there are so many good options,” Kaley says. “Everyone has different tastes, too, so there is something for everyone on the menu.”
(Coming in 2025, an affogato option will be added to the ice cream sandwich cart menu.)
Mini Bar
While catering events is the bulk of its business, Honey + Milk occasionally offers smaller custom orders for pick up and pop-up market events. It also offers a mini dessert catering service that features bars, cake truffles, dessert shooters, macarons and more.
Honey + Milk
Facebook: Honey + Milk
Instagram: @honeyandmilkmn
