The 5 best new ice creams our food writers ate this week

Making its debut for Bastille Day, passion fruit ice cream ($12) is the latest almost-too-beautiful-to-eat treat served at Marc Heu Patisserie in St. Paul. Borrowing from the fruity flavor of Heu’s signature tart, the icy treat gets twirled inside half of a buttery croissant. The flaky pastry makes for a next-level kind of cone and a hearty upgrade on the old standard.

Sprinkled with dehydrated raspberries, each bite is puckery, sweet, rich and wonderfully fun to eat. The croissant has a faint, sugary crackle around the edges that shatters into the buttery interior to soak up the melting ice cream. Ideal for walking, eating and wandering on a sunny summer day. (Joy Summers)

156 N. Dale St., St. Paul, marcheuparis.com

There was collective heartbreak when the news that what was perhaps the oldest Dairy Queen in the state, the one with the cool retro sign in Roseville, would not return. What followed was the sweet comeback story of the summer when the space recently reopened as Sprinkles. The stand on Lexington Avenue got a fresh coat of bright white paint, new signage and a fresh menu.

The soft serve is just as creamy and there’s a larger menu of dip cones, malts, shakes, ice cream sandwiches and mixers. We opted for a classic chocolate-vanilla twist cone ($3.99) coated in the namesake sprinkles (99 cents). It tastes exactly like a childhood summer well spent. (J.S.)

1720 N. Lexington Av., Roseville

Fans of the giant glazed doughnut holes from Golden Valley bakery Funner Brothers used to have a notoriously short window of time in which to procure those fluffy fried marvels. But the addition of ice cream has changed everything.

While the bakery still closes at 11 a.m. each morning, it now reopens in the late afternoon (5 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 3 p.m. Fri.-Sun.) for scoops from Bridgeman’s. And guess what? If there are still doughnuts in the case at that time, they’re yours to buy.

Here’s the best part: The doughnut holes are in abundance even at this late hour — and available to house a scoop of ice cream in a fun little sandwich for $5. I got mine with salted caramel espresso; coffee flavors are my way of ensuring the kids won’t steal my treat after they finish their own. (Sharyn Jackson)

2570 Hillsboro Av. N., Golden Valley, funnerbrothers.com

The longstanding market and restaurant specializing in Eastern European fare is all about dishing up timeless favorites while introducing new items. On the heels of creating a cherry bomb brat for its Target Field stand this season, Kramarczuk’s has released a new line of ice cream.

A collaboration with Minnesota Dairy Lab, three varieties are now available in the freezer section ($15 a pint) at the Minneapolis store. And the flavors are very, very Kramarczuk’s. The Poppyseed translates into a frozen churn of the poppyseed bread. Meanwhile, the Black Forest Cheesecake brings the dessert case into ice cream form. Even the Walnut Waltz, aka Potica Cream, channels Kramarczuk’s potica bread with walnut cream filling. We enjoyed all the varieties, especially the cleverly original walnut butter ice cream with a candied walnut crumble.

As a bonus, while here grabbing dessert, I snagged groceries for dinner, which had to include my favorite Polish sausage links around town. (Nancy Ngo)

215 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls., kramarczuks.com

This relatively new coffee shop in Minneapolis’ Hiawatha neighborhood is fast becoming a favorite morning stop for imported Taiwanese pour-overs and specialty lattes like the black sugar or cardamom-seasoned drinks. But there’s soft serve, too.

Open during the day inside what becomes Okome House in the evening, this store from Ben Wu offers his specialty coffees, teas and a few snacks and treats that overlap with the restaurant. That means matcha soft serve ($4) for breakfast — or as an affogato ($6) with espresso or tea poured over the top.

The shop rolls back the garage doors, merging the dining room with the patio, creating a summery little morning oasis not too far from Minnehaha Falls. (J.S.)

4457 42nd Av. S., Mpls., redcoralcoffee.com, okome.house