Since 2016, Nicole Spikes has been known for her creamy, delicious, handmade Sweetport ice cream, sold first from a truck known as “Sweetie” and more recently from her “brick and mortar store” at 3301 Line Ave. in Shreveport. .
Spikes has been making her ice cream — classic favorites like homemade vanilla or strawberry, and more unique options like Elvis Has Left the Building, a peanut butter and banana concoction — for seven years now. She and her shop have built a loyal following of ice cream lovers who stop by to get a scoop or two of the 19 to 20 flavors she usually stocks.
Ice cream is still the thing she wants to do. But not the only thing.
“I always want to try new things. Jeffrey (her husband, Jeff Spikes) will tell me, don’t try new things, but that’s the fun part of it,” she said. “I’ll see something on Instagram or Facebook, my feeds are all food all the time.”
A sample of items served for afternoon tea at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Spikes sees things international bakers make that you can’t get locally.
“That’s why we started making Pavlovas and the black and white cookies that you can find anywhere in New York but you can’t find here,” Spikes said.
English friends prompted him to think of something else, a traditional English tea with sandwiches, cakes, pastries and, of course, tea. All very British, all steeped, like loose leaf tea, according to tradition.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind to try, and one day, I just said, ‘I’m going to try to make clotted cream, I’m going to try to make good-tasting cereal,'” Spikes said. “When I was able to do it, I said ‘OK, we can have a tea service’.”
A guest sips tea during an afternoon tea service at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Visitors to her intimate English teas that began in March are greeted with a tray of handcrafted items. The bottom tier features a variety of sandwiches which currently include a classic cucumber, an egg salad and a chicken salad sandwich.
On the second level is where the culinary excitement really begins. This is the level of deception. Right now, she’s hand-making blueberry baskets, which come with homemade lemon curd and clotted cream.
Making clotted cream is a dedicated process that takes three days.
On the Monday or Tuesday of an English tea weekend, she begins cooking the clotted cream.
“It’s a 12-hour cooking process, then you cool and refrigerate for 8 hours, and then you remove all the cream from the top,” explained Spikes. “It needs to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight and then you can split it. Take it out.”
The consistency, she says, is similar to butter.
Nicole Spikes, owner of Sweetport, an ice cream shop, began offering afternoon tea services on select Saturdays in the shop. Guests can choose…
The third layer is the mini cakes.
“I usually make a mini meringue Pavlova and fill them with lemon curd, whipped cream and topped with strawberries. Also a pasta,” she said. “I usually make a chocolate because there has to be something chocolate.”
It cannot be a tea without tea. Spikes’ tea selection runs the gamut from traditional English breakfasts and Earl Gray to a black Bourbon flavor she reserves for the men attending the teas.
“I’ve been amazed at how many men have come in for tea and they didn’t look like they were under pressure or anything,” she laughs.
The dress code is left to the participants. She has seen families in shorts and T-shirts and groups in hats and gloves. Children are welcome if they can sit still enough, she said.
A guest spreads lemon curd into a cranberry cup during an afternoon tea service at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
To date, Spikes has hosted approximately a dozen English teas, all of which have sold out. She took some time off this summer and is now ready to get back to her teas and figure out how to not let her perfectionist side get the best of her.
“I want to make sure everything is going right. I haven’t quite figured out that perfect balance. I feel like I’m either bothering the customers or not bothering them enough,” Spikes said. “One customer said, ‘Just have a flag on the table like Pancho’s.’ I don’t have a flag on the table at a tea, so I just end up going really slow.”
Spikes says she budgets an hour and a half for the experience. Some customers finish in 30 minutes, and some stay for two hours. She is fine with both.
Guests visit each other during an afternoon tea service at Sweetport, an ice cream shop, in Shreveport, La., Saturday, June 22, 2024.
The next English teas will be August 17th and August 24th. She will post the dates soon on the Sweetport Facebook page.
Recently, a family who had been to English formal teas in England and New York City told her that her tea was very comparable to the much more expensive and beautiful teas they had attended. For Spikes, the self-confessed perfectionist, that was enough. For now.