Diego to Ben & Jerry: “Hold my cone.”
DIEGO DIAZ INFANTE HAS COME A long way since he first tried cookie dough ice cream at his aunt’s house in Michi- gan as a boy. Today he’s a gourmet ice cream expert who reviews ice cream on his Instagram account (@ice_cream_fiesta), creates small batches of crazy-good flavor combos that are in such demand he has to sell them in lotteries, and works as lead ice cream maker at Lolly’s Creamery, a boutique ice cream shop in Virginia Beach.
Diaz Infante, 29, started his Insta account in September 2018 when he looked for “guidance” on finding the best ice cream. “There wasn’t anybody reviewing ice cream,” he recalls, “so I decided to do it.” Since then he’s tried around 500 flavors and shares his insights with nearly 6,000 followers. Some varieties don’t meet his expectations (“Meh”); others rate a 10 out of 10 (“absolutely delicious”). What makes him an expert? “The amount of ice cream I eat,” he says, “and making it.”
After reviewing ice cream for awhile, “I wanted to give my own twist to it,” Diaz Infante says. His combos often feature unusual ingredients and multiple textures. His Cinnadough is maple, brown sugar, and cinnamon ice cream with cinnamon sourdough bread and a cream cheese frosting swirl. Salty Lil B is salted pretzel ice cream, brownie chunks, and a caramel swirl. It’s a party in your mouth.
Diaz Infante finds joy in combining flavors that “play well together. … I love experiment- ing with flavors,” he says. “Making ice cream is my way of being creative.”
Somehow Diaz Infante finds time for his other job as a certified fitness and nutrition coach at Coastal Strength and Fitness in Newport News. Ice cream can be part of a healthy diet, he believes. “It’s about balance and moderation,” says Diaz Infante, who emigrated to the U.S. from Leon, Mexico, five years ago. To maintain his ideal weight and still enjoy ice cream, Diaz Infante eats mainly lean proteins and vegetables. He says the key to staying in shape is to “move often and well.”
During hikes with his fiancée, he often gets inspiration for the ice cream creations that have won him a fanatical local following. “I’m thinking about ice cream almost all the time,” he says with a smile.
This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue.
