Azucar in Little Havana Offers Miami Heat Ice Cream

The nation’s eyes are on South Florida this week with two of its home teams making headlines.

On Sunday, the Miami Heat trounced the Boston Celtics 128-102. The Heat face off against the Celtics again tonight for game four of the series. If they win, our home team advances to the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat has served as a delicious inspiration to some Miami restaurants such as the “Miami Heat” burger at Lokal and Kush at Clevelander and the Miami Heat cocktail at Red South Beach.

Now comes the sweetest way to celebrate the Miami Heat.

Azucar Ice Cream is now offering a special ice cream in the team’s honor.

Azucar’s Suzy Batlle said the idea for a flavor came to her after the Heat’s last win. The ice cream maven said she wanted to re-create the excitement that Miami has for the team in edible form. The result is a sweet treat with a bit of spice. The “White Hot Heat” starts with a base of sweet cream ice cream before adding swirls of cinnamon Red Hots candy. “We’re going to pulverize the candies and add them in layers,” says Batlle. The ice cream makes its debut on Wednesday at Azucar for $5.50 a cup at both Miami-area locations. Batlle is also thinking of a possible Florida Panthers-inspired ice cream to mark their winning season.

Batlle dished on how the Pinecrest location is doing a few months after opening this past February. “It wasn’t easy to open. The shop used to be a yogurt shop, and it took longer than I expected to get the renovations done, but other than that, it’s been a pleasure to be there. For me, it’s a real hometown neighborhood. It’s been great, amazing, and surprising.”

Azucar, which also has a location in Dallas, might expand further north. “I wanted to go to Tampa, and maybe I’ll still do that, but I’m also looking at Fort Lauderdale.”

Still, Batlle says that the Little Havana neighborhood — and her flagship store — are going strong. Batlle is also planning some surprises for the coming months. “We’re working on some new flavors for summer. I want to start using potato chips and chocolate pretzels. We’re going to invent something there. It should be fun.”

Azucar Ice Cream. 1503 SW Eighth St., Miami, and 11429 S. Dixie Hwy., Pinecrest; azucaricecream.com.