VEGAN CHOCOLATEY GOODNESS
Choco Talk-o with Sad Girl Creamery
SueEllen Mancini | Sad Girl Creamery
Published March 1, 2024
NHM Online Presents ChocoLAte: From Beans to Bliss, a video series celebrating the diversity of Los Angeles and its people through the lens of chocolate.
Crunch into Choco Taco bliss with SueEllen Mancini of Sad Girl Creamery
Mi Vida ChocoLAte
Sad Girl Creamery, founded by owner and chef SueEllen Mancini, represents the confluence of nostalgia, mental health awareness, and of course, technical ice cream virtuosity. SueEllen’s passion for making desserts began in Houston, where she honed her craft as a pastry chef. In 2018, after deciding to focus on making ice cream, she relocated to Los Angeles. In L.A., she saw her culture warmly reflected in her surroundings.
When I came to L.A. [I saw] such a huge population of Latin Americans here and how proud they are of their culture…it really inspired me to dig deeper onto that side of myself and explore my own culture more.
SueEllen Mancini
SueEllen's mother, Maria Lupes, in instrumental in helping craft the handmade desserts of Sad Girl Creamery, especially when it comes to making the waffle cone shells of the ice cream tacos from scratch.
With the help of her mother, Maria Lupes, SueEllen handcrafts delicious Latin-themed frozen desserts such as a peach ring chamoy paleta, choco-flan ice cream, or a strawberry tres leches shortcake ice cream taco. The flavors of SueEllen’s desserts are a fusion between classic American ice cream novelties (like the Choco Taco) and treats inspired by her Chilean and Uruguayan heritage. The generalized-Latin American traditional dessert flavors and ingredients used in Sad Girl Creamery products is what SueEllen hopes can inspire the best kind of nostalgia in her customers.
I have a lot of customers who come up to me and share those memories with me, or are very excited because it represents something that reminds them of their families.
SueEllen Mancini
SueEllen and her mother, Maria Lupes, fill the Choco Taco with her cajeta-flavored ice cream, while it is soft and pliable.
Once the waffle "taco" is filled with ice cream, it is placed in the freezer to harden.
The team makes quick work of the melted chocolate to ensure the consistency is right for the next step--adding the "choco" to the "taco"!
The chocolate-dipped ice cream tacos are dipped into nuts, adding a crunchy taco topping.
The fan-favorite Choco Tacos are crafted by this mother-daughter dynamic duo from SueEllen's prep kitchen in Culver City.
A unique and important aspect of SueEllen’s company is its promotion of mental health awareness. Drawing from her own journey with managing Bi-Polar Disorder, SueEllen uses her platform to encourage awareness and conversation regarding mental health, a subject that has been historically taboo in Latino communities. This partly inspired the name of Sad Girl Creamery, which sprouted from an idea of, as Sue explained, “connecting mental health to the comfort that comes from eating ice cream.”
EXPLORE MORE FROM Sad Girl Creamery
Excited to taste the unique and delicious flavors that Sad Girl Creamery has to offer? Click here to find out how!
SPILL THE CACAO BEANS ON YOUR CHOCOLATE FAVORITES
Do you resonate with the message behind Sad Girl Creamery? Do you know another L.A. chocolatier who lovingly connects with their community? We want to hear from you! Join the conversation on social media and tag us @NHMLA with #chocoLAte.
Following the success of Kneaded: L.A. Bread Stories and L.A. at Play: Dolls & Figurines, we're celebrating the history, heritage, and communities of Los Angeles through the lens of different cultural traditions. This year, ChocoLAte: From Beans to Bliss, seeks to inspire, captivate, and tap into the deep-rooted love for chocolate that flows through the veins of this vibrant city.
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