Pink Duck Creamery set to open in Huntingburg

Brian and Vanessa Stieneker are bringing a new sweet spot to downtown Huntingburg with the opening of Pink Duck Creamery. The couple is set to host a soft opening this Saturday, offering artisanal ice cream made with natural ingredients and creative flavor combinations.

The business is a new adventure for the retired Michigan couple who want to bring a bit of joy to Huntingburg’s iconic downtown area.

“The ice cream shop is where you have fond memories, right,” Vanessa said. “It’s where you go to celebrate. It’s where you go maybe when you are having a little bit of bad day and need something sweet.”

“We want to become Huntingburg’s happy place,” Brian added.

Their journey from corporate America to ice cream entrepreneurs began when they purchased the historic Huntingburg building at the corner of Fourth and Main in 2020. Originally, the couple viewed the purchase as an investment in the town where Brian has roots — his father grew up in Huntingburg, and a great-grandfather is one of the founders of Salem Church.

And while they had leased out the building to different businesses since the purchase, when the last one left, the couple decided that Huntingburg needed an ice cream shop. However, finding someone with a similar vision proved difficult.

“So, we said ‘We’ll do it,'” Brian said.

At the time, they were pro-consumers according to Brian, but didn’t have a lot of experience making ice cream.

“We spent at least six months in research and development,” Vanessa said.

During that time, they delved not only into how to make great ice cream, what equipment to purchase, and how to source high-quality ingredients, but also researched other successful ice cream business models.

And they began practicing.

“We did a lot of experimenting and refining,” said Vanessa.

There are different levels of quality when it comes to ice cream, depending on several factors. Ingredients, obviously, but also how it is made and how it is stored. With a goal of offering customers an excellent ice cream featuring unique flavors as well as traditional favorites, the couple has refined their process over the past year.

The Stienekers describe their product as “super premium ice cream” made with rich butterfat that is slow-churned to create an indulgent creamy texture. Brian explained that this results in a heavier ice cream that is “a lot more bang for the buck.”

Certain flavors have proven challenging to create, such as the strawberries and cream recipe on the menu, which originated as a requested dessert for their nephew’s wedding.

“It was surprisingly difficult to make because strawberries have so much water in them,” Brian said.

It would freeze, creating ice crystals in the smooth ice cream.

“We tried like 16 different ways to prepare the strawberries so they won’t freeze,” Vanessa said.

But the final iteration was a hit at the wedding, and it will be on the menu when they open.

Another standout is their bourbon butterscotch ice cream, which Brian says their neighbors “went crazy over.” Another unique offering is their mint chocolate chip, which features a special chocolate technique.

“What we don’t like about mint chocolate chip is the chocolate chips are like rock hard,” Brian said.

Vanessa developed a method to create chocolate “freckles” that instantly melt in your mouth, similar to stracciatella, a common way chocolate is incorporated into gelato.

A big miss was an attempt at bananas and graham crackers that “just didn’t taste good at all.”

The Stienekers’ international travels have influenced their flavor development. Having lived in South Korea and Brazil and visited over 30 countries, they plan to incorporate global flavors into their offerings.

“We’ve tasted some things that people don’t normally taste, and so we want to bring some of those kind of flavors in too,” Vanessa says.

Like a Brazilian-inspired pineapple sorbet with lime zest that they plan to feature. Adding lime zest to pineapple may seem to be a strange combination, but Vanessa and Brian both assert it’s a game-changer.

And since they want to serve an audience with diverse health concerns, Vanessa plans to offer it as a sugar-free option on the menu.

Other flavors will include a dark chocolate with cherries and amaretto, a coconut-based vegan option with toasted coconut and homemade fudge, and a blue-colored “Cookie Monster” ice cream for kids, because, according to Brian, when he asked a kid what his favorite ice cream was, he just said “blue.”

It’s difficult to make blue ice cream with natural dyes. However, having a product sourced from natural ingredients and natural colors is important for the couple.

“I want people to be able to bring their kids here every day and not feel guilty that they’re feeding them ice cream every day. Because it’s going to be wholesome ingredients,” Vanessa said. “It’s gonna have some cane sugar in there but not the artificial flavors or weird things that we know aren’t good for society.”

The shop will offer between 12 to 18 flavors in rotation, with 10 available at the soft opening this Saturday, June 14. Customers can order ice cream in cups or homemade waffle cones, and the shop will feature a “flight” option allowing customers to sample four different flavors on a tray.

The Stienekers have renovated the space themselves with help from Brian’s brother, Greg and sister-in-law, Melissa. The bright pink interior is designed to create a fun, vibrant atmosphere.

“We want our place to be like a destination, an experience,” Vanessa said. “We’re going to have live musicians some nights and just really want it to be a destination and a place where people can get together and socialize.”

The shop’s name originates from Brian’s lifelong interest in ducks — whether hunting them or photographing them — combined with Vanessa’s favorite color. The pink duck is also one of the world’s rarest ducks, which Brian says reflects their goal of creating something unique.

The couple plans to be open six days a week, closing on Mondays. Weekend hours will extend into the evening, with Friday and Saturday hours from noon to 9 p.m. and Sunday hours from 2 to 8 p.m.

Prices will range from about $4 to $10, with homemade waffle cones available. Future menu additions include ice cream cakes. They also offer mobile ice cream services for events.

“We really look forward to working with the other businesses down here and really continue to make downtown Huntingburg great,” Brian said. “We just want to make people smile.”

“There is so much you can do with ice cream. It is going to be a lot of fun.” Vanessa added.

Pink Duck Ice Cream is located at 402 E. Fourth Street. The business has a website that is currently under construction here.