I Tried Alix Earle's "Candy Land" Frozen Custard Down The Jersey Shore
Your new summertime fave is at the Surfside shop.
If you’ve ever found yourself around the Jersey Shore, you would know that there are *hundreds* of shops for ice cream and other frozen desserts lining the coast. Objectively speaking, any chilled sweet snacks are the best in the summer. So when Alix Earle mentioned that her family has a frozen custard shop down the shore in a May TikTok video showcasing an exclusive “Candy Land” flavor (aka the “Alix Swirl”) created by her, I made the executive decision to visit when summer finally came.
Surfside Frozen Custard — which is owned and operated by the 23-year-old content creator’s dad, Thomas Earle, along with his brothers (aka Alix’s uncles), Michael and Walter — is a small shop in Sea Girt, New Jersey, that serves, as the name suggests, frozen custard (even though the influencer frequently referred to it as an “ice cream shop” in her announcement video).
The main difference between frozen custard and ice cream? The former isn’t typically made with eggs yolks, while the latter is, making the custard smoother and creamier than traditional ice cream.
What To Know Before You Go
The business operates only out of two windows — I like to think of it as a custard house, because the shop is located in a small beach cottage — so you need to be a bit patient when there’s a line. Between the two windows is the menu, which is printed on surfboards.
Surfside has a smaller range of custard flavors than I expected, less than a dozen, but then again it is a small shop. It has the classic vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, plus more specialty flavors like salted caramel and coffee almond crunch, and sells them in sizes extra small ($5), small ($6), medium ($7), large ($8), and quart ($12).
“Candy Land” is currently listed as the one and only *special*. Pro tip: Arrive early to make sure it’s still available for the day, as you can only order it while supplies last and it has been known to sell out.
The Making Of Alix Earle’s Frozen Custard
In Alix’s OG TikTok about her new snack, she took fans on a journey to the shop to create her limited-time combo.
She started by pouring custard mix into a bucket, then added cotton candy and vanilla flavoring. While the custard poured out of the machine, she peppered in some rainbow sprinkles. The custard looked straight out of its namesake, the popular children’s board game Candy Land.
Why, you ask? In an episode of her podcast, “Hot Mess with Alix Earle,” the blonde spoke about how she always wanted a cotton candy flavor at Surfside, because it’s her favorite flavor of all time.
“Candy Land” (Alix’s Version) Is A Sweet Treat
The first thing I noticed about the custard was its bright pink color and its super smooth texture — like an unblemished strawberry ice cream.
Next, came the taste-test. One word: yum. Though there were definitely hints of cotton candy, it reminded me a lot more of a cake with its milky and vanilla add-ins, which is far from a bad thing in my book. Sometimes cotton candy-flavored treats can taste really artificial.
Another fun addition was the rainbow sprinkles. They only added to the already-bright color scheme.
If you’re a fan of sweets, this is definitely for you. For me, personally, this is a shop I am definitely coming back to for delicious custard.
