Can you tell us more about the history of this famous ice cream?

At the time, Plombières ice cream was a frozen dessert made from custard, which was made using ice collected from ponds in winter. It was stored in 12 coolers, in other words large chasms, located all around the city. The inventor of this dessert then simply added candied fruit on top when serving.

It was not until 1856-1858 that Napoleon III's cook, having had a poor success with his custard, decided to make up for it with Kirsch from Fougerolles, a small village near Plombières. Napoleon III and his guests loved it, and this is how Kirsch entered the recipe!

Last step and not the least in the development of the recipe as we know it today: the arrival of Mr. Philipps, an Alsatian pastry chef who came to settle in Plombières to make his fortune there. It was he who, in 1882, had the idea of ​​macerating candied fruits in Kirsch before putting them in the turbine. And that changes everything!

In 1903, Mr. Philipps sold his pastry to a certain Mr. Maillot and passed on his recipe to him. And this is how, through apprentices and resellers, the original recipe arrived in the hands of Michel Bilger's grandfather.

How do you make it?

The products used by Michel come from two major capitals! The first: Apt, world capital of candied fruit. These are high quality products with an incomparable taste. The second: Fougerolles, capital of cherries and Kirsch AOC. It is the latter which brings the almond return to the palate when tasting the ice cream. Flavor that is impossible to find with industrial kirsch. Good products awaken the taste buds!

What do you like most about your job?

Please people with a product that evokes memories! We have this example of a person to whom we made taste our ice cream and who said to us: “There you go! This is the ice cream that I ate as a little boy when I went fishing in Plombières with my father! ".

You should know that the name “Plombières ice” has fallen into public law. Thus, everyone can make Plombières ice cream at home and any professional or industrialist can use this name for a frozen dessert composed of custard, candied fruit and kirsch. The quantities and quality of the products do not matter.

But here, we are proud to be able to offer the real recipe for historic Plombières ice cream, the one whose taste takes you back in time!

– Michel Bilger, Olga & Jean-Marie Viry

Guided tour and tasting on request.

Sales on site Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Saturday afternoon from 14 p.m. to 16 p.m. 

Product to be enjoyed in the restaurants and partner establishments of “La glace Plombières historique”, recognizable by the macaron of the same name.