At Christmas five years ago LSU grad Katelyn Williams came home and told her family she was going to make ice cream. When she learned sister couldn’t have dairy anymore, it spawned what is now Kate’s Ice Cream, a dairy-free, gluten-free ice cream business in Portland, Oregon.

“The key for ice cream is you want as fatty as milk as possible to sort of replicate fats and proteins within regular milk. So coconut milk is super fatty, so that’s why I like to use that, and it makes really creamy ice cream,” says Williams

Williams graduated from LSU in 2013 and studied Spanish, psychology, and communications. She says she always loved the Dairy Store on campus. Admittedly her first dairy-free ice cream recipes were not ideal, but today they are extremely popular. Williams likes to incorporate local flavors into her creations.

“You’re going to get that passion coming through. Everything that’s put into the ice cream is just as local as I can get it. I go to the farmers market I get peaches from them I put it in the ice creamer,” says Williams.

In addition to coconut milk Williams also uses cashew milk. The ice cream is all plant-based and the line includes basic flavors like vanilla and chocolate. One flavor she created was peaches and cayenne. Williams is from Lafayette after all so a seasoned ice cream seamed natural as well as…

“I go to my local maker who’s making a bourbon, I put that bourbon into the ice cream. It’s all just partnering with as many small makers as I can work with and making a great product,” says Williams.

Williams’ goal is to have nationwide shipping available in a year so her native state can enjoy her dairy-free and gluten-free creations.

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