New Hampshire Chronicle | Sept. 8, 2026
MERRIMACK, N.H. —
Two New Hampshire ice cream shops are finding ways to create sundaes that fit the bill (or bucket), while basing their creations on elements of their respective identities and history.
At Sweet Bel’s in Merrimack, trained pastry chef Jennifer Belmore is doing what she’s dreamed about for years: uniting her love of baking with a love of frozen treats.
Belmore grew up baking, a passion she took with her in more than 20 years as a property manager. The dream of opening her own bakery lingered, until a note she read from her daughter changed everything.
“‘My mom and I love to bake together. We have so much fun,'” Belmore recalled her daughter writing in a school notebook. “‘She always wanted to open her own bakery and never did.’ That kind of got to me,” Belmore said. “So I said, ‘You know what? Maybe this is it.'”
Belmore bought a vacant shop off of Daniel Wesbter Highway in January and officially opened April 18, now in the middle of her very first season as a business owner. Her employees include her three kids, along with her niece and her nephew, making the operation a family affair.
Belmore’s baking skills are on full display in the shop’s signature offering: the Happy Cake Bowl. The idea for the name comes from her nephew Nicholas.
“When he was little on his birthday … he always called his birthday cake and ice cream ‘happy cake,'” Belmore said.
When she opened her shop, Belmore asked Nicholas if she could use his title for the treat. She says he was thrilled, and the name stuck.
When ordering a bowl, customers choose from cake varieties baked throughout the week to create the foundation. The bottom layer is then topped with multiple scoops of their ice cream of choice, followed by a hot topping and whipped cream.
Sweet Bel’s sources its ice cream from Shain’s of Maine, a brand Belmore’s family discovered on trips to a lake house over the border. Ice cream sandwiches, brownie sundaes, and frappes are also among her top sellers and include Shain’s products.
In Milford, Trombly Gardens has similar goals for its own customers: turning a simple scoop into a signature attraction.
What started 75 years ago as a chicken farm has developed, through generations, into a dairy operation, a beef and produce farm, a garden center, and now an ice cream destination.
“We started out as just a simple roadside stand, and we’ve just kind of grown as the community has asked for it,” owner Sean Trombly said.
The work is constant, he admitted, but the payoff is personal.
“Most days it drives me nuts,” Trombly said with a laugh. “But I do really enjoy seeing the smiles, the families that come and return. We’ve had kids working for us now that came in here when they were younger.”
To create something unique, the family had to think outside the box, or in this case, the bucket. Their signature ‘Tractor Tracks’ sundae is served in a custom-made miniature farm bucket, branded with the farm’s logo.
Farm manager Alicia Kurlander said the idea was inspired by the business’s identity when the family was brainstorming ideas for a flagship offering. The sundae is making its debut this summer, introduced in June and going through different iterations since.
A layer of hot fudge goes down first into the bucket, followed by crushed waffle cone bits. The Tractor Tracks ice cream itself follows, a custom chocolate flavor full of caramel truffles and a caramel swirl. Then, the whole process repeats, topped with one more scoop and a crown of whipped cream and more cone bits.
Customers can keep their souvenir buckets and bring them back to the farm for a dollar off one of their more than 40 available ice cream flavors.
Both Kurlander and Trombly point to the same reward for their hard work: buckets of ice cream and all.
“Just seeing the smiles, seeing the return customers and family members,” Trombly said.
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