Until her winter break, Sophie Tran’s culinary expertise—as least as it pertained to ice cream—went about as far as binge-watching dessert rounds of “Chopped” competitions. But when she was gifted a Cuisinart ice cream maker for Christmas, her casual interest turned into an unexpected side hustle: YourChurn, a custom ice cream business.
“I told myself I just wanted to do something extra this semester because I am taking less than my normal amount of credits,” says Tran, a pre-med student at UVA. “That said, I never imagined this little business magnifying to the size it did.”
Tran says to keep up with demand, she’s up at random hours or churning in the middle of classes to maximize how much ice cream she can make, given that the freezer bowl needs time to re-freeze between batches. She’s currently able to make two to three pints of one flavor every six hours.
And speaking of flavors, here’s how her menu works: Customers can choose from 10 base flavors, and add up to 13 mix-in made-from-scratch toppings (brownies, cookie dough, and raspberry preserves, for starters). But plan ahead: Turnaround time is currently one to two days, depending on what’s available.
“It takes more time to make these toppings from scratch, but I think it brings more character to my business,” Tran says. “And nothing is more therapeutic than balling up little chunks of cookie dough while learning about magnetic flux through an enclosed surface.”
After you place your order (through @yourchurn on Instagram), be sure to give it a name for a truly customized pint.
