Gelats Capritxo

The indulgent vice of ice cream

We wouldn't be exaggerating if we said that our perception of vanilla has a clear before and after from this moment on, as we’ve just tasted the best vanilla ice cream we’ve ever had. A classic? Yes, but taken to another level.

Author: Aina Coll

Photographer: Jaume Oliver

It's midday in August. It's extremely—extremely—hot in Can Pastilla. A crowd of tourists is constantly moving to and from the beach, passing by bars packed with people snacking and souvenir shops offering mementos of Mallorca in the form of towels or siurells. So far, everything seems normal, a typical summer scene that repeats itself daily every year during peak season. But amidst this seemingly ordinary routine, we find a rara avis: an ice cream shop. And while, yes, there are many others around here, there's none quite like this one on the beachfront of Platja de Palma. We can prove it.

It's Capritxo, a small, unpretentious shop designed to entice curious visitors like us, who can't resist the urge to step inside and indulge in one of their exquisite ice creams.

At the entrance, beneath an awning that softens the heat of the day, the menu proudly displays its tempting offerings: strawberry, stracciatella, lemon, and chocolate are some of the classic choices; yogurt with pineapple, tiramisu, Bronte pistachio, and rum with raisins extend a list that, the more you read it, becomes increasingly irresistible. There's no alternative: surrender is inevitable.

As soon as we approach the counter, the young woman serving us—super charming, by the way—tells us that since they started nine years ago, their ice creams haven’t changed one bit: they remain 100% natural and are produced daily. Her words convince us, but it seems she also wants to win us over through our taste buds. While she explains the details of their method, she offers us a small, impromptu tasting. She definitely wants us to fall head over heels for her flavors. And who could say no?

With a small spoon, we sample the carrot cake ice cream—which looks as vibrant as one of our favorite desserts and tastes like glory in frozen form—and the Maya chocolate offering, a result of infusing chocolate cream with cinnamon, cayenne pepper, cloves, and orange zest. It’s a combination that explores both sweetness and bitterness, with a spicy kick. It’s something else entirely.

Impressed by the tasting, we also accept the invitation to step inside and witness firsthand how the ice cream maker works, or in other words, see with our own eyes where and how the magic happens. At the heart of Capritxo, the young ice cream maker shows us the details of the machinery and reveals some of the key techniques for keeping the product fresh and preserving its flavor—such as rapidly lowering the temperature, for example.

As he works on producing the classic Madagascar vanilla ice cream, he offers us a taste of it, freshly made, in a small cup. We’re not exaggerating when we say that our perception of vanilla has changed dramatically from this moment on, as we’ve just tasted the best vanilla ice cream we’ve ever had. A classic? Yes, but taken to another level.

Excited, we return to the counter to make our choices. At Capritxo, you can mix two flavors, either in a cup or a cone, and for those with a sweet tooth, there's the option to add Nutella on top of the ice cream or inside the cone. Knowing we’ve already spent quite a while indulging in the decadent pleasure of ice cream, we settle on a cup of chocolate and passion fruit sorbet, and a cup of banoffee. The first stands out for its light, airy texture, while the latter showcases Capritxo's mastery in transforming a delicious cake into an unforgettable ice cream.