Alexa Normin has a normal obsession with ice cream. As in, she’s absolutely over the moon crazy about it. Enough to leave a career creating plated desserts as a pastry chef, in order to fully live that ice cream truck life.
Despite being severely lactose intolerant (ok, maybe that’s a bit off-kilter for an ice cream maker), the Salt Lake City resident debuted Normal Ice Cream in 2017. And it’s a testament to her truly singular flavors—such as Earl Grey, Sweet Corn, and Butter Berry with housemade mallow fluff—as well as the unbridled enthusiasm of her fellow Utahans, that she consistently draws crowds even in a blizzard.
Alexa initially created buzz with “composed” ice cream cones—an elaborately topped tip of the hat to her upscale restaurant days. But she continues to draw raves for her scoops and pints, which reject fake, overpowering extracts and add-ins (save for Fruity Pebbles, which Alexa won’t apologize for) in favor of natural ingredients, such as local dairy milk, organic produce, and heirloom spices from Spicewalla (another Mouth maker). So far, she’s come up with 80 different flavors in the past two years. Take that, Baskin Robbins!
Her parked silver truck remains a fixture inside historic Trolley Square in downtown SLC, which has since been joined by a dedicated store in the Maven District. As for the rest of us, we’re welcome to join Alexa’s pint club, for regular access to scoops that add a whole new meaning to Normcore.