Jeni Britton Bauer has made ice creams from scratch for more than 15 years. Drawing from her traditional pastry training and a pantry of exceptional ingredients, the Columbus resident continues to perfect the frozen desserts for which her company, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, is known.

Jeni first discovered her love for dessert while working at La Chatelaine bakery in Arlington, Ohio. She was taken by the kitchen’s dedication to both the pastries and the success of the bakery, and soon began making desserts and ice cream in her own kitchen. Her passion for ice cream eventually led to the opening of her first ice cream shop, Scream, in Columbus’ historic North Market in 1996.

Scream immediately showcased Jeni’s talent and laid the foundation for the fan base that would follow her through her career, but seeking a change, Jeni eventually closed the shop to develop the definitive ice cream company, one that could sustain her non-stop quest for new flavors and ideas. With the help of her business partner and husband Charly, she founded Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in November 2002 in the same market where she got her start. Now, Bauer is the owner and creative director of 23 scoop shops in Columbus, Cleveland, Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston, Los Angeles and St. Louis, with individual pints available online and in freezer aisles throughout the United States. Her ice cream has been praised by Time magazine (“America’s best ice cream”), The Washington Post (“Sublime”), USA Today (“Deadly Delicious”) and countless other media outlets throughout the country. Jeni’s boundless creativity and forward thinking is evident in every single pint of ice cream, sorbet and frozen yogurt that comes out of her test kitchen, including signature flavors like Salty Caramel and Ndali Estate Vanilla Bean and ever-changing collections that are as much influenced by the local farmers market as they are by pop culture and art. 

In June 2011, Artisan Books published Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Now in its thirdmprinting, The New York Times best-selling cookbook has been dubbed “the homemade-ice cream-making Bible” by The Wall Street Journal. In May 2014, Jeni published her second book with Artisan, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Desserts. When Jeni isn’t developing new flavors or at her shops, she spends time with her husband and two children at their home in Columbus.