Vampire Penguin In Palm Harbor To Celebrate Opening With Prizes

PALM HARBOR, FL — For those who love ice cream but don't love the calories, try sinking your fangs, uh, teeth into a sweet, light, fluffy alternative created by Vampire Penguin, 33223 U.S. 19 N, Palm Harbor.

Vampire Penguin owners Tina and Elijah Kahn, along with the Greater Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce, will host a ribbon-cutting for the new shop on Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. Vampire Penguin also will celebrate with a day-long grand opening from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with hourly raffles and prizes, including a cash grand prize of $200, and face painting for the kids.

Each Vampire Penguin shop is individually licensed and owned. In just three years, 33 shops have opened around the country. The Palm Harbor Vampire Penguin is the seventh shop in Florida, joining New Port Richey, Seminole, Sarasota, Naples, Estero and Fort Lauderdale.

The Kahns say part of the growing popularity of Vampire Penguin is the company's marketing concept, including a downloadable children's book about the Vampire Penguin.

But the real draw is the shop's irresistible light, fluffy, creamy desserts inspired by Taiwanese shaved ice.

Vampire Penguin’s treats are created from a fruit base, frozen in cylindrical molds, and then shaved into tiny, fluffy ribbons with the consistency of freshly fallen snow.

Customers can choose from a rotating selection of snow flavors topped with the shop’s variety of garnishes and served on a frosty plate.

Vampire Penguin’s desserts provide all the satisfaction of ice cream but have four times less calories and sugar than traditional ice cream and yogurt and a surprisingly light and fluffy texture.

Customers can pick their own "snow" from a rotating selection of flavors including classics like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and more creative choices like pineapple, strawberry, mango, cookies and cream, cotton candy, green tea, coconut, honeydew and Thai tea. The "snow" is made on-site from fresh ingredients and molded into colorful wheels.

Next, customers choose a topping, such as caramel, chocolate, strawberry and white chocolate and a select a garnish ranging from strawberries, watermelon, lychee, jackfruit, pineapple bits, Oreos, marshmallows, brownie bites, fruit jelly, coconut jelly, lychee jelly, strawberry boba, mango boba, whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

For more information, visit the Palm Harbor Vampire Penguin Facebook page.