NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ - Peter Elefante has a sweet job. Literally.

As owner of Zita’s Homemade Ice Cream & Italian Ice in New Providence, Elefante gets to concoct whatever suits his fancy. "I really enjoy what I do. I get to play around with ingredients and I can create whatever I want. This job allows me to be creative with what I am working with."

Elefante, who also resides in New Providence, took over the family-owned business nearly six years ago from his uncle and father, both of whom had opened the store ten years ago. "We opened up the store because we were personally not happy with the selection of ice cream stores around this area, so we decided to make our own."

Despite not having prior experience in the ice cream business, Elefante believes that making the product really "is in the family blood." With the help of individuals in the ice cream industry, the family began making their own ice cream and Zita’s was opened.

All of the ice cream is made in-store and, while ice cream is the most popular treat of choice for patrons, the store also sells a wide-variety of frozen delights including Italian ice, floats, shakes, smoothies, and sundaes, including the brownie sundae, which Elefante boasts as being "amazing." "Basically, anything an old-fashioned soda fountain can make, we can make," Elfante explained.

Ice cream flavor best-sellers include "Mint-Chocolate Chip Thunder" and "91716," a secretly-named flavor that consists of a combination of chocolate-covered pretzels, peanut butter, caramel, chocolate chips and vanilla ice cream. New to the menu is an Elefante-created original flavor called "Mint Lightning," which is a fusion of white mint ice cream and marble-sized thin mint cookie spheres. Elefante will be entering a selection of Zita’s ice cream in the seventh annual New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival held in Toms River held on July 18th.

Zita’s also has a large selection of ice cream cakes, which customers can custom-make. "Any topping in the store can be mashed into the cake. There really is no limit to what a customer can want to create," Elefante said.

The store also caters to individuals with various allergies and can make custom cakes that are peanut-free. "Most of the time, ice cream stores have pre-made ingredients so they don’t know what products are in them. We separate ourselves from other stores by making custom cakes that can cater to the needs of those with food allergies."

Despite the economy, Elefante states that while most retail stores have declining sales, his ice cream business has seen the reverse. "People will still take their kids out for ice cream. It is an inexpensive way to keep kids happy."

As for future plans, Elefante said that he wants to keep perfecting his ice cream business so that he can ideally open another location. He also jokingly added, "As a businessman, I’d like to rule the world with ice cream."

Zita’s Homemade Ice Cream & Italian Ice is open most of the year (generally closed in January and February) and is open from 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily. The store is located at 1790 Springfield Avenue in New Providence and the phone number is 908- 464-1511.

Kerry Law can be reached at Njkerry@yahoo.com  Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/njkerry  Check out her podcast at http://njkerry.podbean.com, which has audio versions of many of the events she attends.