Salt & Straw Releases Deviled Egg and Fried Chicken Ice Cream?!
With summer in full swing, it’s officially time for outdoor picnics and cooling off with frozen treats. The team at Salt & Straw figured they’d give us the best of both worlds with their new Summer Picnic Series.
These limited-edition ice cream flavors embody quintessential summer dishes you might enjoy on a gingham picnic blanket. The pints were made in partnership with different purveyors around the country and feature unusual flavors you won't find in traditional ice cream.
Some of the flavors in Salt & Straw’s Picnic Collection threw us for a loop: Fried Chicken? Deviled Egg? Baked Brie? Our team of adventurous eaters HAD to try them all. We’re sure you’re just as curious, so here’s a roundup of all of the new pints with our opinions.
Chocolate Nocino Cherry Pie
Salt & Straw worked with Portland, Oregon's Stone Barn Brandyworks for this brandy-spiked chocolate ice cream. Hunks of cherry pie are swirled throughout the pint for a boost of flavor and texture. Our tasters definitely got a big hit of booze, and the notes of chocolate and cherry seemed to take a backseat. If you’re a fan of alcohol-infused desserts, this is for you.
Baked Brie & Fig Cheesecake
The base is a simple salted sweet cream, so the mix-ins take center stage. Salt & Straw whipped up a creamy brie cheesecake with a candied Ritz cracker crust using cheese from West Coast-based Cowgirl Creamery. The ribbons of fig jam in the cheesecake make for a rich, creamy ice cream. Our team was originally worried about how brie-forward this flavor would be. To our relief, the cheese wasn’t too strong and the ice cream was nicely balanced.
Cinnamon & Honey Fried Chicken
Fried chicken… in ice cream? Turns out there isn't actual chicken meat in the pint. Instead, Salt & Straw deep-fried pieces of croissant in chicken fat and seasoned the vanilla ice cream base with a secret blend of spices from Ezell’s Fried Chicken, a regional chain based in Washington State. The dominant flavor we noticed was the salt. Some tasters commented that it tasted almost like salted caramel or fudge. It’s a polarizing flavor, but perfect for people who love salty-sweet pairings.
Deviled Egg Custard with Smoked Black Tea
By far the most controversial pint of the collection, the Deviled Egg Custard with Smoked Black Tea is a big departure from traditional ice cream flavors. The base of the ice cream is a classic egg custard. The sulfur-like flavor of deviled eggs is replicated here by an Indian black salt called Kala Namak. Salt & Straw worked with Steven Smith Teamaker to make a smoked tea shortbread crumble that resembles a deviled egg’s smoky bacon garnish.
When we opened up this pint, some of us thought it looked like egg salad. The flavor wasn’t too far off. The ice cream wasn’t very sweet, so the egg and smoke flavors were definitely in the spotlight. Some of our tasters had a one-word review: gross. Others, however, loved the smokiness and even said it was their favorite flavor of the bunch.
Pink Rosé & Watermelon Sorbet
The collection's only vegan offering pays homage to our favorite summertime drink—frosé. Rosé from Sokol Blosser Winery in the Willamette Valley is paired with fresh watermelon and raspberry jam. This was the sweetest, fruitiest pint of the bunch, and we tasted more raspberry than watermelon. This ice cream won our taste test by a landslide.
If you want to try Salt & Straw’s limited-edition Picnic Collection, you can order it directly from their website. They offer nationwide shipping so you can enjoy these unconventional flavors anywhere. What do you think of the collection? Let us know in the comments!
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