Cold Stone Creamery's No-Melt Ice Cream Solidifies Dessert Trend

by Alex Van Buren, Posted Jul 28th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Salt and Pepper ice cream
at Humphry Slocombe.
Photo: Bradley Allen, Flickr.

Cold Stone Creamery last month introduced an ice cream that doesn't melt, which has led New York Magazine to say this week that Cold Stone's Jell-O-like dessert is proof positive that ice cream has become the latest playground for culinary innovation.

Indeeed, the world of frozen cream is much changed from those triple-threat Neapolitan cartons of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry many of us grew up with.

Just last month, our editors were smitten by Vosges' new curry coconut ice cream at the Fancy Food Show, Gourmet recently featured the wackiness that is San Francisco's Humphry Slocombe shop (prosciutto ice cream, anyone?) and Jeni's in Columbus, Ohio, peddles Thai chili ice cream alongside not so plain honey vanilla. In New York, Wylie Dusfresne serves a perfect miniature "everything" bagel -- made entirely of ice cream, naturally -- at his restaurant wd-50.

And now ice cream doesn't even melt? This New York magazine profile features a few of the scientists behind this mind-meld, including experimental Chef Alex Talbot.

Talbot recently served a bowl of hot ice cream to a friend. His buddy didn't notice he was eating hot ice cream until he was almost done. In the fellow's defense, it was laced with hot fudge, which would distract most of us.

What do you think of ice cream that doesn't melt?
Awesome	160 (52.1%)
Awful	147 (47.9%)

[Cold Stone Creamery via New York Magazine]

Filed Under: Trends, Food News
Tags: cold stone creamery, ColdStoneCreamery, food trends, FoodTrends, humphy slocombe, HumphySlocombe, ice cream, IceCream, weird ice cream, WeirdIceCream

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-29-2009 @11:13AM Astin said... People are excited by this? Brand name ice creams have added gelatin for years. Not enough to keep it from melting completely, but enough so that it holds its shape longer. This is why homemade generally turn to a puddle quicker that store-bought.

Heck, Alton Brown presented this option years ago.

I added gelatin to some homemade a while back, and it creates a very different texture and even alters the flavour slightly. I wasn't a huge fan.

But considering most ice cream recipes out there are really frozen custards, making a frozen gelatin (or whatever starch they use) dessert isn't that far of a stretch.
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