The Yin And Yang Of Ice Cream Is Here And It’s Taking Over Instagram


While the rainbow food trend isn’t going anywhere soon, there is a new foodie fad in town and it’s taking over Instagram.

From rainbow bagels, to rainbow grilled cheese, to rainbow lattes, to rainbow burgers, and yes, even rainbow sushi, Instagram’s most recent food fixation has been quite colorful, to say the least. But thanks to one bold little ice cream shop in New York, you can now enjoy jet-black ice cream.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF4akJDOBTr/?taken-by=morgensternsnyc&hl=en

Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream shop in New York City has created an inky black alternative to combat the technicolor mayhem. Usually black foods are colored with sesame seeds or squid ink, but Morgenstern’s flavor – which became available May 25 – uses a sneaky ingredient that you’re probably not too familiar with – coconut ash.

So what exactly is coconut ash?

“It’s simply the charred and processed remains of a coconut shell,” founder Nicholas Morgenstern told Mic.

Morgenstern’s love for ice cream began in 2008 when he opened the General Greene in Brooklyn. There, he set up an ice cream cart and watched the lines quickly form around the corner.

“Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream is my chance to express my love of the quintessential American indulgence,” Morgenstern’s website reads. “I have been dreaming of these flavors, this style, and this place for years.”

According to Food & Wine, the ash is a form of activated charcoal, that has reportedly gained popularity among granola junkies due to its purported detoxifying powers. The ice cream gets it tone solely from the organic charcoal, which “has been charred and processed with high heat so that it behaves like a filter,” according to Morgenstern.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF64awRvwQq/?tagged=blackicecream&hl=en

In addition to its jet-black appearance, the ice cream has a uniquely rich coconut flavor, which according to Food & Wine, is what grabbed Morgenstern’s attention to the ingredient in the first place.

“I had been monkeying around with coconut ash for a while and then I had this fancy chocolate bar that used coconut ash. I knew I had to use it,” Morgenstern continued. “We wanted to put a coconut ice cream on the menu and it all came together.”

To create the refreshingly nutty flavor, he combined the ash with coconut cream, coconut flakes, and coconut milk.

There is, however, a slight setback to this fabulously chic ice cream. While the coconut ash gives the ice cream a great color, it can also temporarily dye your mouth the same inky black. So it’s probably not the best place for a first date or for a mid-day treat break from the office.

In 2014, Burger King experimented with black food with its debut of the Kuro burger in Japan, which featured black buns and black cheese made with bamboo charcoal and black squid ink – not nearly as appetizing as coconut ice cream.

Just a month following Burger King’s strange release, McDonald’s launched its own black burger.

Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream also offers other unique flavors including: Banana Curry, American Egg, Green Tea Pistachio, Vietnamese Coffee, and Szechuan Peppercorn Chocolate among others.

“Each ice cream is made with the flavor profile in mind first,” the Morgenstern website reads.

If there is anything we can learn from this, it’s that black will always be in style, especially in New York.

[Photo from Pixabay]

Share this article: The Yin And Yang Of Ice Cream Is Here And It’s Taking Over Instagram
More from Inquisitr