Hazelnut Stracciatella
Hazelnut ice cream + dark chocolate flecks
Wow, we are proud of this one! The term “stracciatella” means “little rags” in Italian, and you may know it as a chocolate chip gelato flavor, but instead of chocolate chips, there are little flakes and shards of chocolate that snap and then melt in the mouth. An Italian restaurant, La Marianna, is credited with inventing stracciatella gelato in 1961, and this chocolate shard technique and flavor can now be found around the world. For our iteration, we use a hazelnut base, and as we extract the fresh ice cream from our machine, we pour in a thin stream of melted chocolate mixed with coconut oil, and the chocolate hardens almost instantly (like Magic Shell!) into irregular little morsels.
We were intrigued to learn that ‘stracciatella’ can also refer to a centuries-old soup recipe from Rome or the soft cheese bits inside burrata, originating in Puglia, Italy. Stracciatella soup gets its name from eggs that get beaten into a hot broth (similar to an egg drop soup), and, in fact, the soup is credited as the inspiration for the gelato!
Our Hazelnut Stracciatella flavor was developed by the Test Kitchen Production Manager, Jacob. Here’s what he said about the inspiration:
“This flavor was heavily influenced by my experiences trying gelatos in Spain and Italy. I fell in love with a kinder bueno-inspired gelato in Madrid. As delicious as chocolate-hazelnut butters are, I really loved the flavor of hazelnut alone with chocolate as an accent. That led to this simple but delicious flavor that is very hazelnut-forward, and flecked with bittersweet chocolate to balance the rich, sweet base. I hope everyone enjoys this flavor as much as I do!”
Allergens: Coconut, Milk, Tree nuts (hazelnut)
Peachy Peppercorn
Black pepper base + peach bourbon jam
Get ready for this adventurous and surprisingly sophisticated ice cream flavor!
This flavor was developed by our Test Kitchen Baking Coordinator, Sam. Here is what they said about it:
“This flavor was inspired by my love of black pepper! I put lots of fresh ground black pepper in everything I cook, and I wanted to know whether that flavor would taste good in ice cream too. We used whole malabar peppercorns from Summit Spice and Tea and ground them fresh to steep overnight in our dairy. Freshly ground pepper has much more flavor than the pre-ground stuff and I wanted to capture those subtle, herby flavors in the ice cream.
We had been wanting to develop a peach jam for a while but were not sure what it would go with. When we were brainstorming add-ins for a pepper flavor, the idea of a peach jam came up… and we thought it was the perfect fit! Bourbon is often added to peach jam because the flavors pair so well, and it was the final tasting note to round out the flavor.”
Some pepper trivia: Black pepper comes from the small dried berries of the Piper nigrum vine, native to Malabar, a tropical region on the western coast of Southern India. Pepper is the most widely traded spice in the world, making up 20% of the world spice trade and has been nicknamed the ‘king of spices.’ Black pepper is botanically unrelated to red pepper (chilis from the Capsicum family).
Allergens: Milk
Bonus: Sweet Tea Sorbet
Steeped with tea from Summit Spice and Tea
Even in the depths of winter, we are starting to think of new seasonal flavors for summer, fall, and even next holiday season! Some of these will debut for Club members this spring, and then with your feedback we’ll perfect them to roll out again when more seasonally fitting.
This month’s bonus taster cup falls in that category – this is not a flavor we would typically serve in the winter, but we are ecstatic to have this developed for the middle of summer! Basically, we turned a glass of ice tea into a smooth and scoopable sorbet! This one would also be perfect as part of a float – maybe in a cup of lemonade, or even in a cup of actual iced tea for a meta delight.
This sorbet comes to you from the R&D portfolio of Baking Coordinator Sam again. They explained:
“This flavor should probably be called Sweetened Tea Sorbet, as it is not as sweet as true southern sweet tea. I tried to capture the taste of a glass of classic ice tea with lemon, perfect for a summer day (though hopefully still tasty in January). Made with Summit Spice and Tea’s House Ice Tea blend, this flavor is nostalgic and refreshing!”