My local grocery store has started stocking a “limited edition” apple pie ice cream (message me for the details, don’t want to be shilling). It’s one of my favorites – not only does it have chunks of real apple and graham cracker crust, but the ice cream itself has a delicious apple flavor. The whole thing tastes like you took a slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream and blended it chunky style.

I always figured there was some boring food-science reason you couldn’t make a decent apple ice cream, but this shows it’s perfectly possible. So why isn’t it more common? Apple pie is one of the most popular deserts, and you find apple flavoring in plenty of drinks and candies. What gives?

  • @[email protected]
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    7 months ago

    I’ve recently had a similar discussion on why orange ice cream isn’t that popular, but exists in form of water ice

    Our conclusion was that acidic flavors, like orange and apple just aren’t good combined with cream, instead being better served as a sorbet

    • Fish [Indiana]
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      47 months ago

      Orange creamcicle flavored ice cream is pretty easy to find. But I think it’s usually vanilla ice cream with layers of orange sherbet. Strawberries are acidic and strawberry ice cream is a popular flavor.

      In my experience, apples just don’t taste very good when frozen. Maybe that’s why they don’t sell frozen apples at most supermarkets?

    • @[email protected]
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      37 months ago

      I make ice cream as a hobby and found orange ice cream is too rich to eat even a scoop in one sitting. It’s completely possible but it’s hard to eat.

  • @[email protected]
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    27 months ago

    I came in thinking this was a dad joke sub…lol… and was like wait … this a not a punch line… now we need to find a dad joke for this question…

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 🏆
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    7 months ago

    I really wish I had one of those fancy ice cream makers like they have on cooking shows like Iron Chef because I would definitely see what happens if you tried to make apple ice cream. I don’t know if I can get fancier than just basic ingredients with mine… Maybe if I made an apple compote? 🤔

    I think it just works better making apple pie ala mode ice cream Cold Stone style with some vanilla ice cream, pie filling, graham cracker crust and caramel.

    • @[email protected]
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      27 months ago

      Wait… do you mean caramel apple ice cream, or caramelized apple ice cream? They’re not the same…

    • @[email protected]
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      57 months ago

      I’m not really into sweets, but one day i saw a bar of chocolate with grapes on it, and i was like: chocolate with pockets full of grapes? Ymmi. At home i unpacked it and stuffed it in my mouth.

      I almost threw up because it wasn’t grapes, it was grappa. Of course we can’t have nice things, we have to waste grapes on rotten ugly juice.

  • @[email protected]
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    17 months ago

    I’m not sure if I’d personally like apple that much. I like apples and the flavor is refreshing and good, but I just don’t think it’d fit ice cream of all things. Though, if I had one, I wouldn’t be opposed to trying it and I’d rather try apple flavor than something gross lol

    • @[email protected]
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      97 months ago

      This should be higher. Even broken iPhones from 3 years ago sell for tens or hundreds of euros.

  • Swordgeek
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    77 months ago

    Little boutique place near us has an “Apple Cheddar Pie” ice cream in the fall. It’s never quite as good as you expect. Gotta try it again this year, to see how they’ve changed it.

    (On the other hand, their Lemon Curd Blueberry is one of the greatest things ever served in a cone in the history of humankind.)

  • @[email protected]
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    37 months ago

    I’d love if it was more popular!

    Mighy try and make at home. Parfait ice cream is reasonably uncomplicated. Wonder if I should make it from dried apples.

  • @[email protected]
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    147 months ago

    Where do you live? Where I live (Austria), apple ice cream is maybe not 100% universally available at all ice cream vendors, but common enough that I have no problems getting it if I want to.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      67 months ago

      Southeastern US. This is my first time seeing apple-anything ice cream on the shelves, from major national brands at least.

      • @[email protected]
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        57 months ago

        Hm. I rarely buy ice cream in stores so I am not sure whether there is apple ice cream in stores here, but at ice cream parlors it is definitely reasonably common here.

  • @[email protected]
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    177 months ago

    Why isn’t orange (the fruit) ice cream more popular? I don’t mean sherbet, I mean ice cream. It can be bought in Florida, but I’ve never heard of it anywhere else.

    • @[email protected]
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      67 months ago

      I feel silly asking since you mentioned Florida, but do they use real oranges? Any time I’ve ever seen or tasted orange ice cream it was always that fake stuff.

      • @[email protected]
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        47 months ago

        I do believe it’s made with real orange, especially if you’re get it from a street vendor near the beach. Been years since I had it.

  • Altima NEO
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    47 months ago

    It’s probably not as common because other flavors are significantly more popular. Chocolate, vanilla, and berry flavors are staple flavors. There’s only so much milk, production capacity, and retail shelf space to go around.

    I’ve noticed, though, local ice cream shops are usually more willing to take a risk worth novelty flavors.

  • @[email protected]
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    657 months ago

    Making ice cream with actual apples involved is a nightmare due to acidity influencing other ingredients. But making it apple-scented is trivial.

    But you raised a very good question…