Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams spent five years developing a limited-edition ice cream flavor featuring acorn flour, an ingredient most people have never tasted. The flavor, called Appalachian Acorn Pie, was released this fall and sold out online in just over 24 hours.
The recipe itself was not the main challenge, according to the brand. Sourcing food-safe acorn flour was the difficult part. Jeni’s enlisted the help of Ohio agricultural cooperative Route 9 Action Network to forage and process the acorns.
The acorns were then sent to a nearby Amish farm to be milled into flour. The coordination process involved communicating by snail mail, community telephone, and in-person visits. This unusual process was necessary to ensure the acorns were safe to eat.
Developing the Flavor
The idea for acorn ice cream started with Jeni asking its team if it was possible to use acorns in ice cream. The team got to work on it immediately, following an improv mentality in the test kitchen. They say yes to an idea first, no matter how outlandish, and lead with what’s possible to do right.
Beth Stallings, Senior Director of Innovation at Jeni’s, said the team was loosely inspired by coconut cream pie when developing the flavor. They added a graham cracker crust to give the acorn a familiar grounding without overshadowing its delicate flavor.
Acorns are high in tannins, which can be toxic if consumed in large quantities. To make them safe to eat, the team soaks the acorns in a water bath to draw out the tannins before drying and milling them into flour. This process improves the overall flavor of the acorns as well.
The recipe came together quickly, but sourcing the acorn flour was the main challenge. The development took five years, and the effort was worth it. The flavor is absolutely delicious, and the team is happy to have shared it with customers.
One who tasted the flavor noted, it has a subtle, nutty flavor that complements the graham cracker crust well.
The development process was not just about creating a new flavor, but also about educating customers about the history of food.
The Future of Acorn Flour
Whether acorns will become a more common food ingredient remains to be seen. Acorns have deep culinary roots across the world, from Europe to Korea, and they are deeply ingrained in Native American culture. Using acorns in food isn’t new. In their experience, the challenge was how to get a lot of acorn flour in a food-safe way so that they could use it in their ice cream. But they’re seeing more education and appreciation for the foods that have defined the country’s history, and hopefully acorns will continue to be a part of that conversation.