New Salt & Straw Flavor, Wildflower Honey & Lemon Chess Pie Froyo

Fro-yo girl here. Salt & Straw rarely introduces any froyo flavors, so I rushed over to try the new flavor, Wildflower Honey & Lemon Chess Pie. It’s part of the new The Summer Pies Series.

Wildflower Honey & Lemon Chess Pie is described by S&S as, “Every Southern state puts its own spin on Chess Pie—this is ours. Intensely creamy cultured frozen yogurt is sweetened with wildflower honey from Bee Local, lending a mild, chamomile-like floral note to the tangy, rich flavor. Ricotta, vanilla, honey, and lemon come together as a custard, poured and baked into a shortbread crust from Grand Central Bakery until the center sets with that signature jelly-like wobble. Pops of fresh, citrusy pie punctuate every scoop, finished with a drizzle of tart, housemade lemon curd. Pucker up! This pie’s got zing.” Sounds so good, doesn’t it?

Wildflower Honey & Lemon Chess Pie was super creamy and dense, like a good frozen custard. And it had big chunks of chess pie. The shortbread crust was soft and flavorful. My scoop was either missing the lemon curd drizzle or barely had any? I could barely taste any lemon. The predominant flavors were plain yogurt (yes, it did taste like yogurt), honey, and shortbread. The zing and tartness were missing. There was a mild yogurt tang, and it tasted less sweet than your typical ice cream.

I wish there had been more tang and more lemon. It was a good flavor still, but not as good ad their other froyo flavor, Besharam's Yogurt Lassi with Raspberries. Try it this month while it’s available.

The other The Summer Pie Series flavors are Wild-Foraged Berry Slab Pie, Rhubarb Crumble with Toasted Anise, Gruyère and Tomato Custard Tart, and Coconut Cherry Pie with Almond Crust (Vegan). They all sound good.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

NEW Labna Honeycomb (Yogurt) Flavor at Kinrose Creamery

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been waiting over a year for Kinrose Creamery to introduce their frozen yogurt/yogurt ice cream and it finally happened. You see, when I first visited the shop on opening day, January 3, 2024, I asked if they were going to create a frozen yogurt flavor. They said they were working on it…but I wasn’t sure if they were just being polite?

Kinrose specializes in Persian/Egyptian ice cream. Persians love yogurt, so it seemed like a natural fit. The new flavor is called Labna Honeycomb and it is described as “a beloved creamy and tart strained yogurt often enjoyed with honey.” They made their own honeycomb to fold into the yogurt ice cream. The scoop of Labna was topped with more honeycomb and black nigella seeds (black cumin) for more flavor and texture.

Everything they make is made from scratch with love. The Labna Honeycomb was no exception. It was rich, dense, and creamy. It did have some mild tang. It’s not very tart but is very rich. The bits of honeycomb folded in are tiny but they added flavor and texture.

I love how their ice cream comes with paired toppings that add texture and flavor. And the ice cream always looks pretty. A single scoop is $7.50 and totally worth it.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* KINROSE CREAMERY, 140 Mills Pl, Pasadena, CA 91105

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Nagato Dairy Farm Japanese Yogurt Ice Cream Review

Fro-yo girl here. I recently visited one of my favorite grocery stores, Tokyo Central, in Gardena, CA, during the Nagano Fair. The Nagano Fair highlights the foods of Nagano, Japan. And guess what? I spotted frozen yogurt from Nagato Dairy Farm in Nagano. One 4.05 fl oz small cup was $4.99.

The yogurt ice cream is made with milk, fermented milk (yogurt), milk extract, sugar, etc.

Yogurt ice cream: The yogurt ice cream was frozen solid and took quite some time to melt. It was so dense and hard that it cracked the plastic spoon. I’m glad that it actually tasted like yogurt, and it was thick, creamy, and dense. It tasted like a mixture of cream, yogurt, milk, and sugar. It was fairly sweet with not much tang. While I liked it, it was super hard and tasted more like yogurt ice cream and frozen yogurt.

One serving (one cup) had 220 calories, 12g total fat, 23g total carbs, 23g total sugars, 6g protein.

The Nagano Fair continues until July 10th.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* TOKYO CENTRAL: 1740 Artesia Blvd, Gardena, CA 90248

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Humphry Slocombe Introduces Mango Lassi Flavor, Proceeds Benefit CAAM

 

Mango Lassi yogurt ice cream

Fro-yo girl here. Bay Area ice cream chain, Humphry Slocombe, recently introduced a new froyo/yogurt ice cream flavor called Mango Lassi. Mango Lassi features mango, whole milk yogurt, cardamom, and house-made lime coconut curry cookies. Plus, they’re donating $1 of every scoop of Mango Lassi sold in May to CAAM, the Center for Asian American Media (the non-profit responsible for CAAM Fest, the Asian American film and media festival).

The mango lassi flavor sounded scrumptious (love cardamom desserts) and it benefits a great cause during AAPI Heritage Month.

Mango lassi yogurt ice cream: Mango lassi froyo really tasted like a mango lassi (sweet, lots of fresh mango flavor, not tangy). The cookies didn’t seem to have much lime or coconut curry flavor. I didn’t notice much cardamom either. The texture was rich and dense.

Humphry Slocombe currently has eight scoop shops in the Bay Area.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Humphrey Slocombe Creates Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream Inspired by Frozen the Musical

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been six years since I last mentioned Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream. I’ve mentioned them twice because they sometimes offer scoopable froyo. Well, they have froyo, aka yogurt ice cream right now. Their new flavor, FROZEN, is inspired by the new Disney FROZEN musical.

FROZEN is a yogurt ice cream with lemon, blueberries, and blue spirulina. The spirulina gives it that blue color you’d associate with FROZEN the movie/ the musical. It’s described as lightly sweet and perfectly tart. I ordered a scoop of FROZEN. It did taste like yogurt and it was slightly tart. I love blueberries and lemon together. Surprisingly, I could barely taste either. It tasted more like brown sugar and cream, with a yogurt aftertaste. The texture was thick, dense, and creamy but it did not taste like blueberries or lemon. I didn’t love it or hate it.

FROZEN yogurt ice cream is available at Humphry Slocombe scoop shops through December 15. There are 6 scoop shops in the Bay Area, including in SF, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, and Redwood City.

To celebrate the new flavor and musical, they gave away tickets to see FROZEN in San Francisco and also pints of the new FROZEN flavor. That giveaway has ended though.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

New Froyo Flavor at Wanderlust Creamery: Preserved Lemon & Candied Pistachio

Fro-yo girl here. Wanderlust Creamery finally has another froyo flavor! Inspired by Morocco, Preserved Lemon & Candied Pistachio features preserved lemon yogurt ice cream, dotted with spiced honey pistachios. The only other yogurt flavor they’ve had was Greek Yogurt with Pomegranate-Rose Jam in 2017. Five years ago!

Preserved Lemon & Candied Pistachio Yogurt Ice Cream: I love lemons, pistachios, and froyo, so I was excited to try the new flavor. I was a bit let down by the actual flavor. The pistachio bits were so tiny and sparse that I could not tell that they were spiced. The lemon flavor was distributed throughout and tasted muted. The froyo was not tangy but did taste like yogurt and cream. It wasn’t too sweet. I wanted much more lemon and pistachio flavor. The texture was thick, rich, and creamy.

I went to Wanderlust Pasadena. The other locations are in Tarzana, Atwater Village, Fairfax, and Venice.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Pazzo Gelato Greek Yogurt Gelato

Fro-yo girl here. I don’t have gelato that often. First, I’d much rather have froyo. Second, I prefer ice cream to gelato. However, when a gelato shop offers yogurt gelato, it gets my attention. Pazzo Gelato posts flavor updates on Twitter and a recent update listed Greek Yogurt. Yes.

Pazzo makes its own gelato with top quality ingredients and local produce. They also serve smoothies, shakes, pastries, coffee and tea.

* Greek yogurt gelato with honey: This was indulgent, rich, velvety, extremely dense and smooth. I liked how it had a slight tang from the yogurt and the honey flavor was prominent and delicious. This was the smoothest, densest yogurt gelato that I’ve had (I’ve tried yogurt gelato at several gelato shops).

I also had a scoop of strawberry buttermilk gelato. The texture wasn’t as smooth as the Greek yogurt but it was thick and creamy. It wasn’t tangy but it did taste like fresh strawberries with cream.

Apparently Pazzo Gelato had a European yogurt gelato in the past but I haven’t seen it offered lately. If they ever offer green tea yogurt again, I have to get some.

Pazzo Gelato has two locations: one in downtown LA and the other in Silverlake.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* PAZZO GELATO: 3827 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026



Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Coolhaus Yogurt & Berries Ice Cream Flavor

Fro-yo girl here. Is it frozen yogurt or ice cream? Coolhaus has one yogurt flavor called Yogurt & Berries. It’s described as having “a creamy yogurt base with seasonal berries swirled all throughout.”

I had a scoop of the Yogurt & Berries and it’s more ice cream like than frozen yogurt like. The texture is rich and creamy with a sweet aftertaste. The berry swirl is barely visible and the berry flavor is subtle though noticeable. I was disappointed that it wasn’t tangy/tart but was on the sweet side. However, there was some yogurt flavor though it tasted more like ice cream (heavy cream, whole milk, eggs) with a little bit of Greek yogurt and berries added to it. It contains live and active cultures, so it is a frozen yogurt in my opinion.

It’s taken me a long time to track down this elusive flavor which is rarely offered at the Pasadena, CA location. If you’re interested in trying it, check the @coolhausla Twitter account for the daily flavor board. Note, that account posts flavor boards for the Culver City and Pasadena locations so be sure you know which location the board is for.

You can also find the recipe for Yogurt & Berries in the new Coolhaus Ice Cream Book on pp. 56-57.

Yogurt & Berries was just named the official ice cream (froyo) of Good Morning America.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Fro-yo Made a Different Way at Ice Pan

Fro-yo girl here. Ice Pan caught my eye because of its innovative process of making the ice cream (or fro-yo) in front of you. They claim to be the "world's first ice cream store where you actually see your ice cream being made from scratch." The ingredients are all natural. IcePan has Fructooligosaccharide which helps accelerate bowel movements, so it's good for constipation.

Step 1: Pick a size: small, medium or large ($3.95, $4.95, $5.95)
Step 2: Choose one flavor, they have a dozen, including chocolate, green tea, banana, strawberry, watermelon, peanut butter, pistachio, and yogurt
Step 3: Choose a base: soy milk, regular milk, nonfat milk, low fat milk
Step 4: Choose toppings (cereal, mochi, fruit, peanuts, chocolate chips) and decide whether to have them on top or mixed in.

Each serving is made from scratch at an Ice Pan station. They spread the liquid mixture thinly on a silver pan – it hardens and looks like an omelette or crepe at first, then scrambled eggs, and finally ice cream. The person making your dessert scrapes, chops and throws the mixture and finally scoops it up (and adds dessert sauce and/or toppings if desired). It’s interesting to watch though it reminds me of Benihana.

* Frozen yogurt with nonfat milk, mochi mixed in ($3.95 for small, 75 cents for mochi topping): The fro-yo was very sticky, like gelato, and the flavor was decent - like your plain/original tart fro-yo but with a different texture and mild flavor.

Yogurt gelato, yogurt ice cream and Ice Pan yogurt just isn't as good as a good soft-serve style fro-yo. A good soft-serve fro-yo is creamy with some iciness, and is smooth and silky without being sticky.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* ICE PAN: 7100 Santa Monica Blvd. #135, West Hollywood, CA