I scream, you scream

If you thought leftover avocados were only good for guacamole, think again! After a visit to the Fallbrook location of Cold Stone Creamery, those who love the taste of avocado are likely to get hooked on avocado ice cream.

“It is a light, smooth avocado texture,” said owner John Maurer. “It does not have a heavy avocado flavor.” The elemental flavors, including the citrus juice ingredient, grace the ice cream with a smooth aftertaste.

Maurer joined forces with Cold Stone to produce this innovative fresh avocado ice cream. “It’s something we created together in partnership,” he said. “We wanted to feature the local product in the store, and that would be the avocado.”

Cold Stone Creamery, celebrated for its premium, high-quality products, created a team of experts to help Maurer – not only with the recipe but also to authorize it.

The first big decision was to decide what variety of avocado to use. Following much deliberation, the Haas avocado was chosen because, as Maurer explained, “the taste seemed to be a bit more prevalent.”

The Cold Stone team arrived at five different recipe samples. Each was a different balance of avocado quantity, citrus and sweet cream base and finding that right balance required a bit of time. “It took about three and a half weeks to get it just right,” Maurer said.

The team reportedly did not face any significant challenges. Everyone appeared to be pleased to include local growers and their products in the new ice cream endeavor. “It was an opportunity to use local produce,” said Maurer. “We made sure to use local avocados.”

Cold Stone, well-known for partnering its ice cream with different “mix-ins,” tested a variety of combinations with the new avocado-flavored ice cream.

“The one that came out on top was caramel,” said Maurer. “The caramel enhances the flavor of the avocado ice cream.” Of course, ice cream eaters are encouraged to try their own combinations!

Recently, students in the Iowa Street School/Home Education Program participated in a Persuasive Writing Workshop on the topic of avocado ice cream. They wrote essays and created ads, flyers, press releases and designs. When Maurer heard about the students’ project, he created a special batch of the delicious frozen treat and took it to class. It was a big hit.

In addition, the avocado ice cream was featured at the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce’s March “Business Expo” Sundowner and was a big hit there as well.

Since this is Maurer’s first year at the Fallbrook Avocado Festival, he is really gearing up for the event. He has been informed that there have been as many as 70,000 attendees in the past and has heard through the grapevine that there could be more this year.

“We are probably going to have about 1,000 servings ready to go,” said Maurer. “We plan on having backups at the store!”

From start to finish, Maurer said it takes about 20 minutes to make a batch of ice cream. In addition to serving the avocado ice cream at his festival booth, Maurer plans to have a few other flavors, too.

For those who cannot wait until festival day, Maurer already has the avocado ice cream at his Main Avenue storefront. “It’s kind of a precursor to the Fallbrook Avocado Festival,” he said.

So far, Maurer said they have had quite a popular demand for it, since it has been in stock for the last few weeks. In fact, he says they might very well keep the new flavor even after the festival comes to a close.

Maurer says the new ice cream is enormously refreshing. Its creamy and smooth texture offers ice cream enthusiasts subtle and intriguing flavors. Like any type of ice cream, this new avocado flavor is great on hot summer days or warm summer nights. But here in Fallbrook, we think ice cream is good on any given day!

Cold Stone Creamery is located at 925 South Main Avenue, Fallbrook. They can be reached by phone at (760) 451-1171.