SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA — Cinnamon rolls, apple pie…cheese. Together. In ice cream.
That’s one of the more adventurous combinations on the September menu at Salt & Straw, a popular local ice cream shop which has a location at City Center Bishop Ranch.
The company’s seasonal Apple Series combines the classic Fall fruit with some unusual things–including cheese, and in another scoop, beer. Salt and Straw invited my family in to try their Fall lineup.
Want more East Bay food discoveries? Join our free 925 News newsletter.
The most surprising flavor on the list is Apple and Cheddar Cinnamon Rolls. It combines sharp white cheddar ice cream with pieces of cinnamon rolls stuffed with apple pie filling, plus a cinnamon swirl.
I expected something powerfully cheesy, but the cheese flavor is actually pretty subtle. If you come from a part of the country where a slice of cheddar is routinely paired with hot apple pie, this one won’t surprise you a bit.
Apple Cider Donuts takes a bakery-inspired approach, mixing chunks of cider donuts and cinnamon-vanilla caramel into royal icing ice cream. This was our favorite–sweet and appley, with chewy chunks of donut.
Vanilla Apple Custard Tart, meanwhile, folds pieces of vanilla-apple tart into vanilla custard flavored with apple cider. Pretty straightforward–basically a vanilla apple flavor and the least strange of the bunch.
There’s also a vegan option, and it’s another strange one: Hoppy Apple Cider Sorbet, made with dry-hopped apple cider. The company describes it as a nod to the Pacific Northwest’s apple and hop harvests. It basically tastes like an IPA beer, and was the most divisive of the flavors for us.
For something a little more familiar, Salted Caramel Apple Pie combines apple-infused salted caramel ice cream with spiced apple filling and hunks of pie crust. Cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt round out the combination — it’s basically pie a la mode in a cup (or cone).
The Apple Series is scheduled to run through September 24, so you’ve only got a short time to try these flavors! There are literal leaves starting to fall at City Center, so it does feel like perfect timing.
The shop is constantly switching things up, though, so there’s likely to be more unusual flavors on the way in the next series.
Salt & Straw’s San Ramon shop is at 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road, Suite 1107, in City Center Bishop Ranch. Its posted hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
