“Friends eat ice cream together, and talk and laugh about the stupidest things" - Axel, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Inspiration

Sea Salt Ice Cream originates from the video game Kingdom Hearts 2, and also appears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. The concept for sea salt ice cream evidently originates from developer and director of Kingdom Hearts Tetsuya Nomura after a trip he took to Tokyo Disney Sea, where he tasted it. This recipe was a specific request from the group of folks who came together with me to raise money for Give Kids the World Village during one of our charity livestreams! The challenge was a fun one, and what came out on the other side was a combo of light milky blue flavor and chilled sea salt.

Workshopping

Sea Salt Snow Cone?

There are plenty of iterations of sea salt ice cream out there, both in physical form and even in milkshake form! A particular iteration that I hadn’t yet found though was both a complete liquid cocktail or a snow cone (which would essentially be a syrup that you’d pour over shaved ice). Admittedly, while workshopping this, I took a few liberties inspired by a salty dog cocktail (normally grapefruit-based) and couldn’t get something that I was happy with in pure liquid form. It did however work when poured over shaved ice! So this recipe came to be! Now, am I still determined to make a cocktail of sea salt ice cream without the brain freeze? Oh yes, but you’ll just have to wait until I’ve got something I’m proud mode of (Kingdom Hearts joke).

Sea Salt Syrup

The premise for the syrup was simple, make it blue and make it salty. Naturally, I went for the blue curaçao to solve for the color. (I’ve got issues with using blue curaçao to make things blue, but the subtle sweet orange flavor actually works in this one!) A salty flavor could be accomplished with just the right amount of salt. Since I knew I’d be serving this over shaved ice (AKA very cold) I’d add a substantial amount of 2:1 simple syrup. Throw in a bit of lemon juice for a slight color adjustment and to balance out some of that extra sweetness. At this point, it was basically done!

There was something critical missing in this initial recipe though. One noticeable factor was the color was much too deep a blue. It almost looked like the ocean, and that just isn’t how the popsicle looks in the game. Not only that, but the texture just didn’t feel right. I thought perhaps the use of shaved ice was making everything feel rough on the tongue. At the moment, I felt I had hit a brick wall with the recipe. Lucky for me, I wasn’t mixing alone this time and I asked for options from my fellow livestream co-hosts. “Maybe add some milk?”, one of them suggested. Great idea!!

Except for the fact that it was almost midnight the day before the charity livestream… no place is open at a time like this, and I just didn’t have time to continue workshopping the recipe before the morning. But wait, I had an idea. A while back I purchased some milk powder because you can use it to clarify certain drinks without the need for any acid (Cocktail Time with Kevin Kos). You know what? We gave it a try and added some of it to the recipe, and it totally worked! The addition corrected the color and completely fixed the texture. Recipe, saved!

It’s a Mocktail Too?

Oh yea. As it turns out, this recipe only has one alcoholic ingredient in it, and that’s the blue curaçao. That being said, there is very little difference in this recipe if you swap out the liqueur with a non-alcoholic syrup. That being said, you can make sea salt ice cream snow cones to share with everyone! You may be wondering though, “If this has milk powder in it, what about my lactose-intolerant friends?”. Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t heard of non-dairy-based milk products. Though I don’t have any recommended brands myself, give it a search and see what you can find!

Flavor Analysis

Salty and sweet. It’s a drink that gives a refreshing flavor that transports you to the beach. It has a creamy snow cone vibe and a slight citrus note that is not commonly found with a creamy base.