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NYC's Newest Soft Serve Is Made With Coconut Cream
By
Nell Casey
Published Aug 10, 2017
Modified Aug 10, 2017
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courtesy Kokus
By
Nell Casey
Published Aug 10, 2017
Modified Aug 10, 2017
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In case you missed the memo, this season has turned into the summer of soft serve. Dominique Ansel's doing it. There's a pop-up carnival dedicated to it. You can even get a gourmet version of it in Times Square. The latest addition to the pack takes all the dairy out of the equation, creating something that's a cross between traditional soft serve and froyo.
Kokus, a forthcoming soft serve shop, uses cultured coconut cream to create a frozen concoction that closely resembles soft serve ice cream or frozen yogurt. This process usually involves adding probiotics to coconut milk—Kokus sources its coconut cream from Original Living Coconut—plus a thickening agent (guar gum, in this case) and whipping them into a frosty texture.
"Basically, we culture the coconut cream to a desired temperature for a specific amount of time. The timing is crucial: literally down to-the-second," Founder Carli Blum tells Gothamist. "For our Lemon Vanilla Tart flavor, we achieved that amazing tart taste through culturing the coconuts. We don't use any thickeners or sweeteners during the culturing process. [Ed note: thickeners are added later, as per above] Instead, we play off the natural sweetness of the coconut."
More sweetener comes from raw honey and Blum promises that each batch contains fewer than eight ingredients.
(courtesy of Kokus)
Eight ingredients before toppings, of course. In the Instagram era, everything must be loaded up with colorful things like edible flowers and something called "Blue Majik Dust" (see above). The pre-conceived sundaes have the somewhat grating "wellness"-type of labels like "Glow," a combination of spiced tumeric honey, a goji-mulberry mix, chocolate chia seeds, bee pollen and coconut chips over lemon vanilla soft serve that's meant to "[support] the body to banish free radicals, moisturize, detox & stimulate blood flow for beautiful glowing skin." I dunno, man, just give me my ice cream and leave my blood flow out of it.
Still, there's no denying the beauty of the creations ($10), which can be served in a regular cup or out of a halved coconut for a $2 upcharge. Kokus will be popping up at Sweetgreen Nolita on August 16th, Sweetgreen UES on August 23rd and Sweetgreen Williamsburg on August 30th. They'll also be at both Smorgasburgs (Williamsburg Saturdays, Prospect Park Sundays) throughout the month of August. There are plans in the works for a brick-and-mortar shop opening sometime in 2018.
Tagged
coconut cream
ice cream
kokus
smorgasburg
soft serve
sweetgreen
vegan
original
Nell Casey
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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