You may be familiar with vanilla, chocolate, and perhaps even more odd flavors such as Tiger ice cream. But you may not be familiar with the kind that combines random flavors, such as bacon.

Many chefs are starting to experiment with new flavors in desserts, and that includes bringing together odd ingredients. The combination of salt and caramel has truly become a huge hit, and you will now find sea salt and caramel combinations in anything from cookies to ice cream and even in chocolate. This success of this has resulted in further creativity. While some combinations are awful, others are surprising.

This includes bacon ice cream.

While you may have heard of a bacon and maple doughnut before, it sounds like the idea of adding bacon to different kinds of desserts is growing. While you may not be able to get this kind treat at your local ice cream shop, you may be able to find it at some luxurious restaurants.

Sweet and salty

So why is this bacon dessert option so popular? It has to do with the sweet and salty combination of the sweet ice cream and the salty flavor of bacon. If you think about it, it's nothing new. The combination of caramel and sea salt mentioned above falls into this category.

In a grocery store, you may be able to find salty pretzels that have been dipped in chocolate or perhaps even a cookie that has been sprinkled with sea salt.

It is the exact same flavor combination. The only difference is that the salty component is now coming from meat instead of pure sea salt.

Different options

So how do you add bacon to your ice cream? One way to add bacon is to candy the bacon which means giving it a coat of sugar. Many people prefer the sweetness of Maple Syrup to complete the candy process.

But is candying your bacon isn't your thing, you can also just fry the bacon and chop it up into small pieces, and then fold in the bacon to the churned ice cream prior to freezing.

To get a nice balance of sweet and salty, consider adding swirls of maple syrup to the dessert while you are making it. You can also just add the bacon to maple ice cream for that nice balance of sweet and salty.

If you're a little worrisome about adding bacon bits, consider chopping it up into bits and then adding it as a decorative touch on top of the dish rather than directly into the ice cream. This way you can remove the bacon if you don't like the flavor combination or you can add more if you really enjoy the final result.

Have you tried bacon ice cream? What do you think of this flavor combination?
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