What's The Deal With Fried Chicken Ice Cream?
If you've been looking for a new way to enjoy your favorite vanilla ice cream, look to social media and one forward-thinking chef for creative inspiration. We're not talking about adding real fried chicken into a batch of frozen luscious cream. Ditch the literal thinking, and instead, consider consuming ice cream that has been neatly formed into the shape of crunchy fried chicken drumsticks.
For those keen to follow the latest food trends on social media, one search for "fried chicken ice cream" on TikTok awards you with an array of social media users dipping their hands and mouths over one sweet treat company's faux chicken drumsticks made purely from handcrafted sweets. Life Raft is a South Carolina-based company dedicated to serving up sweet, whimsical confections that take on the appearance of savory meals. Birthed by renowned pastry chef Cynthia Wong, Life Raft went from local food truck status to nationwide recognition in 2020 when the popularized "Not Fried Chicken" garnered a viral following on social media platforms.
If this signature treat has piqued your curiosity, Life Raft's "not fried chicken" is made by covering chocolate cookie "bones" with waffle-flavored ice cream to match the shape of chicken drumsticks. The creamy frozen wings are then coated in white chocolate to maintain their structure and covered in crushed cornflakes to take on the appearance of real fried chicken. Beyond this dessert's intricate production, what does "Not Fried Chicken" taste like, and is this confection worth all the buzzworthy hype?
The details behind Life Raft's Not Fried Chicken
While you can bread your chicken with crushed-up ice cream cones, combining real chicken and vanilla ice cream may not sound like the most appetizing idea. Alternatively, you may want to focus your tastebuds on dessert and try one of Life Raft's "Not Fried Chicken" drumsticks. One TikTok user claims these sturdy ice cream chicken pieces smell like "sweet waffle cones" and taste delicious with a profoundly satisfying crunchy exterior.
@kylekruegerr Fried Chicken Ice Cream?🍦🍗 #friedchickenicecream #tastetest #foodreview #weirdfood
Yet, as you may have gathered, if you live outside Charleston, South Carolina, a bucket of "Not Fried Chicken" will cost you roughly $110 when purchased through the GoldBelly website. This significant amount of money awards you with nine ice cream drumsticks delivered in a handy ice cream bucket. However, beyond the ice cream bars' unique structure, what makes these whimsical chicken drumsticks so expensive?
Life Raft founder Cynthia Wong prides herself on using local ingredients to source her one-of-a-kind desserts, so in part, you're paying for the care and attention she uses to craft these unconventional ice cream bars. While the above TikTok user and countless other ice cream lovers find Life Raft's "Not Fried Chicken" ice cream to be worth the high cost, getting all the facts and latest news on the Life Raft company may help you decide if you want to try these unique treats.
Purchasing Life Raft's Not Fried Chicken may come with a few health concerns
Before you make the jump from frozen hot chocolate popsicles to dinner-looking ice cream, you might want to get all the facts associated with a late 2023 recall of a few Life Raft desserts. In September 2023, the FDA published a public service announcement released by the South Carolina company regarding the presence of Listeria found in one of the brand's "Not Fried Chicken" ice cream bars. Besides recalling several batches of the drumstick-loaded ice cream bucket, Life Raft also recalled its 2.5-ounce individually packaged drumsticks and "Life Is Peachy" ice cream boxes. Food Safety News claims Life Raft extended the recall to more batches of these products in late September 2023. While there have been no reports of illness, some of the recalled batches of these three popular items have best-by dates that extend to August 2024 and have already been shipped to customers via Goldbelly.
Luckily, Life Raft isn't the only company committed to selling whimsical desserts. Fat Ben's bakery in Cincinnati has a pastry chef devoted to making unconventional cakes. Last month, the company featured a split pea soup cake made from pistachio pudding on Instagram. If you want more grab-and-go treats, Doughnut Plant in New York City sells glaze-covered doughnut ice cream sandwiches through Goldbelly. These frosted delights combine two of your favorite treats into one portable, fun-loving dessert. Sure enough, you can find many creative novelties in the present-day food world.