# Besides Butter Pecan: What are the 'American' flavors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635 "2010-05-24T23:24:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/61 "2010-05-25T23:58:17Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Nope… never heard of [butter brickle]. Turns out that [it’s a trademarked term for a toffee-flavored ice cream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_Brickle) sold here in the states. According to the article, the 1950’s ads for it featured an announcer speaking in a faux British accent. So: British flavor, American term :). Never knew that before! It’s the name we use for toffee candy in our household; I think my wife picked it up from her mom, and I wonder if the Butter Brickle ice cream was some American’s introduction to the flavor of toffee. I was surprised to learn that butter pecan has no caramelized sugar in it; it tastes very similar to caramel ice cream to me. Recipes online differ markedly, but [this one](http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/butter_pecan_ice_cream/) is the first that shows up on Google, and it features brown sugar and browned butter, which gives a pretty good approximation of caramel flavors. (The only time I made clarified butter, I disgustingly mixed some sugar into the browned butter solids that were left over and ate it from the pan like poor man’s caramel; it was salty and delicious!) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/62 "2010-05-26T02:44:26Z")
I would argue that Strawberry Ice Cream is perhaps the oldest original and quintissential American flavor, as strawberries are indigenous to the Americas. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/63 "2010-05-26T03:04:49Z")
Well, I guess not, apparently strawberries have been around quite a while. Although, strawberries as they are known today are mostly strains of indigenous American Cultivars, that much is true. I guess vanilla ice cream would be the quintieseential flavor of the America’s, as vanilla is truly indigenous to the Americas ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/64 "2010-05-26T05:39:45Z")
Hell, for that matter Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate are all really at their roots American flavors… all native flavors and perhaps the most popular worldwide. Maybe the better question is what modern ice cream isn’t American? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/65 "2010-05-26T06:08:42Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > All the above take me back to my childhood in Texas - as well as peanut butter and jelly (with sweet PB, and the fake grape taste of the jelly). While I won’t disagree with the other fake tastes you mention, this bit makes me wonder if you’ve ever tasted a concord grape. They have a flavor quite different from most grapes, and aren’t commonly eaten on their own except in a few regions. Grape jelly usually tastes very authentically like concord grapes (albeit sweeter). I only had fresh concord grapes fairly recently and was amazed to discover that jelly actually DOES taste like something. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/66 "2010-05-26T07:34:21Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > What the hell is Superman ice cream? I was born in Colorado, grew up in Wisconsin, and have lived in Minnesota for the last 9 years and I’ve never heard of this. > > Huh. I [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_ice_cream)’d it, and I’ve still no idea. It’s clearly not rainbow sherbet, though that might be it’s non-custard analogue. Weird - I’ve never seen this. According to this [article from The Toledo Blade](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WA0VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_AIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6574,3826517&dq=blue+moon+superman+ice+cream+history), the prevailing flavors for Superman Ice Cream in my distribution area were Cherry Ice Cream (Red), Blue Moon Ice cream (of course, it is the color Blue and perhaps related to a Pineapple Cassis/Cuarcao light bulb moment.), and Lemon Ice Cream (Yellow). It is [still popular in this area of Ohio](http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080706/ART16/756811987), lest anyone think it is purely a Michigan thing. The Superman should be brilliant colors, too… in a [homemade setting](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/3178871884_763f8f9a85.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/spammo91/3178871884/&h=500&w=333&sz=130&tbnid=8wko4ZLqYI4ojM:&tbnh=275&tbnw=183&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsuperman%2Bice%2Bcream&usg=__Uip_JPAWSc5r9YqSCw3j47fHDhI=&ei=u838S96lOYP-8Ab4lsC8Cw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CBwQ9QEwAQ), rather than the [muted colors](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://moblog.net/media/f/i/r/firepile/superman-ice-cream.jpg&imgrefurl=http://moblog.net/view/886826/superman-ice-cream&h=516&w=387&sz=37&tbnid=uRpiePqG67bLUM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=98&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsuperman%2Bice%2Bcream&usg=__7qLUpLU7X445H257ylmoj9-1Oqo=&ei=u838S96lOYP-8Ab4lsC8Cw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CCIQ9QEwAw) of the commercial variety. Like I said, I think I had it once with Bubble Gum included-- Super, Superman Ice Cream. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/67 "2010-05-26T07:50:09Z")
Anyone remember the Cap’n Crunch Bars? they came in a Chocolate and Strawberry crunch, I think… not really a cake and ice cream ba4r so to speak, never had anything quite like it… intense strawberry with a wonderful layering and bite, “crunch coat”— no peanut butter as Cap’n crucnch is associated with. Think they ran from the late sixties to the early eighties, then poof, discontinued. I don’t see how they could just disappear like that. Every kid loved them. By far, the favorite of every kid I knew. Give my left nut for a day at the quarry and a Strawberry Cap’n Crunch Bar. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/68 "2010-05-26T09:25:47Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > While I won’t disagree with the other fake tastes you mention, this bit makes me wonder if you’ve ever tasted a concord grape. They have a flavor quite different from most grapes, and aren’t commonly eaten on their own except in a few regions. Grape jelly usually tastes very authentically like concord grapes (albeit sweeter). > > I only had fresh concord grapes fairly recently and was amazed to discover that jelly actually DOES taste like something. Well that makes sense. Also I’ve just found out thanks to this thread that the “cinnamon” flavor of Big Red et al is actually that of cassia, which is why it tastes ersatz to me. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/69 "2010-05-26T10:29:28Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Turns out that [it’s a trademarked term for a toffee-flavored ice cream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_Brickle) sold here in the states. According to the article, the 1950’s ads for it featured an announcer speaking in a faux British accent. So: British flavor, American term :). Never knew that before! It’s the name we use for toffee candy in our household; I think my wife picked it up from her mom, and I wonder if the Butter Brickle ice cream was some American’s introduction to the flavor of toffee. > > I was surprised to learn that butter pecan has no caramelized sugar in it; it tastes very similar to caramel ice cream to me. Recipes online differ markedly, but [this one](http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/butter_pecan_ice_cream/) is the first that shows up on Google, and it features brown sugar and browned butter, which gives a pretty good approximation of caramel flavors. (The only time I made clarified butter, I disgustingly mixed some sugar into the browned butter solids that were left over and ate it from the pan like poor man’s caramel; it was salty and delicious!) Butter brickle ice cream will not have chocolate on the bits and has a swirled caramel sauce swirl in the ice cream. Toffee ice cream will have the chocolate coating on the pieces. The biggest favorite that is always the first to sellout in the stores are the flavors that have little chocolate cows, moose, turtles or whatever shaped candies with a soft caramel center in them often including peanut butter. Cow tracks. Moose Tracks. Turtle Tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/70 "2010-05-26T11:53:30Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Cinnamon in the US is also different. It is actually _cassia_, as opposed to the true cinnamon used in England, Mexico, and much of the rest of the world. Huh. You live and learn, thanks! 🙂 I never noticed that in any of my visits that dishes that used Cinnamon tasted different. And for the candy, I just assumed it was some chemical seeking to approximate the taste that I also liked in its own right. Bit like how strawberry flavoured stuff doesn’t actually taste much like strawberries but is so common as a flavour that everyone knows what they’re going to be tasting if they see it on the packet. I didn’t think they were basing it on a related but different plant altogether. I’ve never heard of Cassia before. I’m not sure if it’s even sold here in the UK. Now I want to do a Pepsi challenge style thing with Cassia and Cinnamon to see how they compare. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/71 "2010-05-26T14:40:17Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > Huh. You live and learn, thanks! 🙂 I never noticed that in any of my visits that dishes that used Cinnamon tasted different. Cassia and cinnamon are closely related plants – they’re both from the _Cinnamomum_ genus. In terms of flavor, cassia has a stronger, sharper flavor than Ceylon cinnamon, which tastes delicate and refined in comparison. But they’re in the same flavor category. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/72 "2010-05-26T15:06:53Z")
I wonder if malt topping, for ice cream, is a strictly American thing. Also, one thing we lack in our ice cream that I love whenever I go to Italy is candied citrus rinds. There’s a flavor og gellotto called Soupa Inglese that has them. Pure heaven. Also, I’m glad to see hazelnut is becoming more popular in the US, here on the east coast, that is. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/73 "2010-05-26T15:35:16Z")
I know that corn bread didn’t start here, but I think it’s generally regarded as very American. Also, I’m thinking of barbecue pizza. One purely American flavor combined with a food which was made American. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/74 "2010-05-26T16:25:05Z")
Are you folks who keep mentioning things like cornbread, pizza, apple pie, etc still talking about ice cream flavors? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/75 "2010-05-26T16:31:05Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#): > > I know that corn bread didn’t start here… Sure it did! mmmm…cornbread ice cream… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/76 "2010-05-26T16:53:09Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Are you folks who keep mentioning things like cornbread, pizza, apple pie, etc still talking about ice cream flavors? 😕 OP isn’t limited to ice cream. Note the “in general” in paragraph 3. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/77 "2010-05-26T16:53:54Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Nah, cantaloupe ice cream isn’t American, it’s Californian. I’ve never heard of it. Would it be Southern Californian? Or upscale Californian? That would miss me. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/78 "2010-05-26T17:00:11Z")
And back to ice cream, not just an American flavor, but one that I’ve never seen outside of New Hampshire and Massachusetts - [frozen pudding](http://www.brighams.com/flavors/default.asp?flavor=12). Rum-soaked fruit in sweet cream ice cream. It’s not enormously popular, and hard to find since it’s not made in a lot of places, but it’s tasty stuff! I’ve always wondered where it came from. The only google hits I get are for places in New England (or stuff like pudding pops and pudding flavors of ice cream, like chocolate). Is this a popular flavor in other countries, with a different name? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/79 "2010-05-26T17:24:23Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > > [@Kimstu](#): > > > > Nah, cantaloupe ice cream isn’t American, it’s Californian. > > I’ve never heard of it. Would it be Southern Californian? Or upscale Californian? That would miss me. Well, I was actually being a little tongue-in-cheek there, and should probably have thrown in a smiley. I was just noting that cantaloupe as an ice cream flavor strikes me as much more in the “California/New American/Alice Waters/arugula and goat cheese/upscale and hip” category than in the “down-home/heartland/traditional/Pilgrims and pioneers American” category. I would strongly resist the notion of cantaloupe ice cream as a “traditional American flavor” in the same category with “real Americana” like maple syrup and peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635/80 "2010-05-28T02:46:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Not American per se, but of American origin: Grape Nut Ice Cream. This is actually quite popular here in Panama - I think it originated somehow in the old Canal Zone. It has bits of Grape Nuts cereal in it. I’ll be damned. I was going to mention grapenut ice cream, but I only know it as a New England regional flavor that only old people get, and which can only be found at a dwindling number of traditional ice-cream places. I often get it when I can. It’s a very low-key flavor, with something of the appeal of bread pudding. The theory about the Canal Zone would make sense. I’m going to ask my Dad if he remembers having the stuff there in the '50s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-butter-pecan-what-are-the-american-flavors/540635.md?page=5)