While black was restricted to only chocolates and wines till date, they now also dominate the ice-cream market. Yes, you heard it right; black ice-cream is in. And, you thought that was the end of creativity? Well, that just counters your thought process as one of the New York ice-cream manufacturers is already creating a reverse trend for the magical rainbow cakes, bagels, pastas, cookies and more.

Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream of New York City, introduced the black ice-cream to the masses this summer.

This not so delightful looking yet a yummy offering is as dark a black as possible. You got to look at it to believe it. The real magic, though, lies in its taste. It’s a rich, sweet coconut flavor that simply melts in your mouth.

You are totally fluffed if you thought that color came from any artificial food color or any other ingredient like sesame seeds. Now, what comes next will blow your mind.

According to the owner Nick Morgenstern, it’s coconut ash that creates that deep, rich color of this super ice-cream.

So, that’s the secret element that forms Morgenstern’s famous black-ice-cream, yes.

Wondering what’s coconut ash? It’s nothing but activated carbon or burnt/treated charcoal that’s an active ingredient used in most of the modern day items like, pizza, juices, toothpaste and other such stuff. There also exists the charcoal lemonade juice in the market now. 

With charred and processed coconut shells this drink claims to improve digestion and gives you a healthy glowing skin. Considering that activated charcoal has been used as supplements and for digestion related issues for hundreds of years, Dr. Kent Olson (medical director of the San Francisco Poison Control System and clinical professor of medicine and pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco) says that it will probably not be harmful for you.

So, as Morgenstern thought of using it, he says “I had been monkeying around with coconut ash for a while and then I had this fancy chocolate bar that used coconut ash”. He added that he had to order the coconut-ash from an online health food store, as its food-grade variety is not available easily.

Although, activated charcoal is believed to impart health benefits and purifying effects (like the ones you have in your face cleansers or the charcoal juice diet), but there are no researches proving that yet.

So, if you think you can get that flater stomach or detox your body with charcoal, be sure to know the facts first. Lauren Minchen, certified nutritionist and dietician states that charcoal does not burn fat, but simply cleanses the toxins and in the process it may also wash off some beneficial nutrients. She adds that being a strong detoxifier it’s not completely safe either. However, according to Morgenstern, his idea of black ice-cream is not based on the hypothetical health benefits of the charred charcoal, but he simply wanted the trendy ingredient to be a part of his menu and black ice-cream was a perfect idea.

So, apart from the coconut-ash this super sumptuous delicacy also contains a mix up of other coconut derivatives like, coconut milk, flakes and cream.

Result? A super rich coconut flavor that is sure to delight the palates of all the coconut lovers. You won’t mind that inky black stain if you are an ardent fan of this luscious fruit.

Although, we simply love the idea of this yummy black ice-cream, this is actually not the debut of black ice-cream or black food.

For those who are new to black food, it was originally introduced in 2012 in Japan by Ranzan Parking Area. However, the black ice-cream here was made of highly undiluted espresso to impart that super sweet sensation. Black curry was another recipe that this rest stop served and was made of bamboo charcoal powder.
[source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]