I can’t believe it’s got butter: this double-dairy ice cream has gone viral – but how does it taste?
What’s yellow, a new superfood (according to the internet) and essential for hot cross bun consumption? Butter.The once vilified member of the food pyramid is now the snack of choice for many and liberally slathered onto everything.Not even the humble soft-serve has been able to escape its greasy grasp.The butter-dipped soft serve, popularised on Instagram, is characteristic of food made for social media: the questionable flavour pairing enhances its desirability.Soft serves with pale yellow shells are already being sold by Cherry’s Goods and Air Lab in Sydney and Timboon Fine Ice Cream in regional Victoria.
It is also promoted as a food highlight at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter show, running from April 2 to 13, being sold by the vendor Looops Funnel Cake,Their version was inspired by a creation from New York-based chef Dominique Ansel, which went viral in mid-2025,Explaining the story behind the treat, Ansel tells Guardian Australia that his stemmed from a trip he took to a dairy farm in Normandy,Ansel has a knack for creating zeitgeisty foods – he’s also the father of the cronut,Retailing for $9, Sydney’s butter soft serve will join other “outrageous” and “must-try food creations” in a new food section of the agricultural fair called the Winning Bite.
At past Easter shows, Vincent Yeow Lim, the ambassador of the Winning Bite, says attendees “cared more” about the flavour of the food and speed of delivery.Now, he says social media has changed our expectations – meaning vendors need to focus on presentation.“We have to eat with our eyeballs first,” says Lim.Eddie Stewart, one of the judges who chose the Winning Bites, says “it’s a show of the times”.People want more of the interesting, creative food they may not get anywhere else, he says, and the Easter show is the best place to experience that.
He also acknowledged that for some foods featured, flavour falls second to aesthetics.Attending a preview for the showcase, Stewart’s words quickly became my reality.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morningWatching the ice-cream being rolled around in the butter, I thought about my heart, soon to roll around in butter as well.According to accredited dietician Danielle Shine, there’s approximately 10 to 17 grams of saturated fat in one butter soft serve.In comparison, Shine says a regular soft serve has two to three grams.
The national public health information service Healthdirect Australia recommends that less than 10% of an adult’s total daily energy intake should come from saturated fat – roughly 20 to 25 grams of saturated fat per day.I tried to take my first bite, but my teeth felt like they were on a Slip N Slide, unable to gain purchase.Once I finally broke the shell, I was strapped onto the next texture rollercoaster.The butter did not melt at the same speed as the ice-cream, which resulted in chewy chunks.With each subsequent bite, the exposed butter stretched like taffy.
I expected something crisp, like a choc-top; instead, I got pasty.Ansel says he seasons his butter dip with honey, salt and vanilla, while Looop’s dip is butter only.There was no discernible flavour to the ice-cream beyond a whisper of vanilla.But I did enjoy the savoury bursts when I got bites that included flakes of salt.As the ice-cream started to melt between disrupted shards of butter, I covertly disposed of the treat.
In the bin I noticed many of its fallen comrades, mostly half-eaten,The experience was over, but the film of grease left in and around my mouth lived on,Shine says a butter soft-serve combination should hypothetically be “very pleasurable” and describes these foods as “hyper-palatable”,“Fat provides a rich, creamy texture, sugar tastes great, salt enhances flavour,” she says,This proved to work with Stewart, who enjoyed the ice-cream, saying that he “can’t wait to have another one”.
But he knows that it’s not for everyone: “Is it going to stand up against a Mr Whippy? Probably not.”
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If you had been keeping tabs on the news about church attendance in Britain lately, you would be forgiven for thinking the country was in the midst of a Christian revival.Stories of swelling congregations, filled with young people returning to the flock, spurred on by everything from social media to a rise in bible sales appeared to be confirmed by a 2024 report from the Bible Society.Based on data collected by a YouGov survey, it claimed church attendance was increasing in England and Wales. The findings drove headlines, and the narrative was established.There was just one problem – the survey turned out to be based on “fraudulent” data and has been withdrawn
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Worcestershire overseas signing leaves one-day final early to catch flight to England
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