Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook

The cookbook from Portland’s most inventive ice cream company, founded by cousins Tyler and Kim Malek. Salt & Straw built a national following with bold, boundary-pushing flavors like Honey Lavender, Pear and Blue Cheese, and Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper. This book brings those flavors home with a surprisingly simple approach: one five-minute base recipe that serves as the foundation for dozens of creative variations.

Why Start Here

The genius of this book is its simplicity at the core. Tyler Malek developed a single base recipe that takes five minutes to prepare and requires no cooking, no tempering eggs, and no waiting for custard to cool. From that one base, you can make nearly every flavor in the book. This makes it exceptionally beginner-friendly for the base itself, even though some of the flavor additions require more advanced techniques like making caramel ribbons or roasting fruit.

The recipes are organized by season, reflecting Salt & Straw’s commitment to working with local farmers and seasonal ingredients. Spring brings Arbequina Olive Oil ice cream, summer features Roasted Strawberry and Toasted White Chocolate, autumn offers Buttered Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (yes, really), and winter delivers Double Fold Vanilla. Malek writes with enthusiasm about where each flavor came from and why certain combinations work, which teaches you to think like an ice cream maker rather than just follow instructions.

What to Expect

A 240-page cookbook with full-color photography organized around the four seasons. The no-cook base is genuinely easy, but the flavor additions vary in complexity. Some are as simple as stirring in crushed cookies, while others involve making separate components like fruit compotes, nut brittles, or savory elements. You will need an ice cream maker, and some recipes call for specialty ingredients. The book rewards adventurous eaters who enjoy creative flavor combinations and are willing to experiment.