Cicada Ice Cream? A Big Buzz That Was Short Lived

Photo via skantman's flickr

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you cicadas, make ice cream? It may not make sense to many of us, but that is what the owners of Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream in Colombia, Missouri did. Cicadas are back and buzzing in many states this year, including Missouri. Millions of these insects, which appear every 13-years, have been swarming vast stretches of the South and Midwest, noisily searching for mates. The owners at Sparky's, always up for a new flavor challenge, decided to try adding some extra crunch and protein to a brown sugar and butter flavor ice cream base by adding boiled cicadas. The flavor had a big debut on June 1st and was an immediate hit, and sold out its initial and only batch. The flavor had a short lived run after the owners called the health department.

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