$6k Truffle & Parmesan Gelato Shatters World Record For Most Expensive Ice Cream

If you opt for gelato — the uber-creamy, Italian frozen dairy confection — over ice cream, you know you are going to be paying a bit more — though, usually, that's in the neighborhood of a few bucks. But not if you order up the latest concoction from Japanese gelato maker Cellato, which, according to Fox Business, recently unveiled a recipe that retails for $6,696 for just over a half-cup serving (130 mL). Flavored with white truffles, aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, sake lees, and studded with edible gold leaf, Byakuya — Japanese for "white knight" — has officially set the record for the world's most expensive ice cream. The title used to belong to the $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae at Serendipity3, so Cellato has really pushed the limits of how expensive ice cream can be. 

Driving the sky-high price is the inclusion of rare Phantom White Truffles, which hail from Alba, Italy. The intensely-flavorful fungi fetch roughly $15k per kilogram. While nowhere near as expensive, quality Parmigiano-Reggiano doesn't come cheap either, going for around $1,000 a wheel. Rounding out the recipe are sake lees, a fermented by-product of sake production, which adds a sour yet fruity flavor, milk, black truffles, rice malt, egg yolks, brewed alcohol, and cashews.

Cellato crafts gelatos that appeal to connoisseurs with rare and often expensive ingredients not usually found in more mainstream varieties. It only offers one other variety currently, but it is nearly as opulent as the Byakuya."Starry Night" is flavored with French chocolate, black truffles, and yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit, and it retails for around $72 a serving.

This latest offering from Cellato was created with assistance from Chef Tadayoshi Yamada of Osaka restaurant RiVi. The vision, as a Japanese company making an Italian confection, was to showcase a marriage of the two cultures in harmony. When ordered, Byakuya is served with a metal spoon crafted exclusively for the experience. The company is also happy to ship the product by plane, though customers who have the gelato brought to their door will need to assemble their dish. First, the gelato must warm a bit to regain its velvety texture. Once it has reached the optimal consistency, the truffle oil provided in the handsome obsidian self-service kit is to be drizzled on top. And don't forget to savor each one of those fortune-filled bites.