Baskin-Robbins' New May Ice Cream Flavor Is Like Brunch In A Bowl

There are never enough reasons to thank your mom for everything she's done, which is probably why Baskin-Robbins isn't just unveiling one, but two items, specially for May — and just in time for Mother's Day, too. 

For May days when you feel you could have ice cream for breakfast, Baskin-Robbins could well have you covered. In a press release sent to Tasting Table, the ice cream giant says this month will see the debut of its Breakfast in Bed flavor, which promises to serve up "all your breakfast favorites in one pink spoonful." The flavor offers up the flavor of buttermilk pancake with maple syrup, bits of fluffy pancake all mixed in with a blueberry compote. 

But if enjoying pancakes as an ice cream doesn't exactly rock your world, Baskin-Robbins is also bringing out an ice cream cake that bears more than a passing resemblance to a stack of pancakes, which it is calling the Tall Stack Cake. The ice cream cake even comes with a caramel praline topping that mimics the look of a syrup as it drizzles across the top and side, as well as a scoop of vanilla ice cream reminiscent of a blob of butter, to add a touch of authenticity to this cake.

The regular introduction of new flavor concepts, such as May creations Breakfast in Bed and the Tall Stack Cake (above), is just one of the ways the venerable ice cream chain is working to stay relevant in a very crowded market, where artisanal brands jockey for space alongside traditional favorites. The company recently announced a "back to basics" rebrand that saw it refresh its logo by going back to the color scheme it first adopted when it launched more than seven decades ago, per Marketing Dive.

The company says it has a team of flavor experts to develop seasonal flavors as well as "ice cream inspired by pop culture moments," which explains its flavor library — an ice cream compendium that encompasses 1,400 different tastes, including 1964's "Beatle Nut" inspired by Beatlemania and "Lunar Cheesecake" to mark the first moon landings in 1969. 

And while the coronavirus pandemic might have sent a number of fast casual-chains into financial difficulty, Baskin-Robbins saw record quarters. As Baskin-Robbins' president, Jason Maceda, explained, "Before the pandemic started, we had a couple of record quarters. During the pandemic we had a short period in which we were down. But overall we were positive in 2020" (via Restaurant Business Online).