Burgerville’s seasonal Apple Crumble Sundae turns apple pie a la mode upside-down./Photos courtesy of Burgerville
The pumpkin spice deluge seems to hit menus earlier and with greater force every fall.
“Pumpkin is very popular,” agrees Rebekah McGrath, executive chef of 39-unit Burgerville, “but it’s not exciting on a sundae. And I wanted a break from pumpkin.”
Maybe consumers needed a bit of a break, too. A survey by Restaurant Business’ sister company Technomic rated fall flavors and found that 64% of respondents preferred apples, compared to 44% indicating a preference for pumpkin.
The return of the sundae
This past summer, McGrath added the first seasonal ice cream sundae to the menu, crowned with a triple-berry topping made with local marionberries, strawberries and raspberries. She felt it was time to bring back indulgent desserts and Burgerville’s customers were ready, lifting sales of the LTO.
To replicate the sundae’s success for fall, McGrath turned to apples, once again partnering with local producers.
Vancouver, Wash.-based Burgerville has made local sourcing and seasonality part of its mission since it opened its first location in 1961. Now “75% of our supply chain is local,” said Ciara Lamia, director of supply chain for the brand. “Burgerville has built strong partnerships over the years and we strive to source as much as we can within a 400-mile radius from our home office.” That means a lot of ingredients come from Oregon and Washington state.
Turning apple pie a la mode upside down
“I love the cozy smell of an apple crisp or apple pie baking in the oven,” said McGrath, speaking to her inspiration behind the Apple Crumble Sundae. “This dessert turns apple pie a la mode upside down.”
To begin, the chef worked with Oregon Fruit Products, a local producer of frozen pourable fruit products. “The company is willing to work with us on proprietary products, perfecting the taste, texture and brix [sweetness level],” said Lamia.
McGrath wanted the topping to resemble Dutch apple pie filling with chunky pieces of fruit. Oregon Fruit in Hand Harvest Apple Originals, made with tart, Northwest apples, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice, met that spec. Plus the thaw-and-pour product is easy to execute on the Burgerville line.
Burgerville offers five shakes on the menu, so soft serve ice cream is already on hand. For this sundae, Lamia sources from two small-batch Oregon producers: Alpenrose vanilla ice cream based in Portland and Plant-Based Cosmic Bliss in Eugene.
The crumble topping presented the biggest challenge, taking a couple of iterations to perfect, McGrath said.
“I wanted to keep it plant-based so it would work with both ice creams and have a texture and flavor like a crumbled granola bar to contrast with the apple topping,” she said.
The granola idea didn’t work, since she was looking for more of a streusel topping similar to that on an apple crumb pie.
Lamia is a long-time customer of a local ice cream shop and had tasted a topping there that fit the bill. Two years ago, when Burgerville was interested in partnering with the owner, she wasn’t ready to scale up.
“Now the timing was right, and since we were early to the conversation, we were able to take advantage of getting on board first,” said Lamia.
Burgerville formed the partnership, locking in supply for the duration of the eight-week LTO through Nov. 24. The crumble is a mix of oats, walnuts and cinnamon and is gluten-free as well as vegan.
Bringing it to the menu
The final sundae starts with four ounces of soft serve, topped with two ounces of apple topping, fresh whipped cream made in-house, and the crumble. It sells for $2.99.
Also key to the R&D process was ease of execution, said McGrath. “We made sure it wasn’t too complex and we counted the number of steps to keep the execution from going over the top,” she said. “The sundae requires just a few steps and every ingredient is within arm’s reach.”
With sundaes growing into a customer favorite, McGrath is developing another for the holiday season.
“It’s a takeoff on our popular chocolate peppermint shake,” she said. This sundae uses chocolate sauce from a local purveyor garnished with sprinkles made of chocolate-covered pretzels that are coated with crushed peppermint candies. The pretzels are gluten-free and locally produced as well.
But Burgerville isn’t leaving pumpkin fans behind this fall. The regional chain is still offering its signature pumpkin shake to keep the spirit alive.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.
