Sweet Science - S'mores

S'mores - Graham Cracker Ice Cream with Marshmallow, Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate-Covered Grahams

It is time for another pint that I picked up at the Sweet Science tasting that I attended a couple of weeks ago.  Today's flavor is S'mores which is the combination of chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers.  It is a much more sure-to-please flavor mix which is in contrast to the previous pint which was more experimental.   This is the third brand I've tried which has done a s'mores implementation.  It will be fun to see how this pint is different from the other two.

Removing the lid shows the yellowish color of the graham cracker base.  Appearance-wise, the base itself almost looks dry -- like it is a cake.  There are chocolate bits present as well as a big hunk of exposed marshmallow.  I press it with my finger and it is a bit gelatinous.  It appears to be untoasted.  Digging in, the graham cracker base is creamy once you scoop into it.  It does not have a strong flavor but it serves as a vehicle for the mix-ins.  The marshmallow is interesting.  I am used to either a creamy swirl or small chewy mini-marshmallow.  These are sizeable gelatinous clumps.  The ingredient list calls it "marshmallow fluff".  There are two types of chocolate mix-ins.  About half of them are chocolate covered graham crackers.  Here, the graham crackers are soft and bready.  These are good.  The other half appears to be filled with chocolate ganache -- so I would get an unexpected burst of salty chocolate flavor when I bit into those.  The ganache was the highlight of the pint for me.

I really enjoyed this pint.  The folks at Sweet Science really know how to mix their ingredients.  Creative, too.  This is not the obvious way to mix the ingredients of s'mores. How does this rank compared to the other s'mores implementations that I've had so far?  It is hard to judge because they are all so very different, but I must admit that this pint was my favorite.  Here the graham crackers are the base for chocolatey mix-ins and cool marshmallow fluff.  In second was the Coolhaus with its vanilla base, chocolate & marshmallow mix-ins and graham-crackery swirl.  Finally, the Ben & Jerry's takes the bronze with its chocolate base, chocolate mix-ins and marshmallow and graham cracker swirls.  This isn't to say that I disliked the Ben & Jerry's, but it is very similar to Phish Food which I like better.

  

Three Twins - Butterscotch Pecan

Butterscotch Pecan - Butterscotch Ice Cream with Pecans

The northern California-based Three Twins brand makes todays flavor: Butterscotch Pecan.  It is a twist on the classic butter pecan flavor.  Butterscotch contains butter, of course, but it also contains brown sugar.  It is usually cooked to the "soft crack" stage, though, (I love these candy cooking terms) which tends to make it thick and taffy-like in consistency.  I'm curious as to how they'll smooth that into a base ice cream.  The front of the pint says "if we never come up with a better flavor, I'm sure you'll understand why".  So they seem to like it.  I can't wait to dig in.

After removing the lid, the base ice cream is a light peach color.  One of the pecans is visible already.  The first spoonful is lighter and fluffier than I was expecting.  The butterscotch flavor is on the mild side, but you could tell that it was butterscotch and not caramel.  The consistency was lighter than I expected.  A lot of the premium brands pride themselves on being extra thick and rich, but this pint went down easy.  Almost like a gelato, but it was still very fluffy like an ice cream.  It was quite good.  The pecans were plain (no coating) and distributed throughout the pint.

This was a very good pint of ice cream.  Butterscotch lovers should know what to expect here.  There are no thick swirls or chunks of butterscotch itself, but the way the butterscotch flavoring was worked into the base ice cream was very well done.  It was closer to a butter pecan with butterscotch flavor than a pralines and cream with butterscotch.  With that in mind, I really liked it.

  

Sweet Science - Sweet Corn Blueberry

Sweet Corn Blueberry - Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Blueberry Sauce

Today we review the second pint that I picked up at last weeks ice cream tasting for the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand.  The flavor is Sweet Corn Blueberry.   Sweet corn in ice cream?  I guess trying new and eclectic flavors is one of the inspirations for these reviews.  I am not really a corn-loving person, but I am quite curious as to how this will turn out.  Will it be like a blueberry corn muffin?  Or will it taste like a plate of corn.  We shall see.

It is called sweet corn because it is a natural variety of corn which has a higher sugar content.  This is the corn that we eat on the cob and as a vegetable (although technically corn is a grain).  Other varieties include flour corn, dent corn, flint corn (a subset of which is pop corn), pod corn, waxy corn, striped maize and amylomaize.  Those varieties are generally used for processed corn products (flakes, syrup, meal) and for feeding livestock.  Sweet corn is juicier and when not eaten fresh, it is canned or frozen right away to keep it from getting dried out and tough.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid shows the sweet corn base is a bright yellow as one might expect.  There is a splotch of blueberry sauce on the very top as well.  Digging in, the base ice cream really does taste like corn!  Fresh corn, too, not corn meal or corn flour.  There's no corn pieces in the mix, but somehow they've managed to extract that juicy sweet corn flavor and put it into an ice cream.  You get the full creaminess of the milk and cream as you are eating it but then once you've swallowed you're left with a similar taste in your mouth as if you've eaten a spoonful of corn.  Amazing.  The blueberry sauce is quite good.  There is enough of it so that you get a full survey of the blueberry flavoring, but not so much that you don't taste the corn as well.  A good balance of flavors.  I checked to see if this flavor combination had been done before and I found recipes for salad, salsa and crisp that all called for fresh sweet corn.  So, I guess this is a known flavor combination.

For me, this was fun experiment of a flavor that I did not know could exist in an ice cream.  That part was fun.  But I don't really like fresh corn as a vegetable, so I don't know if I would ever crave this.  I was able to eat the whole pint, so it wasn't gross or anything, but corn is not really my thing.  That said, I do know quite a few people who totally love corn and put it on practically everything.  I've even seen pizzas covered in sweet corn.  If you are one of those people, then you should try this because the flavor replication is quite well done.

  

New Orleans - Cafe au Lait & Beignets

Cafe au Lait & Beignets - Coffee Ice Cream with Beignet Pieces and a Sugary Swirl

We return to the New Orleans brand for another "Big Easy"-themed flavor.   Today it is Cafe Au Lait and Beignets.  A beignet is a French donut or fritter which was brought to Louisiana by French colonists in the 1700s and has become a popular part of the local cuisine.  The Café du Monde in the French Quarter is famous for their beignets which they serve with cafe au lait (coffee with milk).  I checked the ingredient list and have confirmed that both coffee and chicory are used here.  As mentioned in a previous review, chicory is a common coffee additive in New Orleans -- originally introduced because of coffee shortages but now used because people like its distinctive flavor.  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Removing the lid shows a light brown color to the coffee base.  The coffee flavoring is quite good.  It is not too strong, but very flavorful.  Perhaps that is the chicory in the mix, or perhaps it is done this way to simulate 'cafe au lait'.  It is a bit softer than I expected.  And it is a bit creamy in a different way.  I checked the ingredient list and the 'sugar swirl' on the lid is listed as a 'frosting'.  But in this case the swirl is completely blended into the base.  I think that's what gives the ice cream this different texture.  It is almost spreadable.   I don't want to scare people away by using the word frosting, though.  It is sweet but not too sweet.  It is actually one of my favorite coffee bases that I have had.  It had a coffee cake flavor as opposed to the flavor of a cup of coffee or coffee beans.  The beignet mix-ins were distributed throughout the pint.  They were large enough to be soft and doughy but small enough to be buried into your spoonfuls.  I liked them.  They were light and airy and had a bit of cinnamon in them as well.

I really liked this flavor.  Coffee and donuts is a winning combination and I am surprised that I have not seen that combination before.  The New Orleans twist makes it more interesting.  This is one of my favorites from the New Orleans brand.

  

Sweet Science - Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake - Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream Swirled with Cream Cheese Ice Cream

I went to an ice cream tasting this weekend!  The Minnesotan-brand Sweet Science had commandeered a local pub for a few hours on a late Sunday afternoon.  There was no charge, so I figured that I would stop by.  It was fun.  There was a "tasting line" and five servers gave you three small spoonfuls each so I got to sample fifteen flavors in about as many minutes.  Sweet Science is a premium brand, so I got to try out some interesting flavor combinations.  They also had some pints on sale, so I picked up a few and will be reviewing them in the next few weeks.  I figured that I would start off with their Pumpkin Cheesecake flavor as we are getting into the peak of the "pumpkin spice" season at  bakeries and coffee shops.  This flavor is a relatively new blending of their Pumpkin Five Spice flavor with a cream cheese ice cream.

On to the ice cream!  After removing the lid, the top of the pint shows both of the base ice creams.  There is the light orange-ish brown color of the pumpkin base marbled with the white cream cheese ice cream.  Digging in, the pumpkin flavor is quite noticeable right away.  It has a bright, sweet pumpkin flavor with quite a bit of spice flavoring as well.  I always get curious about the exact spice mixed used, but unfortunately, neither the container nor the website spells that out.  At least I learned that five spice powder is a thing, but there are many variants of those.   Other than the expected cinnamon, there was likely something aromatic in the mix as well such as ginger or cardamom.  It was a sweet spice rather than a savory spice.  Don't let my unsatisfied curiosity scare you away, it was quite tasty.  The cream cheese gave it a bit more fullness -- it made it a bit more filling.  There were no other mix-ins.  Sometimes these pie or cheesecake based flavors include a swirl of what would be the 'crust' but not here.

I really enjoyed this pint.  Flavor-wise, I liked it better than the Ben & Jerry flavor that comes out each fall, although that pint includes a graham cracker crust swirl if that is important to you.  If you have access to Sweet Science and have a seasonal 'pumpkin spice' craving, do not hesitate.

  

Talenti - Cinnamon Peach Biscuit

Cinnamon Peach Biscuit - Cinnamon Sugar Gelato with a Peach Butter Swirl and Biscuit Cookie Peaches

I was at Target last week and saw a Talenti flavor that I did not recognize, so I figured that I would check it out.  This is Cinnamon Peach Biscuit -- a pretty interesting flavor combinations.  I have reviewed a few peach flavors, but I have not seen one that mixes peach and cinnamon before.  This is a relatively new flavor introduced by Talenti earlier this year.  Talenti actually numbers their flavors -- you can see the number on the side of the jar.  This flavor is #44 and was introduced at the same time as Vanilla Blueberry Crumble (#46) and a couple of flavors that I have not yet tried -- Vanilla Chai and Peanut Butter Fudge.

Unscrewing the jar shows that the base ice cream is a off-white orange.  That would match the color of both cinnamon and peach.  I had to dig in to see which one it was.  It tasted a bit like both.  The side of the container said it was a cinnamon gelato with a peach butter swirl, but it those two were blended to the point of being ostensibly homogenous.  It is very good though.  Both of the peach and cinnamon were quite tasty, but not too strong and complemented each other quite well.  Plus, it being a gelato gave the pint a lightness which made it very easy to eat.  Further down were the biscuit cookie mix-ins.  These reminded me of shortbread cookies. They were not soft but not too crunchy -- fun to eat but does not in any way take away from the flavor of the peach and cinnamon base.

I liked this Talenti flavor.  Peach is a good addition to their already fruity lineup and using biscuit cookies as a mix-in is a fun variation on the usual pie/cobbler implementation.  If you like peach and gelato, you should try this out.

  

New Orleans - Cherries Jubilee

Cherries Jubilee - Cherry Ice Cream with Brandy-Soaked Cherries and a Dash of Orange Liqueur

We return to the New Orleans brand ice cream today for their Cherries Jubilee flavor.  This is the brand that likes to incorporate a lot of New Orleans-themed desserts into their ice cream flavors.  It looks like Cherries Jubilee was not invented in New Orleans -- it was likely invented by the French chef Auguste Escoffier for the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebration in London in 1897.  That said, the fruit liqueur flambe in the French style makes it fit right in with other New Orleans desserts such as Bananas Foster.  Indeed, Cherries Jubilee has become a popular menu item at famous New Orleans restaurants.  I am looking forward to trying this.

Removing the lid shows the cherry base is a bit purple.  It is a black cherry base!  There is some marbling of the ice cream -- some areas are lighter purple than others.  Digging in, the ice cream has delicious black cherry flavor.  It is fairly sweet and you can taste a bit of the brandy in there as well.  The cherry mix-ins were not obvious at first, but they did eventually appear, often clinging to the walls of the container.  They were similarly delicious as the base ice cream was and had a bit more intense brandy flavor to them as well.  I did not specifically notice the dash of orange liqueur but it did

This was a very good pint of ice cream -- my favorite New Orleans flavor yet.  It is simple -- basically a lot black cherry flavor with bit of a brandy kick -- but it was well-done and a good flavor mix.  Black Cherry fans should not hesitate to try this out.

  

Pumphouse - Coffee with Cashew Toffee

Coffee with Cashew Toffee - City Girl Coffee Ice Cream with Cashew Toffee Pieces

Today, I am trying a new brand.  The Pumphouse Creamery in south Minneapolis has gotten good reviews and pints are starting to be stocked by local grocers.  I figured I would give it a whirl.  The flavor I found is called Coffee with Cashew Toffee.  It has long been known that coffee goes well with toffee, so this is not an unexpected flavor combination.  Putting cashews in the toffee is not standard, but I have seen it before -- interestingly from another Minnesotan ice cream brand.  The coffee used in the base here is locally sourced from the City Girl Coffee Company.  I am looking forward to trying this out.

Removing the lid shows a fairly light color to the coffee base with a hint of some of the mix-ins below.  With the first spoonful, the coffee flavor is quite noticeable right away.  It is not super-potent, but you can tell that it was hand-made from brewed coffee and not from coffee flavoring.  Tasted like a medium roast.  The texture of the base cream was very thick.  This is often a selling point of premium and hand-packed ice creams but in this case it leads to a lack of creaminess.  Sometimes I notice this with McConnell's flavors as well.  It wasn't an icy texture, it was cold and crumbly.  I think it will improve as I eat further down and it starts to melt.  The cashew toffee pieces were very good.  It was like a tasty cashew brittle which was a little crunchy but not in a jawbreaking way.

This was a fun new brand to try.  Coffee & Toffee fans who run into this brand in the Twin Cities will want to check it out.  I will keep a look out for this brand to see if I encounter other interesting flavors.

  

New Orleans - Mississippi Debris

Mississippi Debris - Chocolate Ice Cream with Fudge Brownie Pieces, Chocolate Flakes, Truffles, Malt Balls, Chocolate Almonds, Cherry Cups & Marshmallows

Today we return to the New Orleans Ice Cream brand.  New Orleans is not a super-premium brand, but they have a very bold and imaginative selection of flavors -- most of them based on the New Orleans area.  Today's flavor is Mississippi Debris.  It is a chocolate ice cream filled with almost every mix-in one can think of putting into chocolate.  The idea is to simulate the flow of the 'big muddy' river through New Orleans.  Looks like a fun flavor.

Removing the lid shows a fairly dark color for the chocolate base, with a fudge swirl and one of the mix-ins visible right away.  Digging in, the chocolate base is a bit icy still and I decide to let it sit for another few minutes.  After that, the ice cream is soft enough.  As advertised, there are a lot of different kinds of mix-ins dispersed throughout the pint.  Biting into each mix-in reminded me of the old Forrest Gump line about a box of chocolates -- you never know what you are going to get.  The malt balls and almonds were crunchy while the marshmallows and caramel truffles were chewy.  Some of those chewy mix-ins might have been 'cherry cups' but I didn't notice a lot of cherry flavor from them.  I think I got at least two of each kind of mix-in as well as lots of chocolate flavor from the base and fudge swirl.

This was a fun pint for chocolate lovers.  It reminded me more than a bit of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk.  I think I like the Ben & Jerry's a bit better, but if you are a fan of that flavor and want to try a New Orleans twist on an old favorite then you could give Mississippi Debris a try.