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.