Häagen-Dazs - Strawberry

Strawberry - Strawberry Ice Cream

Today we go back to the basics.  The Häagen-Dazs brand's implementation of Strawberry.  I picked up a couple of pints for when my niece and nephew came to visit (they appreciate the simple flavors) but they did not end up having any.  I can't let good ice cream go to waste, so I added them to my queue.  Häagen-Dazs has been selling Strawberry ice cream since 1966.  I have heard good things, so I am looking forward to this pint.

Strawberries are not berries by botanical standards.  They are an 'aggregate accessory fruit' of the genus Fragaria.  Different species of strawberries are native to almost every part of the world (Old World and New World).  People have been breeding and cultivating them for centuries.  The most common cultivar commercially is the 'garden strawberry' which was developed in Britanny, France in the 1700s using two species from the New World: Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana.  This garden strawberry is larger and heartier than most of the wild varieties.

On to the ice cream!  The top of the pint is pink as expected.  You can tell that the whole strawberry is used in the base because some seeds are visible in the mix.  Digging in, the strawberry flavor is quite good.  In previous reviews, I have mentioned that the sweetness of strawberries creates a bit of a challenge -- often a brand will try to cut the flavor with cream cheese, sour cream or even balsamic vinegar.  That is not the case with Häagen-Dazs.  The ingredients of this pint could not be more simple: Cream, skim milk, strawberries, cane sugar, egg yolks.  The flavor is quite good, though.  They must have found just the right balance of ingredients.  Occasionally there are pieces of strawberry in the pint.  In previous pints, these pieces have caused issues because they can be frozen and feel weird to bite into.  Not here, though!  The pieces are quite good and stay soft even immersed in the frozen ice cream.

I liked this pint very much.  It is just a simple strawberry flavor, but it is done very well and tastes great.  Good flavor, good mix-ins.  Häagen-Dazs does the simple flavors very well and strawberry is no exception.