Jeni's - Gooey Butter Cake

Gooey Butter Cake - Cream cheese ice cream layered with crumbles of soft vanilla cake and swirls of made-from-scratch caramel-butterscotch sauce

Today is the day for the final pint from my six-pint Black Friday shipment from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.  I like to mix up my brands so it took me a month to get through this shipment.  The flavor is called Gooey Butter Cake and is based on a cake popular in the Saint Louis area.  This is the second pint I've had which is based on this type of cake.  The previous pint was from Ample Hills.  It'll be interesting to compare and contrast the two pints.

I see a lot of interesting things as I remove the lid from the pint.  The cream cheese base in the background has the expected off-white color and there is quite a bit of caramel-colored splotches all across the top.  Digging in, I taste a strong vanilla flavor from the cake pieces right away.  It is quite tasty.  Then I taste the caramel sauce with notes of butterscotch.  That is also quite good.  As I eat my way down, I get a better view of the texture of the pint.  The cake pieces have been shredded and immersed in the caramel sauce.  Then that combination is marbled into the cream cheese base.  So, there are no large cake pieces -- nothing is 'chewy' -- yet these cake-and-sauce sections have a different texture which is much different than the ice cream.  It is not completely smooth, but any texture quickly melts in your mouth.  The vanilla flavor reminded me a bit of the recent Cream Puff pint in that they both deliver strong vanilla in unique ways.  There a vanilla custard with pastry flakes, here a vanilla cake in a cream cheese base (with a caramel sauce).

I really liked this pint of ice cream.  It is a very unique twist on a vanilla caramel swirl.  How does it compare to Ample Hills?  They are actually quite different.  Ample Hills uses very large cake chunks -- almost carton-spanning chunks, while Jeni's shreds the cake into a cakey-caramel swirl.  The presence of caramel is a big difference as well.  I really liked both.  Your preference would depend on how chunky of a mood you are in.  Enjoy.

Izzy's - Cookies N' Cream

Cookies N' Cream - Bourbon and Bourbon-Indonesian Vanilla Ice Cream with Oreo Cookies

I was at the Saint Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream a  a couple of weeks ago and they had a sale on pints.  So I picked up a pint or two.  Most of their pre-packaged pints are the simple or 'everyday' flavors.  I haven't had their Cookies N' Cream yet, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Removing the lid, the top of the pint looks like a classic cookies and cream implementation.  The base is white and there are lots of cookie chunks of various sizes.  Oreo-brand sandwich cookies are used here.  Oreos make powdery crumbs when crushed and you can see some of that here.  The otherwise bright-white vanilla base becomes speckled with Oreo dust.  Digging in, I can really taste the vanilla in the base.  My palate is not super-sensitive to vanilla and often I don't specifically taste it if there are other ingredients present, but I do taste it here.  The side of the pint mentions they blend Bourbon and Bourbon-Indonesian vanillas here.  I know 'Bourbon' is another name for 'Madagascar' vanilla (the Réunion island off the coast of Madagascar was once called 'Île Bourbon'), but I was unfamiliar with Indonesian vanilla.  I googled and found a site that says that is basically Madagascar variety of beans but harvested in a different way which creates a 'sharper, woodier flavor profile' and that these beans are often blended with other beans as is done here.  I can certainly taste it, even with all the Oreos in the mix.  The Oreos themselves taste good.  They are chocolatey and crunchy and occasionally there is a larger piece where you can notice the creamy filling in between.  Overall, the texture of the pint was a bit 'dry'.  I noticed this once before with Izzy's and their Mint Chocolate Chip flavor.  The flavors were all there but there was an overall chalky feeling to ice cream in my mouth rather a melting/creamy feeling that I usually get when I eat ice cream.  I have only noticed it with these two flavors and not any other flavors from Izzy's.  I wonder if the pre-packaged pints are made differently?

This is a decent implementation of the classic Cookies N Cream flavor -- with genuine Oreo-brand sandwich cookies used for the mix-ins!  That said, the dry and almost chalky consistency keeps me from loving this, though.  I'm thinking this one likely tastes better in the scoop shop than as a pre-packaged pint.

Jeni's - Roxbury Road

Roxbury Road - Dense Milk Chocolate Ice Cream.  Salty Smoked Almonds.  Handmade, Melt-In-Your-Mouth Marshmallows.  A Swirl of Caramel Sauce. The Only Thing Better is Love.

Today is the penultimate pint from my recent Black Friday shipment from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.  This one is called Roxbury Road and his their take on the classic Rocky Road flavor.  Rocky Road dates back at least to the 1920s.  It is one of the earliest examples of an ice cream with multiple mix-ins.  I discussed its history in a previous review.  The twist on the flavor name comes from a road in the Columbus Ohio area called Roxbury Road which goes between the affluent suburbs of Marble Cliff and Upper Arlington.  Let's dig in!

After removing the lid, the chocolate base here looks quite dark.  Hints of a couple of marshmallow mix-ins are visible right away as well.  As I dig into the pint, the chocolate is quite rich and creamy and full of chocolatey flavor. The marshmallow mix-ins are about the size of sugar cubes.  They are homemade marshmallows.  They have a gelatinous consistency about halfway between a store-bought marshmallow and a melted marshmallow.  The almonds are not visibly obvious but I encountered them quite often.  They must be small enough so as bury themselves inside each spoonful, but large enough to provide a decent crunch.  A caramel sauce is listed but it is not immediately obvious to me.  At first I thought it might have gotten blended into the chocolate, but I think I noticed it a little towards the bottom of the pint.  At any rate, the caramel swirl plays only a minor role here.

This is a solid and well done implementation of a Rocky Road flavor.  It is a fairly straight take on the flavor.  The label shows there is also a caramel swirl.  It might provide some extra flavor notes but that swirl does not stick out here.  I think I still like Häagen-Dazs a little better because of how their melted marshmallows but you can't go wrong here either.  Fans of both Jeni's and Rocky Road will appreciate their take on this classic flavor.

Sweet Science - Opera Cake

Opera Cake - Coffee Ice Cream with a Fudge Swirl and Toasted Almonds

It is Christmas Day, so I figured I'd have the fourth and final holiday flavor from the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science Ice Cream.  This one is called Opera Cake.  I had not heard of opera cake before, but when I looked it up, I recognized it.  It is a coffee-dipped almond sponge cake with layers of chocolate.  Coffee, chocolate and almond are all winning ice cream flavors so I am looking forward to this.

Removing the lid, the top of the pint appears to be quite marbled.  I see the the light beige color of the coffee base along with some darker sections.  One of them definitely looks like chocolate while the other one is a little lighter in color.  Digging in, the coffee base is quite flavorful.  It tastes like the same coffee base used in their Five Watt Coffee flavor.  I checked the ingredient list and Five Watt Coffee -- a local coffee shop -- is indeed used for the base here.  The darker sections are a chocolate swirl.  The lighter swirl was due to some diffusion from a swirl right below the surface.  As I've written in previous reviews, coffee and chocolate have similar active ingredients (caffeine and theobromine) so they are very good together as a flavor combination.  The swirl is a bit light, though.  The coffee base dominates the chocolate here.  Also underneath are small pieces of almond which are tasty and add a little bit of crunchy texture.

This is a pretty good pint.  Since there are no cake pieces, the 'opera cake' inspiration is a bit lost but you can't really go wrong mixing coffee, chocolate and almonds.  The mix is a bit coffee-centric though, so this will appeal to coffee lovers more than chocolate lovers.  I checked my reviews for similar flavor and this appears to be a premium version of Baskin-Robbins' famous Jamoca Almond Fudge.  My favorite combination would probably be McConnell's limited-batch Mocha Fudge & Smoked Almonds from last fall.  Neither of these are locally available though.  If you're in Saint Paul, and like coffee ice cream check this one out.

Sweet Science - Strawberry Kolache

Strawberry Kolache - Cream Cheese Ice Cream with Kolache Pastry Pieces and a Strawberry Swirl

Today we do the third of four holiday flavors from the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand.  This one is called Strawberry Kolache.  It is based on a Czech pastry which goes by several different spellings:  kolache, koláče or kolacky.  I often hear it pronounced as "ko-latch-key."  It is very close to a danish, but the dough is a bit denser and sweeter instead of the light, flaky consistency of a danish.  This should be interesting!

But before we proceed, I must acknowledge that this is my 400th pint review!  As with the previous three century reviews (here, here and here) I like to make a collage of the pint images:

Pints 301-400

That's a lot of ice cream!  A fairly diverse set of brands in that image, too.  I keep thinking that I'll run out of flavors, but it does not seem close to happening yet.  Stay tuned!

On to Strawberry Kolache!  Removing the lid,  There is quite a bit of strawberry sauce visible right away on top.  Some of it with a complex-looking texture.  I'm not sure if that is the pastry mixed in or if the strawberry has been blended into some sort of jam.  The cream cheese is fairly white.  Digging in, the strawberry flavor is quite good.  It does taste a bit like a jam.  It has a very good flavor.  Not too sweet or too tart and it is balanced very well by the cream cheese base.  The kolache pastry pieces were distributed throughout the pint.  They were of decent size and had a consistency halfway between crunchy and chewy.  They were quite good and added some good texture to the pint.  It's quite common to include shortbread/shortcake or cheesecake with strawberry in an ice cream flavor.  I think these kolache chunks in a cream cheese base provide a fun and unique twist on that idea.

I really enjoyed this pint.  This is one of the better strawberry flavors that I have had.  The jam delivered just the right amount of strawberry flavor, the cream cheese balanced it well and the pastry made it fun and interesting.  Plus, although this is technically a holiday flavor, it doesn't feel specifically Christmas-y to me, so one could easily enjoy this flavor year-round.

Milkjam Creamery - Pumpkin to Talk About

Pumpkin to Talk About - Pumpkin Sorbet with Spices

People are talking...  talking 'bout ice cream... yes, the folks at the Minneapolis-based Milkjam Creamery have come up with another winning flavor name pun!  This holiday flavor is called Pumpkin to Talk About.  It is a pumpkin spice sorbet. So, I'm going start up a youtube recording of the Bonnie Raitt song and dig in!

Removing the lid, I see the thick dark orange color of the pumpkin sorbet.  This is my first pumpkin sorbet -- my previous pumpkin bases have all been ice creams.  Pumpkin is not a bad choice for a sorbet because it supplies its own creaminess.  The pumpkin is quite dense and flavorful.  It is also a spicier than average pumpkin spice.  Milkjam does not list ingredients on their packaging, but I'm guessing there is plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg.  It is quite good.  It is quite thick and heavy on the spoon, but surprisingly not too heavy in the stomach.  It is still filling, but not as filling as it looks.

This is a very well done implementation of a pumpkin sorbet.  Definitely suitable for holiday eating.  I am more of an ice cream man, so I would probably prefer this one scoop at a time, but if you like pumpkin and prefer sorbets then you should check this out.

Sweet Science - Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark - Vanilla Mint Ice Cream Swirled with Chocolate Ice Cream with Homemade Peppermint Bark Pieces

The second of the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand's four holiday flavors is called Peppermint Bark.  This is the second Peppermint Bark flavor that I am having this season (Talenti is the other).  I tried the Häagen-Dazs flavor  a couple of years ago.  It will be fun to compare and contrast.  The use of chocolate ice cream as a "swirl" is something that I haven't seen in a while.  Lately, I've been seeing more chocolate sauce or chocolate chunks.  It's a very successful combination, though.  Ben & Jerry's Half Baked does it and that is one of their most popular flavors.  Let's dig in.

Opening the pint, all is visible right away.  The vanilla mint and chocolate ice cream bases are marbled fairly well and I see one or tow of the bark pieces on top as well.    Digging in, the vanilla mint base is very good.  It is quite minty.  The chocolate ice cream swirl adds good chocolate flavor.  The chocolate ice cream has a more cocoa-like flavor than chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.  By that, I mean that it more closely resembles the flavor of hot chocolate or chocolate milk.  The mint and the chocolate go well together, of course.  Long-time readers will know that mint chocolate chip is my favorite ice cream flavor and I am always looking for different ways to combine the flavors.  The peppermint bark pieces that give the flavor its name are distributed through the pint.  These are small nut-sized pieces of mint candy which are coated in white chocolate.  I liked them.  They had a good crunchy-chunky texture.  Some candy-like crunch but not so crunchy that you needed to worry about your teeth.

This is an excellent pint of peppermint bark ice cream.  I does a really good job of delivering a lot of mint and chocolate flavor while still being distinctly 'peppermint bark' and not just 'mint chip'.  Sweet Science is upping its game for the holidays.  The previous holiday pint was excellent as well.  I can't want for the next two pints.

Jeni's - Cream Puff

Cream Puff - Vanilla Custard with Toasted Pastry Flakes

We move on to the fourth pint in my six-pint Black Friday shipment from the Columbus-based Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.  Today's flavor is a non-holiday flavor from their regular line called Cream Puff.  I did a bit of quick googling and there are lots of different ways to make cream puffs.  Lots of names for cream puffs as well -- profiteroles, chou à la crème, and probably more.  The common theme is the use of a choux pastry which does not include rising agents.  A high moisture content causes the pastry dough to "puff" when cooked.  In this pint, a vanilla custard is used to simulate the cream and toasted pastry flakes represent the puffed pastry.  Looks interesting!

Removing the lid, the vanilla custard base is a light color and there are a lot of pastry flakes!  These flakes are small enough to be considered shredded and are densely mixed into the custard.  Every single spoonful is going to contain a lot of pastry.  Digging in the vanilla flavor is quite sweet and strong.  The link above describes the custard as "bright" and "candy-like" and I agree.  It is quite delicious and the vanilla flavor is quite strong.  I think this is actually the strongest vanilla flavor that I have had in a pint.  The pastry flakes have an interesting effect on the pint.  When I focus in on a single flake, it does taste like a toasted pastry.  But, en masse, the flakes create an emulsion which changes the texture of the custard.  I guess it is not exactly like the pastry in a creme puff, but the biggest part of the 'puff' is air, and you wouldn't want too much of that in an ice cream.  This is as if the pastry is shredded and then suspended in the creme.  It makes it thick and perhaps even a bit gelatinous.  It's a rather cool effect.

I enjoyed this pint quite a bit.  The vanilla custard alone makes it a winner.  If you like vanilla, you should check this out.  The pastry flakes added a little bit of flavor, but mainly had the effect of creating an interesting texture.  A fun flavor.

Sweet Science - Gingerbread

Gingerbread - Cinnamon Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Gingerbread Pieces and a Frosting Swirl

Today we return to the Saint Paul-based Sweet Science brand for the first of their December flavors.  Because of the holidays, they have released four flavors with holiday themes.  Whew!  They usually only have two seasonal flavors per month.  Well, I had better get going.  The first pint is called Gingerbread.  Gingerbread pieces are the mix-ins in a brown sugar cinnamon base.  Some frosting is swirled into the mix as well.  Looks good!

Removing the pint, the brown-sugar cinnamon base is a light tan color.  There is a marbling of a lighter color on the top, too.  This is probably the frosting.  Digging in, the brown sugar cinnamon is quite flavorful and delicious.  The gingerbread pieces are of a decent size (see below) and are chewy and have a strong flavor.  The frosting is slightly runny -- it was almost like a sauce.  It actually worked quite well as a swirl.  It was allowed to half-mix with the base in spots making the ice cream a bit softer.

This is an excellent pint of ice cream.  The gingerbread pieces here are better here than in my recent Jeni's pint, though I can't really make a direct comparison between the two flavors because the bases are so different (brown sugar cinnamon vs cognac).  This is one of the better brown sugar bases that I have had -- perhaps topped only by Ample Hills' Nonna's Oatmeal Lace.  The saucy frosting worked out quite well, too.  I wonder if that would work well with other flavors (strawberries and cream?).  Anyhow, great base plus great mix-ins means a great pint.  Enjoy.

Milkjam Creamery - Milkjam

Milkjam - Caramelized Goat, Cow and Condensed Milks

Today we return to Minneapolis' Milkjam Creamery for their namesake flavor:  Milkjam.  It is hard to believe that I've reviewed eleven of their pints but had not yet tried the flavor that gives them their name.  I guess I am more attracted to more their more eccentric flavors.  I guess this flavor is interesting in its own right though.  I have had one pint before from McConnell's that labels itself "milk jam".  There they describe the milk and cream being simmered and reduced in the pan before churning.  There is often a heating step in the normal process of making ice cream, but it is a lower heat (around 170 F) -- just enough to help blend in the flavors and pasteurize -- but a simmering implies a higher heat for a longer period of time.  This pint is mum on the details (I would love if this brand included ingredient lists) but the label does describe a caramelization occurring.  That sounds similar to how dulce de leche is made, though since this is still labeled a 'jam', perhaps not as far.  Also, this pint describes three different types of milk being included.  Goat milk, cow milk and condensed milk.  So, lots of different milks are being cooked into a caramelized jam.  Let's dig in!

Removing the lid, the ice cream is a light gold color.  As expected, some caramelization has occurred, but not so much as to turn it into dulce de leche.  Digging in, the base ice cream has a nice thick and creamy texture.  The flavor is bright and sweet -- I can tell that there is sweetened condensed milk in there.  It is not too sweet though.  It's good.  Simple yet good.  It tastes like a really good whipped cream in ice cream form.  There is a hint of caramelization to make the flavor interesting, but it's only a hint.  As for the inclusion of goat's milk.  I did not know what to check for.  There is a description here of the differences between goat milk and cow milk.  Goat milk is supposed have a little less lactose (but not lactose free) and a little more protein and calories.  The biggest difference is a strong and distinctive flavor that many have said takes some getting used to.  I didn't notice anything distinctively odd, so if you have any trepidations about the inclusion of goat milk, have no fear.  Overall, the flavor is quite tasty, so the chefs at Milkjam did a great job of balancing the three different kinds of milk and determining how long to cook it to form the right level of "jam-ification" and caramelization.

I enjoyed this pint.  It is a very simple flavor but unique and well done.  This seems like a great flavor for accompanying things.  A scoop to balanced one of their bolder flavors (like their Black chocolate).  It would also go very well with a slice of cake or pie.  Of course, you could eat it straight too as I just did. 

Jeni's - Brandied Banana Brûlée

Brandied Banana Brûlée - Banana Custard with Small-Batch Brandy, Caramel Sauce, and Burnt Sugar Candies

Today we move to the next pint in my Black Friday shipment from Jeni's Ice Cream.  The first two pints were holiday flavors (here and here), the rest of my shipment are not holiday flavors because I have reviewed the rest of this year's holiday selection in previous years (here, here and here).  That's OK, though because it gives me a chance to try more of Jeni's standard flavors which are usually quite good.  Today's flavor is called Brandied Banana Brûlée.  They describe this as "if Bananas Foster and Crème Brûlée had a baby" and a "top shelf, white tablecloth, silver spoon ice cream".  I like banana and I like interesting flavor combinations, so this sounds fun.

My jaw drops as I remove the lid.  There is a lot of caramel and candy right away on the top of the pint!  The banana base behind it is very light in color.  Digging in, this caramel is quite delicious.  There is occasionally candy piece embedded in the caramel.  These candy pieces due taste like the crunchy layer on top of a crème brûlée!  Underneath this caramel layer is the brandy-banana base which is also delicious!  The banana flavor is quite good as is the brandy and somehow they managed to include both without one of them overpowering the other.  As I ate further down into the pint, the caramel layers got noticeably thinner as I ate my way down the pint.  That is likely a flaw mix-in swirling process but it did remind me of crème brûlée which has all the crunchy stuff on top.  It wasn't too extreme though, there was still some caramel in the bottom half.  And it did let me savor the excellent brandy-banana base more too.

This is an excellent pint of ice cream.  Blending Bananas Foster and Creme Brûlée is a great idea and this is very well done.  Jeni's does a great job of blending in the flavor of boozy ingredients without it becoming too boozy (or too soft).  Bananas Fosters lovers will like this for sure.

Talenti - Old World Egg Nog

Old World Egg Nog - Egg Nogg Gelato with Vanilla & Nutmeg

Today we try the third and final holiday flavor from Talenti Gelato:  Old World Eggnog.  (The previous two holiday flavors are here and here).  This looks like a straight implementation of an egg nog flavor.  As I have written in previous reviews, I am not a big fan of egg nog the drink, but I've been surprised at how well it flavors ice cream and other desserts.  I guess my main issue with the drink is the texture, but add some sugar and cream and churn it and it turns into custard -- which I do like!  This flavor adds a bit of nutmeg and vanilla into the mix.  Should be fun!

Unscrewing the distinctive Talenti jar reveals an off-white base.  I can see a surface pattern leftover from when the container was filled at the creamery.  Digging in, I taste the egg-custard flavor.  I taste a hint of vanilla in the mix as well as a light dusting of nutmeg in there.  I checked to see if I tasted any rum (sometimes brands sneak some run into the mix without advertising) and I did not.  The flavor is fairly tasty, but it was not as rich and flavorful as I was expecting.  I shared some with a friend of mine and they liked it better than me.  It's not bad, it's that something seemed a bit off to me.

As I just mentioned, this is a decent pint of egg nog gelato but I was mildly disappointed by it somehow.  Maybe it is the fact that it is a gelato?  Perhaps the custard-like flavor works better for me in a thicker ice cream?  With that in mind, I preferred Jeni's and Coolhaus' Egg Nog flavors to this one.  But, of course, if you're a huge Talenti fan who likes egg nog, you'll probably want to check it out anyways.  You might disagree with me.