Grand Ole Creamery - Chocolate Cinnamon

Chocolate Cinnamon - Chocolate Cinnamon Ice Cream

 

I was at Grand Ole Creamery (on Grand Avenue) the other day and saw they had a "special batch flavor" in their freezer case, so I picked up a pint.  This is called Chocolate Cinnamon.  I see this combination quite a bit.  Often it is called "Mexican Chocolate".  I have had implementations from Steve's, Sebastian Joe's, McConnell's (a sorbet),  Izzy's (with orange), and several other more complex mixtures which can be found if you include both chocolate and cinnamon in the search box for this blog.  Today's flavor looks like a simple implementation.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see the expected brown color of the chocolate base.  It's not too dark, not too light.  Digging in, I can taste a bit of mild cinnamon right away.  This is a sweeter type of cinnamon.  A lot the brands mentioned above go for a hotter type of cinnamon to 'spice up' the chocolate.  The flavor is still quite delicious though.  This is a homogeneous ice cream with no mix-ins.  As with other Grand Ole Creamery bases, as it melts it gets soft and almost buttery.  I was able to eat the whole pint in one sitting before it got too soft.

This is a decent chocolate and cinnamon pint from Grand Ole Creamery.  It uses a sweeter cinnamon flavor rather than a hot and spicy flavor which is not my own personal preference -- I like things spicy.  Still, if at Grand Ole Creamery and are in the mood for chocolate and you see this available, then try this as a alternative to mix things up a bit.  The sweeter pastry-style cinnamon is still quite appealing.

 

 

 

Sebastian Joe's - Spumoni

Spumoni - Almond Ice Cream with Orange, Lemon and Apricot Pieces

 

Today's flavor comes from the Minneapolis-based Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream and is called Spumoni.  I bought it at the scoop shop in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis.  I have had an ice cream called Spumoni from the nearby Sonny's Ice Cream, but this flavor looks completely different.  Sonny's had marbled swirls of cherry, pistachio and chocolate.  Today's flavor has an almond flavored base with candied fruit mix-ins (orange, lemon & apricot).  Checking the wikipedia entry for spumoni, the Sonny's flavor focuses mainly on the base ice creams (cherry, pistachio, chocolate) which eventually led to the Neapolitan flavor while today's Sebastian Joe's flavor emphasizes the candied fruit and nuts.  Looks good.  Today's flavor is the first time that I have an ice cream which includes apricots -- an Old World fruit closely related to peaches and plums.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see that Sebastian Joe's has generously overstuffed my container.  I love it when they do that.  I see the pale yellow off-white color of the almond base and I see quite a few of the fruit pieces.  These looks like little pieces of dried fruit.  Interesting!  Digging in, the fruit pieces are quite delicious.  They do taste like dried fruit pieces that one might pick up at a co-op to take with you on a hike or something.  They work really well as an ice cream mix-in!  I think the cold and moist ice cream perks them up a bit.  There seems to be equal parts of dried lemon pieces, dried orange pieces and dried apricot pieces, although at times I admit they all kind of blend together and just taste 'fruity'.  The almond flavored base serves as an excellent mild vehicle for these mix-ins.

This is an excellent and unique flavor from Sebastian Joe's.  Dried fruit should be used as a mix-in more often!  It reminded me a bit of their KARE 11 Sunrise flavor which also had lemon candy pieces in it.  The next time you see this in their scooping bin, check it out.

 

 

Dolcezza - Peanut Butter Stracciatella

Peanut Butter Stracciatella - Peanut Butter Gelato with Shredded Chocolate Chips

 

Today, we return to the Dolcezza Gelato brand for their Peanut Butter Stracciatella flavor.  I picked up this flavor at the Whole Foods on Selby in Saint Paul.  It has a peanut butter gelato base and stracciatella is a way of making 'shredded' chocolate chips which is popular in Italy.  So, this is basically a peanut butter and chocolate flavor.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the peanut butter base has a rather light color and the stracciatella chips are variable-sized flakes of chocolate.  Digging in, the peanut butter flavor is stronger than I expected given the light color.  There is a sweetness mixed in with the peanut butter which keeps it from feeling 'heavy'.  As with their plain stracciatella flavor, the flaky chocolate chips are quite good.  Because of the sweetness mixed into the peanut butter, I have no problems finishing the pint in one sitting.

This is a very well done implementation of a simple peanut butter chocolate chip flavor from Dolcezza.  The peanut butter gelato base was well done -- quite a lot of peanut butter flavor without feeling heavy.  Too many peanut butter and chocolate flavors in my archive to make a good comparison.  This is one of the better 'simpler' ones (no 'cups').  Check it out if you like peanut butter.

 

Milkjam Creamery - Children of the Korn

Children of the Korn - Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Brown Butter Caramel

 

I am back and Milkjam Creamery in south Minneapolis for yet another "extra" flavor between August and September (the September flavor instagram link is here by the way).  This flavor is called Children of the Korn (instagram link here and here) which is an obvious play on the classic Stephen King short story and movie.  This is a corn-themed flavor.  I have had one sweet-corn-based flavor before from Sweet Science.  There, they pair the corn with a blueberry sauce.  Here, they pair it with a brown butter caramel.  Let's dig in!

Opening the pint, I see yellow color of the sweet corn base with hints of the brown butter caramel swirl on the edges.  Digging in, the sweet corn is pretty good.  I can definitely tell that it is made with corn.  There are no kernels, but the flavor is definitely there.  The brown butter caramel swirl as evident in hte second instagram link above does not materialize.  I can taste the flavor a bit, so I think it got blended into the base which can happen from time to time.  The flavor does complement the corn pretty well.

This is a decent corn-based flavor from Milkjam.  It does not have the large pools of brown butter caramel that one of the instagram links shows, but the blended brown butter caramel does go fairly well with the sweet corn base.  Overall, I liked Sweet Science's corn flavor better -- the corn flavor is stronger and in my opinion better.  That flavor also has a blueberry sauce swirl which serves as a contrast rather than a simple complement.  If you like corn, but not blueberry, you might like this flavor better, but otherwise it's Sweet Science.  Both flavors are limited batches, though, so the proper answer may be that corn fans may want whichever one happens to be available at the time.

 

 

Dolcezza - Roasted Strawberry

Roasted Strawberry - Roasted Strawberry Gelato

 

I return to the Dolcezza Gelato brand for their Roasted Strawberry flavor.  I purchased this pint at the Whole Foods on Selby in Saint Paul.   At first glance, this looks like a standard strawberry flavor, but I have never had strawberries roasted before.  A google search shows that there are recipes for it, though.  It should be fun to check this out.

Removing the lid, I see the expected light pink color of the strawberry base.  It almost has the 'strawberry shake' flavor that a lot of strawberry bases have, except it is muted a little bit.  Not quite as sweet.  I guess the muting comes from the roasting?  Roasting generally causes the Maillard reaction which can create complex flavors, so I was expecting something more different... like "caramelized" strawberries or something.  But, the same agreeable strawberry flavor, just less sweet.  This is, for the most part, a homogeneous pint with no mix-ins.  A close inspection shows a few 'specks' but they don't create any noticeable change in texture or flavor.

This is a decent strawberry pint from Dolcezza.  As mentioned above, it is a fairly standard "strawberry shake"-style pint which is noticeably less sweet than your standard pint of strawberry.  I had a couple of issues with it.  First, I don't find that other "strawberry shake" implementations are too sweet.  Second, when something is added to strawberry to cut the sweetness, I prefer things that have a larger effect on the overall flavor such as balsamic vinegar or cream cheese.  Still, the flavor is quite agreeable and if you are a Dolcezza fan who likes strawberry, you will want to check it out.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Be Positive

Be Positive - Blood Orange Sorbet

 

Milkjam Creamery snuck a pint-only release of a blood orange sorbet flavor called Be Positive (instagram link here) in between their August Summer Cookout series and their September State Fair Series (instagram link here).  Blood orange is a great flavor.  I associate it more with the winter months, but I guess Milkjam got access to some of the fruit in the summer for making this flavor.  Looking at the flavor tags on the right for blood orange, I have seen it used as an ice cream ingredient several times.  The closest flavor to this simple sorbet would actually be another Milkjam flavor called Midnight Kiss which was a blood orange and sparkline wine sorbet.  I have also had a Sweet Science flavor called Blood Orange Cream where a blood orange sorbet is swirled into a vanilla ice cream to create a creamsicle-like flavor.  OK.  Enough talk.  Let's check out today's Be Positive flavor.

Removing the lid, the sorbet has a dark pink color consistent with the color of blood orange.  It's similar to the color of a red grapefruit pulp or the inside of a watermelon.  Digging in, the sorbet is quite delicious.  As I mentioned above, blood orange is a great flavor.  It's quite a bit more tart than a regular orange but nowhere near as tart as a grapefruit.  It hits a sweet spot right in the middle of that flavor spectrum -- at least for me.  The sorbet texture is a bit on the icy/slushy side, but that's often the case with fruit sorbets which are simply fruit juice and crushed ice -- no cream (dairy or non-dairy).  On a hot day, this flavor really hits the spot and the sorbet gets almost juicy as I eat my way down the pint.  I have no problems finishing the pint in one sitting.

This is a excellent and simple implementation of a blood orange sorbet from Milkjam.  It's a more pure implementation than their Midnight Kiss flavor which had a sparkling wine mixed in.  Blood orange fans will love this.  If a pure sorbet is not your thing, then a flavor like the Blood Orange Cream (seasonal) that I mentioned above is an alternative.

Also, as I write this, Milkjam's September flavors are out (instagram link here).  I hope to review them soon, but giving you a heads up in case it gets too late into the month before I write those up.

 

 

Ben & Jerry's - Totally Unbaked

Totally Unbaked - Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Creams with Brownie Batter Swirls & Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

 

Ben & Jerry's has a new limited batch flavor for the summer.  It is called Totally Unbaked.  I saw it appear on their website a few months ago, but it took me a long time to find it.  Most grocery stores are still selling Punch Line in their "limited batch" slot.  I finally did find Totally Unbaked at a local Target.  Hopefully, more stores will start cycling this flavor into their freezer cases soon.  Totally Unbaked is a play on Ben & Jerry's best-selling flavor Half Baked which itself is a marbled blend of their Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavors.  I have often thought that although the name 'Half Baked' is a fun pop-culture reference, it doesn't make sense because when you cook cookie dough, you don't get brownies.  Well, today's flavor is acknowledgement of that.  When you 'unbake' the brownies, you get brownie batter!  So, it's the same marbled chocolate and vanilla bases but with cookie dough pieces and a brownie batter swirl.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, I see a lot of chocolate on top including some darker sections which look to be the brownie batter swirl.  I also see some patches of vanilla as well and perhaps one of the cookie dough pieces.  Digging in, the marbled chocolate and vanilla bases are an interesting, yet familiar flavor combination.  The cookie dough pieces are gritty, sweet and chewy and the brownie batter adds quite a bit of chocolate flavor.  Ben & Jerry's chocolate ice cream is not the most memorable, but a lot of their chocolate mix-ins really deliver.

This is a fun pint from Ben & Jerry's.  Since Half Baked is their #1 selling flavor, I don't think this flavor will replace it, but Totally Unbaked is still a fun twist on the idea.  Brownie batter is a great mix-in as demonstrated by their great Brownie Batter Core flavor.  More flavors should use a brownie batter swirl.

 

 

McConnell's - Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando - Sweet Cream with Chunks of Salty Peanut Butter, Swirls of Strawberry Jam and Hunks of House-made White Bread

 

The fourth and final pint from my recent shipment from the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's Fine Ice Creams is called Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando.  The flavor is a limited batch flavor that has been rotated off their menu since I ordered it, but here is a link to a California TV station's article about the flavor.  I bought it online and it is not available in Minnesota grocery stores.  The flavor has a sweet cream base with swirls of peanut butter and strawberry jam and pieces of white bread.  I have had a few peanut butter and jelly themed pints from Graeter's, Ben & Jerry's and Ample Hills -- all either limited-batch or merchant-specific releases that are no longer available.  Today's flavor from McConnell's is also a limited release and it's the first one to actually include bread with the PB&J.  I can't want to see how that turns out.

Opening the lid and peeling back the seal, I see big sections of the swirl of strawberry jam on the top of the pint.  Beautiful.  Digging in, I quickly encounter the peanut butter chunks as well.  These chunks are small in size but deliver quite a bit of salty peanut butter flavor.  The strawberry jam is delcicious.  It tastes a lot like the strawberry used in their recent Seavee's Sprinkled with Pride flavor.  The white bread mix-ins are quite interesting.  The bread is very soft and blends in with the base flavor-wise but provides a bit of a soft and chewy texture.  Checking the ingredient list, it looks like cream-cheese is in in the bread which I am guessing helps give it its fresh and doughy texture?  Anyhow, it's quite good.

This is an excellent peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich flavor from McConnell's.  Peanut butter and jelly go really well together and the delicious strawberry jam here complements the strong-flavored peanut butter chunks quite well.  The hunks of white bread I find to be quite a fun addition to the mix.  They don't provide a lot of flavor (neither does white bread) but it's adds a bit of authenticity to the mix.  Like all the other peanut butter and jelly flavors, this flavor has been rotated off the menu already.  It is an appealing combination, though.  Someone should make this a regular flavor.

 

 

Jeni's - Golden Nectar

Golden Nectar - (11) - Golden Vanilla Ice Cream Flavored with Ylang Ylang and Clove with Toffee Candy Pieces

 

The final flavor in Jeni's Ice Cream Truck Collection is  called Golden Nectar.  This is a very interesting flavor.  It  is a unique flavor.  The flavor name implies that there is honey in there, but I don't see it on the ingredient list.  What I do see is vanilla, clove oil, ylang-ylang oil.  They've also added turmeric to give it a golden color.  I am very intrigued.  I have actually had ylang-ylang oil once before in an ice cream (see review here for more on ylang-ylang) and clove is one of my favorite spices.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid and peeling back the seal, I see a bright yellow base.  It looks a lot like a custard, but a check of the ingredient list shows that there are no eggs.  Digging in, it tastes a lot like a vanilla custard.  Maybe a combination of the vanilla, the yellow color from the turmeric and the tapioca syrup that Jeni's uses as a stabilizing agent is giving me that impression.  It does have some nice aromatic notes.  I think that's the ylang-ylang in the mix.  The clove is extremely subtle.  Just a pinch is used here so it does not provide the bite that is present in other flavors such as Claire's Cabinet.  One thing I don't see is toffee candy.  I do taste some caramel-like flavor from time to time.  I think the toffee may have dissolved in the ice cream.  I've seen this happen several times.  Sometimes this works really well, but other times I wonder if this is supposed to happen.  This reminds me of when I had a pint of Van Leeuwen's Honeycomb flavor and the honeycomb pieces had melted in the cream when I had read articles about how crunchy they were.  Here, the side of Jeni's pint talks of 'firecracker-like snaps of aerated toffee candy' and my pint is all smooth with some caramel notes.  It all tastes really good, but I wonder if I am missing something.

This is an interesting experimental flavor blend from Jeni's.  The flavor is excellent.  It is has a very appealing vanilla-custard-like flavor with aromatic notes from the ylang-ylang and a subtle hint of cloves.  The smooth caramel sections instead of aerated candy pieces make me wonder if the toffee mix-ins dissolved and blended into the base, though.  So, although I enjoyed the flavor, it has me wondering if I should try this at a scoop shop where the mix-ins are more likely in their original intended state.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Aunt Darleen

Aunt Darleen - Strawberry Ice Cream with Malted Pretzel Crumble

 

The final flavor from Milkjam Creamery's August Summer Cookout collection (instagram link here) is called Aunt Darleen (instagram link here).  This is a strawberry ice cream with a malted pretzel crumble.  This looks a bit similar to Jeni's recent Dolly Parton-inspired flavor Strawberry Pretzel Pie, though their own link says that it is more of a reference to strawberry pretzel 'salad'. (Google recipe search here).  I must admit that I have no idea where the name Aunt Darleen comes from.  I googled and I couldn't fine anything.  But Milkjam is much cooler than I am in terms of their pop culture references, so it wouldn't surprise me if it a reference to a song I don't know about.  Ok, let's check out this flavor.

Removing the lid, the strawberry base has a light pink color with a couple of darker red dots in it.  I also see some rough textured mix-ins which are probably the pretzels.  Digging in, the strawberry base is quite good.  It is the kind of strawberry that tastes like a strawberry shake.  The pretzel crumble provides the expected crunch.  I don't notice too much salt.  It is probably in the mix, but it is not as salty as some pretzel mix-ins are.

This is a good pint from Milkjam Creamery.  It's very pleasant and agreeable like most strawberry ice creams are and the pretzels provide a little bit of crunchy interest into the mix.  It is not quite as bold as some of Milkjam's other implementations, but its hard to dislike this flavor.  Strawberry fans will enjoy this.

This concludes their August Summer Cookout collection which in addition to this flavor included Smoked Peach Crisp, Lemonade Stand and from a previous season Gimme S'more.  Smoked Peach Crisp is my favorite of this month, but they are all pretty good.  I am looking forward to next month.

 

 

McConnell's - Cherry Cheesecake & Graham Cracker Crust

Cherry Cheesecake & Graham Cracker Crust - Cheesecake Ice Cream with a Sour Cherry Swirl and Graham Cracker Crumble

 

The third pint from my recent four-pint shipment from the Santa-Barbara-based McConnell's Ice Cream is called Cherry Cheesecake & Graham Cracker Crust.  That's a bit of a mouthful for a flavor name, but I guess it does tell you exactly what is in it.  Checking my archives, the most similar flavor would be Tillamook's Bing Cherry Cheesecake.  I thought I had other slice-of-cherry-cheesecake flavors, but other flavors included chocolate.  My favorite flavors that are close include Sweet Science's Tipsy Cherry Pie, and Pumphouse Creamery's Door County Sour Cherry.

Removing the lid, I can see the cherry swirl right away on top.  I like it when that happens.  The cheesecake base is a bright white color.  I see a couple of other dark objects below the surface which could be more of the swirl or it could be some of the graham cracker pieces.  Digging in, I taste the cherry right away and it is quite delicious.  It is not as bright and sweet as the Pumphouse flavor I mentioned above -- this has more of a jam feel to it.  It is quite good, though.  The graham cracker chunks are of a decent size and are chewy rather than having a gritty pie-crust texture of some graham cracker swirls.  The flavor is quite good.  The chewy nature of the chunks lets more of the flavor of graham crackers to come through.  The cheesecake base is thick and creamy and holds it all together.

This is an excellent cherry-cheesecake based pint from McConnell's.  I liked it better than the recent Tillamook flavor with the same ingredients (thicker, more flavorful swirl, better mix-ins) but McConnell's is a more expensive brand so that is not unexpected.  If you have access to McConnell's and like cherry, then check this one out.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand - Watermelon Lemonade Italian Ice

 

The next flavor in the Minneapolis-based Milkjam Creamery's August Summer Cookout Collection (instagram link here) is called Lemonade Stand (instagram link here).  The name implies that it would be a lemonade sorbet, but it is actually a watermelon and lemonade sorbet.  I have had a couple of  watermelon sorbets: a simple watermelon sorbet from Graeter's and a watermelon lime sorbet from Sweet Science.  It will be fun to see how this flavor from Milkjam compares.

Removing the lid, the color is a dark pink similar to that of watermelon.  Digging in, this is a really dense and slushy sorbet.  Maybe that's what they mean when they call it "italian ice"?  This is OK with me, because I am more interested in flavor but something to be aware of.  The flavor itself is mostly watermelon.  I do taste a bit of lemonade, but just as an accent.  The watermelon flavor is quite good and pretty authentic.  I feel like I can actually taste the rind.  I mean not the full rind, but the little bits of it that you end up eating when you have a piece that includes the rind and you want to eat as much of the pink stuff as you can.  I actually like this.  It does not have too strong of an effect on the flavor but it really makes it feel fresh and homemade.  Even with the chunky texture I am able to eat the entire pint in one sitting.  That means it is not overly sweet.

I enjoyed with watermelon and lemon sorbet quite a bit.  I really liked the watermelon flavor.  As I mentioned above, it tasted just like a watermelon that you would eat at a picnic (or I suppose a summer cookout!).  The 'italian ice' texture does require a bit of work digging out chunks from the carton, but it is worth it in my opinion.