Van Leeuwen - Kraft Macaroni & Cheese

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese - Macaroni & Cheese flavored Ice Cream

 

Earlier this year, loyal reader Mike M. was egging me on in the comments of another review trying to get me to try the new Kraft Macaroni & Cheese flavor from the Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.    The flavor had made national news. I saw more than one network mention the flavor in the lighter and offbeat news of the day sections of their broadcast.  Stephen Colbert even did a bit on it on the Late Show.  I passed on the opportunity back then because I had an order from another vendor on the way and then the flavor quickly sold out.  I had missed a similarly eclectic mustard flavor from Coolhaus a couple of years ago.  These types of flavors are fun, but they require an online purchase and I can't always splurge for one of those.  I thought that was the end of it.  But recently, this flavor came back!  I checked the online shop and saw that they had five more flavors which I never see at Kowalski's in Saint Paul and made an online purchase.  Note to readers, that I bought this flavor with an online shipment and I am not aware that it is available in any Twin Cities grocery stores.

So, here it is!  Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Ice Cream!  The front of the carton has that familiar single noodle logo that they are now using on the boxes of the regular macaroni and cheese product.  Macaroni and Cheese has been around for a long time.  Pasta and cheese dishes can be found in Italy as far back as the 14th century.  Here in the United States, its popularity was helped by Thomas Jefferson who enjoyed similar dishes in France and brought back recipes to the United States -- eventually serving it at State Dinners in the White House.  There is actually a similar story about Thomas Jefferson bringing back recipes for ice cream from France.  So, that's a fun mac-and-cheese and ice cream connection there!  Of course, Jefferson (and the slaves who cooked for him) do not deserve all the credit for bring these foods to America but spotlighting the dishes in the White House could not have hurt.  The modern meal of boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese dates from 1937 which was during the Great Depression.  You could feed a family of four this filling comfort food full of carbohydrates and dairy protein for just 19 cents.  It has been a true American staple dish ever since.

But I digress.  Back to the ice cream!  Removing the lid, the foil seal has a nice message from that lid telling me to enjoy the pint.  I will!  Peeling back the foil, the color of the ice cream is just perfect.  It is the same shade of orange-ish yellow as the noodle dish.  I do not see any noodles, though.  Checking the ingredient list on the side of the carton, it does not look like there are any.  I guess this ice cream is based on the cheese sauce.  Digging in, the ice cream has a very creamy texture to it.  This is not unusual for Van Leeuwen who use a "French style" recipe which includes extra egg yolks creating a more custard-like consistency.  The flavor is surprisingly appealing.  I was expecting it to taste exactly like the cheese sauce that goes with the noodles, but this mostly tastes like ice cream.  I mean, I can taste some cheese and it is a bit saltier and less sweet than a plain ice cream but they have definitely muted the cheese flavor to make it more palatable.  That's great news.  I must admit that I was a bit fearful of eating an entire pint of cheese sauce in one sitting, but blended into ice cream it was actually quite easy for me to eat the entire pint in one sitting. No noodles, though.  That might be a fun topping or mix-in to add at home.  Not a huge amount, but just a few to be festive.

This is a very fun and entertaining flavor from Van Leeuwen.  They've created an ice cream which looks just like the cheese sauce from macaroni and cheese but has the appealing flavor of a french-style ice cream.  If you have this flavor available to you (Van Leeuwen scoop shop nearby?) it would be great conversation-starting dessert to have with friends.  You can look like a daredevil eating it when it really isn't that bad.