Pumphouse Creamery - Kulfi

Kulfi - Kulfi-inspired Ice Cream with Pistachio, Cardamom and Rosewater

Recently, I went back to the Pumphouse Creamery on Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis to see if they had any new flavors.  I found a couple.  This first of these pints is called Kulfi.  It is not listed on their menu and was not in the scooping bin, but they had some pre-packed pints of it.  Kulfi is a dessert popular in the Middle East and on the Indian Subcontinent.  I have had Kulfi-inspired ice cream once before from Adirondack Creamery on one of my trips to New York City.  It is essential a twist on pistachio ice cream.  Some cardamom is added and rosewater is added here as well.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see a very white ice cream with lots of green specks inside.  There are some air bubbles on the top of the pint but I don't mind.  They actually look rather cool and since they are quite small, I don't feel like I am being robbed of ice cream.  Digging in, I taste the pistachio and the cardamom right away.  It is quite delicious.  I am guessing that the base is a plain sweet cream and the pistachio flavor is coming from the mix-ins.  I taste the cardamom more as a finish, but it is definitely in there.  The rosewater flavor is not completely obvious to me -- to be honest, I was expecting it to be a bit pink -- but it could be that the rosewater is part of the blend and that the cardamom is distracting me.  The texture is thicker than I expected.  The previous Kulfi pint was a bit more soft -- perhaps more like the Indian dessert -- but the pistachio/cardamom flavor is still quite delicious.

Like the previous pint from Adirondack Creamery, this is a fun twist on a pistachio ice cream.  I like how it mixes with the cardamom.  The rosewater here is quite mild.  That could vary from batch-to-batch but I think at most it will play a supporting role (the Adirondack pint did not even have rosewater).  Anyhow, if you're a big fan of pistachio ice cream and want to see how they enjoy a similar dessert in the middle east, give this pint a try.

Sebastian Joe's - Pumpkin Salty Caramel

Pumpkin Salty Caramel - Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream with a Salted Caramel Swirl

The next pint in my freezer is from the Minneapolis-based Sebastian Joe's.  It is called Pumpkin Salty Caramel.  We are coming up on the Thanksgiving holiday, so I figured I would try something seasonal.  The inclusion of a salted caramel swirl in a pumpkin base intrigues me.  I don't think I have seen that before and I am looking forward to checking it out.

Removing the lid, I see the expected brownish-orange color of the pumpkin base and it looks so chunky.  Sebastian Joe's pints are often like this.  The ice cream is so thick and dense that it almost looks like dough.  Digging in, the pumpkin flavor is quite good and it is spiced well with the appropriate pumpkin spices (I added a 'cinnamon' label for this review, but there is probably also nutmeg and perhaps allspice, cloves or ginger).  As I continue eating, I quickly encounter some caramel.  Some of it is in a swirl, but some appears to have blended into the base a bit.  It goes surprisingly well with the pumpkin.  I wonder why I have not seen this comment before.  It does make the ice cream a bit sweeter than usual, but not too much.  At times, it reminds me of the batter for our family pumpkin bread recipe -- which is a compliment.

This is a very well done pumpkin flavor from Sebastian Joe's and the salted caramel swirl is a welcome twist.  It is a little bit sweeter than the average pumpkin flavor but not too much.  Check it out if you are at Sebastian Joe's -- 'tis the season after all.

Tillamook - Oregon Marionberry Cheesecake

Oregon Marionberry Cheesecake - Mascarpone Frozen Custard with a Marionberry Ripple and Graham Cracker Pieces

Today is another pint from the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook Oregon.  This flavor is called Oregon Marionberry Cheesecake.  I found this pint at Kowalski's on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul.  I have had marionberry is ice cream before (see an earlier review for a thorough background on the berry).  It is funny, though, because every time I mention the marionberry to other people, they think I am pulling their leg.  The berry is named after Marion County, Oregon, where the first cultivars were grown and tested.  The crack-smoking mayor of Washington, DC, was attending college in Memphis and was not yet famous when the berry got its name.  People I know from Oregon love this berry, though, so I am eager to try another ice cream that features it. 

Removing the lid, the foil lid contains a clever little message.  Coolhaus was the first brand I noticed that had fun with these labels.  This particular message has a fun turn-your-frown-upside-down which I have not seen before:

Peeling back the foil, I see the creamy-looking cheesecake base with some pinkish-purple coloring from the marionberry on one side.  Digging in, the cheesecake base is very creamy.  It is a mascarpone rather than a standard cream cheese that is used here so it has a smoother texture and flavor.  Mascarpone is one of my favorite dessert cheeses so I approve.  Underneath, the marionberry swirl is more evident as well as the graham cracker pieces.  I asked one of my cane-berry expert friends what she thought of the marionberry.  She said that it tasted more like raspberry than blackberry yet it had a unique tartness that reminded her of cranberry a little bit.  Visually, there did not appear to be a lot of the marionberry swirl, but a little bit goes a long way and every spoonful contained some of it.   It was good.  The graham cracker pieces were quite small but there was a lot of them.  Unlike previous pints where the mix-ins were layered, here the marionberry swirl and graham cracker pieces were distributed throughout the pint.  I liked that here.

This is an excellent flavored-cheesecake ice cream from Tillamook.  The marionberry was flavorful and delicious and was well balanced with the mascarpone.  The graham cracker swirl is an ideal mix-in here as it is often the crust of a cheesecake and provides different texture.  Marionberries are not common in my area -- I wonder if there are any specialty grocery stores that stock fresh marionberries? -- so an ice cream flavor like this is a great way to try something new.  Check it out.

McConnell's - Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate - Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate Chips

This is the last flavor from my recent five-pint shipment from McConnell's Fine Ice Creams in Santa Barbara.  A reminder that I ordered these McConnell's flavors online because I can't find them locally in Minnesota.  Today's flavor is called Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate.  I am amused because I have written before about how almost every brand tends to have a "chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate" flavor which they make to appease chocoholics and here is a pint which takes that glib description and turns it into the flavor name!  The three chocolates used here are a chocolate ice cream base, a swirl of chocolate ganache and chocolate chips.  Are you ready for some chocolate?  Let's check it out!


Removing the lid and peeling back the protective cover, I see a lot of chocolate!  At first it looks like a lot of the chocolate base but when I hold it at an angle in the light, I can see shinier parts.  Some of the ganache is on the top surface as well.  As you can see from the photos below, it is quite dark.  Digging in, the ice cream is extra thick and dense yet still creamy as I have come to expect from McConnell's.  The chocolate flavor is quite potent, but yet not as overwhelming as I thought it might be.  Sometimes when brands make this kind of flavor they proudly go way overboard on the intensity of the chocolate flavor.  Here, they have kept the chocolate-level at 'strong'.  As I continue to eat down into the pint, I note that the ganache has mostly blended into the base.  It gives the base a richer chocolatey flavor, but don't expect gooey swirls of ganache.  The chocolate chips are distributed throughout the pint.  They are not overly numerous, but do provide some crunchy texture from time to time.

This pint is called Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate and it does deliver quite a bit of chocolate.  It is not overwhelming, though, so it would appeal to anyone who enjoys chocolate and not just chocoholics looking for something extreme.  So, more chocolatey than their standard chocolate flavor, but too much.  I quite enjoyed it actually.  Perhaps my favorite from this shipment.  Check it out if you have access to McConnell's.

Milkjam Creamery - PB vs Everybody

PB vs Everybody - Peanut Butter Banana with Oreo Chunks

Today we return to the Minneapolis-based Milkjam Creamery for one of their standard non-dairy flavors:  PB vs Everybody.  It has been continuously available for as long as I have been following Milkjam and their pre-packed pints have customized labels (not just handwritten descriptions written in sharpie).  I am often not in a hurry to try survey the non-dairy lines of my favorite brands, but Milkjam is an exception because they do these flavors exceptionally well -- perhaps because the brothers who run the shop are lactose-intolerant themselves.  This particular flavor features a peanut butter and banana base with Oreo-cookie mix-ins.  The peanut butter and banana make me think of Elvis, but they also each make for good non-dairy ice cream bases because they each provide their own creaminess.  Let's check it out!

Opening the pint, the base has a very light tan color.  It reminds me of the color of banana bread.  I see some hits of the Oreo mix-ins -- a black streak here or there, but nothing major.  In the first spoonful, I taste the peanut butter flavor first and I notice the banana flavoring more in the finish.  The texture is a bit creamy.  I can tell that it is not as creamy as a dairy version of this flavor would be but it's creamy enough.  Digging deeper into the pint, I start to encounter the Oreo pieces mix-ins.  They are not as numerous as I was expecting them to be, but they do provide the occasional bit of chocolate flavor.

This is a solid non-dairy flavor from Milkjam Creamery.  The ratio of ingredients is more peanut butter than banana and the cookies are found only occasionally.  I would put the ratio of the three ingredients at 60% peanut butter, 30% banana and then 10% Oreos.  It is very good for what it is, but just reporting this so that you don't expect an Oreo-heavy pint.  For more of a cookies-n-cream type of feel, you should try Ridin Duuurty.  Anyhow, enjoy!

McConnell's - Cinnamon & Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Cinnamon & Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Cinnamon Ice Cream with Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pieces

Today we move on to the next pint in my recent five-pint shipment of seasonal flavors from McConnell's Fine Ice Creams in Santa Barbara.  This is another fall flavor, Cinnamon & Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  As I write this, this pint is still available online, but not available locally in Minnesota that I know of.  This looks quite similar to a recent pint I had from Sebastian Joe's.  I mentioned in that review that that was the first of several oatmeal-cookie-based flavors that included raisins and here is another one with raisins.   It should be interesting to see how they compare.

Cracking open the pint and removing the protective wrapper, I see the cinnamon ice cream base with no mix-ins visible yet.  As I dig my spoon in, the cinnamon base is quite good.  This is a sweet cinnamon rather than a hot cinnamon -- appropriate for a cookie-based flavor.  The ice cream is very thick and dense like most McConnell's bases.  Soon, I start encountering the oatmeal cookie pieces.  These are quite tasty and go well with the cinnamon.  About every other oatmeal piece has a raisin in it.

This is a well-done version of a cinnamon oatmeal cookie flavor.  It is quite different from my recent pint from Sebastian Joe's.  The Sebastian Joe's pint was overloaded with mix-ins and had a very high raisin-to-oatmeal ratio.  Here, there are fewer mix-ins which highlights more of the flavor of the cinnamon base and a more usual amount of raisins in the mix.  I do not want to undersell this flavor simply because it was not super-stuffed with mix-ins though.  This is quite good and some people like a moderate amount of mix-ins.

Izzy's - Trick Or Treat

Trick Or Treat - Vanilla Ice Cream with a Mash-up of Halloween Candy

Last night was Halloween and surfing the Saint-Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream flavor up page on the bus on my way home from work, I saw that their Halloween flavor "Trick Or Treat" was available.  Trekking down to the Saint Paul scoop shop to get a pint.  I beat the rush so the friendly scooper was able to tell me a little about the flavor.  He said that vanilla ice cream is the base and then it is a different bunch of bite-sized Halloween candy each year -- just whatever happened to be available when they were making the batch.  That reminded me a bit of trick-or-treating.  Some years, it was a lot of snickers, other years it was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, other years it could be butterfingers.  So, it should be fun to see what is in this pint.  I realize this is the day after Halloween, but that also reminded me of when I was a kid.  You get all the candy on Halloween night and then you eat it the next day -- well maybe not all of it, but as much as I could.

OK, on to the ice cream.  Removing the lid, I see the bright white color of the vanilla base with several colorful mix-ins visible on top.  It looks like I must have gotten a few peanut M&M's -- their color will bleed a bit in ice cream.  Digging in, I do verify that there are peanut M&M's.  I also quickly encounter a small mini peanut butter cup half.  As I eat my way down, I amuse myself guessing what each mix-in is.  I believe I got a Rolo, a chunk of Heath bar, a chocolate Malt ball (Whopper) and then some repeats of the above.  Interestingly, although this sounds like an overloaded pint, there was quite a bit of vanilla ice cream to enjoy as well.  It is quite thick and creamy which a bright vanilla flavor.

I really enjoyed this holiday pint from Izzy's.  I was skeptical and figured I'd get it just to be seasonal, but this was really fun.  It was a great mix of different types of candies and did not feel at all overloaded -- plenty of ice cream to enjoy too.  If they still have it, check it out, if not, then keep it in mind next year.