Grand Ole Creamery - Black Hills Gold

Black Hills Gold - Caramel Ice Cream with Crushed Cookies and Praline Pecans

I am still on my trip for the family reunion, so Saint Paul's Grand Ole Creamery gets the call.    The flavor I selected was Black Hills Gold.  The Black Hills are a famous area of neighboring South Dakota and General Custer's expedition did indeed discover gold there in 1874 which started a mini-Gold Rush at the time.  When I did a quick google for 'black hills gold' and found that there is a whole type of jewelry branded as made with Black Hills Gold..  So, that explains the pun and references of the flavor name.  Looking at the flavor description, it looks like it is a blend of cookies and cream and pralines and cream.  Those are both popular flavors so this is a promising combination.  Indeed when the cashier at the local market rang me up she told me "this is the best flavor".  So, with that testimonial I was looking forward to giving this a go.

Opening the pint, the top of the pint had a white color with some of the cookie mix-ins visible right away.  I was actually initially concerned upon examination that perhaps the pint was mislabeled.  This looks just like cookies and cream!   I was expecting a more caramel-like color.  Eating into the pint, the base ice cream is quite soft and creamy and the cookie mix-ins were of the Oreo sandwich cookie variety, but they were softer and chewier than Oreos.  They were quite good.  Once I got a couple of spoonfuls in, I started to encounter the praline mix-ins.  They provided a decent contrast to the cookie mix-ins.  Overall, the pint had a bit of a home-made scoop shop feel to it and the ice cream stayed rich and creamy as I neared the bottom of the pint.

This was a successful pint.  My favorite pint from the Grand Ole Creamery so far.  Don't expect caramel flavor in the base but the blend of cookies and cream and pralines and cream is a successful one.  If you like either of those flavors and are in Saint Paul, then give Black Hills Gold a try.