Jeni's - Goat Cheese with Red Cherries

Goat Cheese with Red Cherries - Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Roasted Sweet-Tart Cherries

We return to the Columbus-based Jeni's brand today for an interesting flavor: Goat Cheese with Red Cherries.  This is my first pint of ice cream which includes goat cheese, or as the French would say chèvre.  It got me curious.  What is the difference between goat cheese and cow cheese?  It is all about the milk.  Goat milk has a bit more fatty acids, which gives it a more tangy flavor.  Also, goat milk has a lot less protein which makes it more suitable for making it into a softer cheese instead of the wider varieties possible with cow cheese.  Jeni's gets its cheese from the Mackenzie Creamery in Hiram, Ohio.  I am quite curious to try this flavor.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid shows the off-white color of the goat cheese base with some dark red cherries visible right away.  They look like cherries which have been dried and then soaked in their own juice.  Digging in, the goat cheese is pretty good.  It is a bit like a cream cheese flavor but a bit softer and a hint of tangy-ness.  The cherries are quite good.  The chunks are fairly big and they were good.  Dried cherries marianating in their own juices is a good description of their flavor as well.  The combination worked well.  The tangy-ness of the cheese built up a little bit as I got to the bottom of the pint, but nothing major, it stayed quite flavorful.

This was a very interesting pint.  The flavor combinations were extremely well done as you expect from a super-premium brand like Jeni's.  The side of the pint bills it as being like a scoopable cherry cheesecake, but I got a bit of a savory vibe from it -- like it was more of a cherry and goat cheese plate.  Coolhaus' Balsamic Fig & Mascarpone also made me think of a cheese plate.  Completely different flavors there, but a similar savory appetizer vibe to it.  Anyhow, this Jeni's pint is a fun and experimental pint for me.  If you already love goat cheese, you'll like it even more.