Jeni's - Sweet Potato with Torched Marshmallows

Sweet Potato with Torched Marshmallows - Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Torched Marshmallows

The Columbus-based Jeni's brand had a Black Friday sale which I could not pass up.  It was everywhere online, but also a thanks to the readers who reminded me about it in the comments.  It was six pints for the price of four, so it basically ended up being the equivalent of free shipping.  That's great because my local grocery stores do not carry the full Jeni's line.  For this shipment, I focused mainly on the holiday flavors.  One exception would be the Dark Chocolate Peppermint which I reviewed last year and appears to be unchanged.  Read the old review for that one.

A fun message on the inside of the box

For the first pint, I chose Sweet Potato with Torched Marshmallows because I associate sweet potatoes more with Thanksgiving and we're past that already.  This flavor is similar -- but not the same as -- one of their holiday flavors from last year, Sweet Potato Eclair.  Both feature a base of sweet potatoes and cinnamon (this year's also contains nutmeg).  Last year's mix-ins were pastry flakes and white chocolate curls while this years mix-ins are torched marshmallows.  I had never heard of torched marshmallows before but I think it is just the process of laying out miniature marshmallows on a pan and then using a small kitchen blow torch on them.

Let's dig in.  The packaging is cool.  It is a lot more detailed and artistic than their standard orange and yellow cartons.  I wonder if new artwork will propagate to the other flavors.  I hope so.  Opening the lid, the sweet potato base is a yellow in color with a hint of orange and a lone marshmallow is visible on the top.  Digging in, the sweet potato base is quite tasty.  The cinnamon and nutmeg provide quite a bit of flavor, but you can still taste the sweet potatoes.  The marshmallows provide the occasional change in texture but it is not an overly marshmallow pint.

This is a really good pint of ice cream.  It is basically just a tweak of last year's sweet potato flavor but that is OK because the spicy sweet potato base is the star of the pint.  Each year the mix-ins are chosen so as not to distract too much from this base.  I think I like this year's because it is a bit spicier.  If you're craving sweet potatoes this holiday season, check this out.