Izzy's - Almond Biscotti

Almond Biscotti - Almond Ice Cream with Almonds and Almond Toast Pieces with a Splash of Sherry

Today's flavor is Almond Biscotti from the Saint Paul-based Izzy's Ice Cream.  Biscotti is Italian for biscuit -- the crunchy biscuits in the British sense, not the soft biscuits in the American sense.  Italian biscotti are usually made with almonds, so this flavor makes complete sense.  The biscuits used here are provided by the local Wuollet's Bakery, the same bakery which made the Cardamom Toast used in Izzy's Norwegian Chai flavor.  Wuollet's Bakery has been around for a very long time.  My parents actually got their wedding cake at Wuollet's (back then they were called Bungalow Bakery).  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Removing the lid, I see the off-white beige color of the almond base with some fairly noticeable chunks of biscotti toast visible right away.  So, larger toast pieces will be used here (in the Norwegian Chai flavor, the toast pieces were ground up into fine crumbs).  Digging in the almond flavor is fairly strong and quite delicious!  Sometimes, if there is too much almond extract added, it can be a bit off-putting, but this is just enough.  The flavor description says that a splash of sherry is added to the base.  I don't know the flavor of sherry well enough to know, but perhaps this is what is helping balance the flavor?  There are almond pieces dispersed throughout the pint.  These are delicious in themselves but also add some fun crunch into the mix.  Then there are toast pieces in the mix as well.  These pieces are a little softer than I expected -- I think they soaked up the ice cream during the churning process -- but are still quite fun and delicious.

I really liked this pint.  This is possibly one of my favorite almond-centric pints.  I've had a lot of great almond flavors, but it is often playing a supporting role to coconut, chocolate, caramel or some other strong flavor.  Here the base is almond and both mix-ins are almond and the result is excellent.  Almond-lovers should check this out.