Tillamook - Toasted Coconut Fudge

Toasted Coconut Fudge - Toasted Coconut Gelato, Chocolate Fudge & Coconut Flakes

The Oregon-based Tillamook brand returns to the blog!  I was beginning to think that they were a west-coast-only brand -- or perhaps that they were de-emphasizing their pints in favor of their 1.75-quart tubs which I do see from time to time.  I keep checking freezer cases every time I am in a grocery store, though, and a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a small local change which carries Tillamook pints.  This flavor is called Toasted Coconut Fudge. 

The first thing I notice is that Tillamook has changed their pint design.  They switched from the old plastic containers to the white cardboard containers that most other places use.  They've also changed their logo.  Removing the lid, I see an extra foil layer with the label "Made to be enjoyed."  That's nice.  Then removing the foil I see no ice cream is visible!  I see only coconut flakes (and perhaps some fudge) on top.  This is going to be a layered pint!  Digging in, the coconut flakes are sitting on top of a thin layer of hard fudge with soft coconut gelato below.  The coconut flakes by themselves are amazing.  Some of the best strands of toasted coconut that I have had in an ice cream.  The coconut gelato is soft, and creamy.  There are no extra coconut mix-ins within the gelato itself but the coconut flavor is sweet, strong and delicious.  The fudge layer presented some changes.  The taste was good, but it took some effort to break the spoon through it.  As I ate my way further down the pint, it was almost all gelato beneath the top layer.  I saw a little bit of extra fudge sticking to one of the sides, but there were not more 'layers' below.  Because of this, I wanted to break the top fudge layer into smaller pieces so I could mix it into my lower-pint spoonfuls.  That was a challenge, though, as the layer was so hard.

This was an interesting and tasty pint of coconut fudge ice cream.  I really loved the ingredients -- especially the coconut base and coconut mix-ins -- but as with a couple of other Tillamook flavors I had issues with how the layering was done.  I am not always against layered pints.  The Häagen-Dazs layered pints contain some crunchy fudge layers but the layers are so thin and they repeat throughout the pint -- it is hard get a spoonful that does not contain every layer!  The Talenti layers are thicker -- there are certainly top-of-the-pint layers and bottom-of-the-pint layers -- but the layers are also really soft and it is very easy to mix them, or to selectively dig your spoon as I did, to make sure you are experiencing all the the flavors at once.  Here, the tough fudge layer on top created a challenge.  I found myself finishing that layer early and then having mostly plain coconut gelato on the second half of the pint.  The coconut flavor was excellent, though.