Coolhaus - Aunt Gladys Yellow Cake Batter

Aunt Gladys Yellow Cake Batter - Yellow Cake Batter Ice Cream with Rum Raisins & Candied Ginger

Today, I move on to the second pint in my six-pint shipment from the Culver-City-based Coolhaus Ice Cream.  This flavor is called Aunt Gladys Yellow Cake Batter.  Note to local readers:  Coolhaus is a fun brand and the Fresh Thyme Market carries some of its flavors but I am not aware that this particular flavor is available in Minnesota.  I ordered it online and had it shipped to me. 

The flavor name is rather fun.  Gladys is indeed an old person's name.  It was a fairly popular name for people born in the early 1900s but has been falling in popularity ever since.  Unlike some old-fashioned names like Eleanor or Grace, it has not made a comeback in recent years.  Do I have an Aunt Gladys?  Technically no, but my grandfather had a first cousin named Gladys.  That would make her my first cousin twice removed which I guess is similar to a great aunt.  I might have met her once, I can't recall.  I don't know if she was a good cook.  Anyhow, at first glance this appears to be a yellow cake batter flavor which is not uncommon but on second glance there are rum raisins in the mix as well.  I have had once yellow cake batter flavor (from Ben & Jerry's) and one rum raisin flavor (from Häagen-Dazs).  This appears to be a combination of those two flavor ideas with some pieces of candied ginger thrown into the mix as well.  Let's check it out.

Opening the pint, the ice cream is much softer than I am used to from Coolhaus.  Coolhaus is usually known for having a firm bases ideal for use in ice cream sandwiches.  I am temporarily concerned that my freezer might be malfunctioning, but I double-checked and it says -2F plus all the other pints appear to be unaffected.  What seems to have happened was the alcohol from the rum raisins has seemed into base which has lowered its freezing point.  It is not completely melted but it is just softer and gooier than I expected.  Digging in, I do taste a bit of the yellow cake batter at first but I quickly start tasting the rum from the raisins.  The rum-soaked raising are generously dispersed throughout the pint.  They are chewy and provide quite a bit of rum flavor.  The candied ginger pieces do not stand out very much but I do find them if I look for them. 

This is an interesting and very eclectic flavor from Coolhaus.  I was expected a yellow-cake batter implementation, but the cake batter has mostly been overpowered by the rum raisins.  It's worth a shot if you want an interesting twist on rum raisin, but you might just want to stick to Häagen-Dazs' very well-done implementation of the that flavor.