Jeni's - Skillet Cinnamon Roll

Skillet Cinnamon Roll - Dark Caramel, Cream Cheese, Pastry and Cinnamon (lots of it)

So, the third flavor in my recent shipment from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is called Skillet Cinnamon Roll.  It is a new flavor this year from Jeni's.  It's rather convenient that they had two new flavors (this one and Pineapple Upside Down Cake) which I could pad my special order to get the super-limited Claire's Cabinet release.  This flavor is not available locally in Minnesota (to my knowledge).  Skillet Cinnamon Roll a flavor based on homemade cinnamon rolls which you can bake in a cast-iron skillet for which there are lots of recipes.  It's a pastry with lots of cinnamon, cream cheese frosting and a dark caramel.  This looks like a winning flavor combination.  The previous pints that this remind me of are the Cinnamon Buns flavor from Ben & Jerry's and the retired Cheese Crown flavor from Graeter's.  Also, there have been a handful of churros-based flavors.  The fried churro is quite different than the baked roll but when swirled into an ice cream you get a very similar flavor mix.

OK, on to the ice cream.  Removing the lid, I see a cool Lord of the Rings inspired message on the extra plastic seal ("One ice cream to rule them all").  I approve of these extra seals.  Peeling back this seal, I see the top of the pint.  There are a couple of small air voids (not too big, thankfully), the base ice cream is a bright white and some of the dark caramel swirls can be seen.  Digging in, the base ice cream has a very bright flavor -- sweet, but not too sweet.  I quickly encounter the caramel swirls.  This swirl is very thick and dark.  It has a rich brown sugar flavor with lots of cinnamon.  The front of the container boasts that there is "lots" of cinnamon and they are correct.  Dispersed throughout the base are more mix-ins.  There are quite a few pieces of cream cheese icing.  They are about the size of the pieces that flake off of a cinnamon roll and onto your plate while you are eating it.  Then every once in a while I encounter a small piece of pastry which adds a little chewiness into the mix.  It all goes very well together.  The dark caramel cinnamon swirl in particular is amazing.

I really enjoyed this excellent new flavor from Jeni's.  They seem to be on a roll of late (pun not originally intended, but I'll let it stand).  Great flavor combinations that are mixed very well -- blended enough so that you get most flavors in each spoonful, but not overly blended so that you can't pick out each flavor.  This is my new flavor cinnamon pastry flavor.  Check it out.