Milkjam Creamery - Desert Rose

Desert Rose - Almond Ice Cream Layered with Toasted Almond Pieces and a Persian Rose Cream  

Today we return to the Milkjam Creamery of South Minneapolis for a flavor called Desert Rose.  It looks like this was part of their "Silk Road" series from January, but I bought it more recently than that.  Sometimes they have pints from the previous month in the freezer case of the shop.  Milkjam is always notably terse with the flavor descriptions on their website flavor page, but I have found that their instagram account often includes more details.  The instagram post for this flavor is here and mentions that this is based on a Persian-style ice cream popular in Iran called "bastani".  It has an almond flavored base with almonds and rose water flavored cream.  I believe this is a dairy flavor -- the instagram page does not specifically mention that it is not.   Let's check it out!

Popping off the lid, the ice cream has a yellow color and there's a dark pink swirl.  It looks beautiful.  Digging in, the base ice cream is soft and smooth (I am pretty sure it does contain dairy).  There is an almond-like flavor to it, but it is not the strong marzepan-like flavor.  The swirl does have a mild rosewater flavor to it.  I have had rosewater in ice cream several times before -- the strongest one being a McConnell's pint.  It is a decent flavor -- not as strong as it's color would imply.  I did not see the almond pieces that were in the instagram post linked above, but the pink sections of this pint did get quite clumpy as I ate my way down.  One of the clumps was so large and thick that it took quite a bit of effort to cut with my spoon so that I could eat it.

This is an interesting and exotic flavor from Milkjam.  The almond and rose flavors were good and not too strong.  The clumpiness was a bit strange and a mild issue, but not a deal breaker.  This was a fun experimental flavor for me -- I got to learn what 'bastani' was.  It tasted alright, but I did not love it.  Perhaps this is a flavor which is best enjoyed in the scoop shop where you get a scoop at a time and the texture can be better controlled.  If this comes back, sample it before you order.