Sweet Science - Cherry Almond Ganache

Cherry Almond Ganache - Light Almond Ice Cream with Swirls of Cherry Compote and Chunks of Chewy, Creamy Salted Ganache

Today, I return to Saint Paul's Sweet Science Ice Cream for the second pint in my choose-your-own-4-pack that I purchased for curbside pick-up at the Keg & Case Market last week.  This flavor is called Cherry Almond Ganache.  It is an almond ice cream with a swirl of cherry compote and chunks of creamy salted ganache.  I don't know if I've had this flavor combination before.  I've had a couple of cherry nut or cherry almond combinations (Izzy's, Ben & Jerry's) and quite a few cherry and chocolate flavors (Sweet Science (again),  Ben & Jerry's, Graeter's, Steve's) but not one that has all three.  So, this should be interesting.

The top of the pint shows lots of the ganache.  I also see a little bit of dark red colorization from the cherry compote.  Digging in, I taste the chocolate first and the cherry is a secondary flavor.  It is a darker cherry flavor which is not too sweet.  As I dig in, I note that the ganache is often present in small cube-like chunks which have a gelatinous texture.  I have never seen ganache like this before -- I usually encounter it as a thick sauce.  It is good, though.  Occasionally the cubes are smeared creating a bit of a swirl.  I checked for the almond flavor in the base -- if it is there, it is quite mild.  I think it just serves as a non-vanilla base for the cherry and ganache mix-ins.

This is a pretty good flavor from Sweet Science.  I really liked the ganache.  Quite chocolatey and I liked the thicker-than usual texture.  The cherry compote here plays a supporting role.  It is quite good but it is definitely not as strong as the ganache.  This is a delcious pint as long as you expect more chocolate than cherry.