Pumphouse Creamery - Local Honeyberry & Raspberry Crisp

Local Honeyberry & Raspberry Crisp - Sweet Cream with a Honeyberry & Raspberry Jam and Crisp

Last week, I returned to Pumphouse Creamery for the first time since the start of the pandemic and I picked up a couple of pints.  The first flavor is called Local Honeyberry & Raspberry Crisp.  There are a couple of instagram posts about it (here and here) which contain details about it.  I guess it is an enhancement of their Black Raspberry Crisp flavor, which I really enjoyed!  The main difference is that the raspberry jam is now a honeyberry and raspberry jam, but also it looks like there is no vanilla in the base this time (it is just sweet cream) and the crisp contains some wheat flour where my notes are telling me that it was previously an oat crisp.

I must admit that I had not heard of honeyberries before trying this ice cream.  It is the fruit of a particular type of honeysuckle -- sometimes referred to as 'haskap' -- which is native to cool climates in the Northern Hemisphere.  It is hardy enough to survive Minnesota winters, so it can grow locally.  It is not closely related to the common edible berries found in grocery stores (blueberries, caneberries, strawberries, etc).  The closest relative that I recognized is the snowberry, and a little more distantly related to the elderberry.  What do they taste like?  I found a couple of articles discussing their use in food (here and here) and the consensus seems to be that their flavor resembles blueberries at first, but then notes of raspberries and other flavors start kicking in.  Also, whether they are sweet or tart can vary depending on the cultivar and its ripeness.  Without further ado, let's dive in!

Removing the lid, the honeyberry jam looks beautiful.  It has a deep burgundy color which looks very strong.  It almost looks like a dye.  Digging in, the berry flavor is delicious.  It is a honeyberry/black-raspberry blend, so I do taste raspberry first, but I can tell it is a more complex flavor.  It is quite delicious.  Then as I eat further down, the berry swirls are not as thick as they are on the top of the pint, but a little bit of berry in the sweet cream base goes a long way.  Plus, I encounter quite a bit of the 'crisp' which is made partly from wheat flour this time.  I don't have gluten issues so I don't mind.  This crisp is excellent and delicious.  It provides a crunchy texture to most spoonfuls which goes very well with the berries. 

This is an excellent pint of ice cream.  Pumphouse took one of my favorite of their flavors, Black Raspberry Crisp, and they made it more interesting by blending honeyberries into the mix.  It's a great way to try out honeyberries if you have never tried them before, but it is still comfortably black-raspberry-esque for those who loved the previous flavor.  Check it out!