Jeni's - Campfire Chocolate

Campfire Chocolate - Smoky Milk Chocolate with Homemade Marshmallows

 

The second pint in my recent four-pint shipment from the Columbus-based Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream is called Campfire Chocolate.  It is a new flavor released for the 2020 holiday season.  A note to local readers that I bought this pint online and I do not believe that it is available in local grocery stores.  This is a milk chocolate with smoke flavor added and homemade vanilla marshmallow mix-ins.  I have had a couple of flavors billed as "smoky" before.  Both involve the McConnell's brand and it is the almonds which are smoky (links here and here).  In this Jeni's pint, it is the chocolate which is smoky.  Here it is a milk chocolate which is used.  Jeni's has both milk chocolate (Milkiest Chocolate) and dark chocolate (Darkest Chocolate) bases.  All dairy ice creams contain milk, but Jeni's adds evaporated milk to enhance the flavor of their milk chocolate.  I checked the ingredient list and that's what they do here as well.  Here of course, they add both "smokiness" and marshmallow mix-ins.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see the milky brown color of the milk chocolate base and a hint of one of the marshmallow mix-ins.  Digging in, I taste the smokiness in the chocolate right away.  It is a cool an interesting aromatic effect.  I wonder how they do it!  It is still primarily chocolate, though.  The chocolate is rich and creamy with extra milky undertones just like their Milkest Chocolate flavor (which I liked to above).  Soon, I encounter the marshmallow mix-ins.  I can tell that these are homemade because they have an irregular shape.  They look a bit larger and more irregular than the marshmallows that Jeni's used in their Roxbury Road flavor, but they are both 'homemade' (not pre-packaged) and the flavor is similar.  As I eat my way down the pint, my palate acclimates itself to the smokiness a bit.  The most intense effect was in the first couple of spoonfuls, but the flavor still remains more aromatic than usual throughout the rest of the point.

This is an interesting flavor from Jeni's.  It's the chocolate base from Milkiest Chocolate plus similar marshmallows to Roxbury Road with some infused smoky aroma.  It's interesting that they kept it with only chocolate and marshmallow.  It's like a rocky road without the almonds or a s'more flavor without the graham crackers -- but again with smoke.  I did enjoy Campfire Chocolate, though.  If you are a fan of chocolate and marshmallow and are curious about the smokiness, give this one a try.