Bebe Zito - Strawberry Fields 4 Ever

Strawberry Fields 4 Ever - Strawberry Cream Cheese Ice Cream

 

Today I return to Bebe Zito of South Minneapolis for their Strawberry Fields 4 Ever flavor.  I had some trouble getting an accurate flavor description for this.  Their flavor page describes something with strawberry rhubarb jam and strawberry sauce but that's not what I just ate.  Poking around social media, I found this facebook link where the caption says:  "It sounds like a simple strawberry ice cream but heck no, we don’t do that! It’s strawberry with a cream cheese base, a dash of lemon and a dash of balsamic to balance all of the flavors."  That sounds like what I just ate, so I will go with that!  The flavor name pun on the Beatles song is the same as that of a relatively recent Milkjam flavor (strawberry buttermilk instead of strawberry cream cheese) but similarities between these two shops are expected because Bebe Zito was founded by a former Milkjam ice cream chef.  Let's see how they compare!

But before that, this is my 800th ice cream review and it is time for another centenary collage of flavors.  

Flavors 701 to 800

There it is!  For previous collages, see the reviews for pints 100, 200, 300, 400, 500,  600 and 700.   It never ceases to amaze me how I have not run out of pints to try yet.  New ingredients too, I keep adding to the labels on the right.  Pretty soon, I will be able to make a collage of my collages.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid, the strawberry cream cheese base has a nice soft pink color.  Digging in, it is quite delicious.  The texture is thick and creamy.  The strawberry flavor is very bright and pleasant (not too sweet or tart).  I can tell that there is cream cheese in the mix, but it does not have that specific cream-cheese aftertaste that some cheesecakes have.  It tastes a lot like a frozen strawberry shake.  The ingredient list above mentions lemon and balsamic vinegar.  I do not doubt their inclusion, but I do not specifically taste them either.  Their use here is for flavor balance purposes and this is a well-balanced flavor.  There are no mix-ins or swirls here.  The pint is one homogeneous base.

This is a simple yet successful strawberry and cream cheese flavor from Bebe Zito.  Nothing too fancy -- no swirls, seeds or chunks -- but a very ingratiatingly delicious flavor.  If you are at Bebe Zito and are in the mood for strawberry, this is a good one to try.  Enjoy.