Van Leeuwen - Hazelnut Fudge Cookie

Van Leeuwen - Hazelnut Fudge Cookie - Hazelnut Ice Cream with Swirls of Fudge and Spiced Speculoo Cookie Pieces

 

Today's flavor is from the Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and is called Hazelnut Fudge Cookie.  I bought it at Kowalski's on Grand in Saint Paul.  This flavor has a hazelnut base with spiced speculoo cookie pieces as a mix-in along with swirls of fudge.  Speculoos are a Dutch/Belgian spiced biscuit which I have seen a few times in other ice creams - a cookie butter core flavor from Ben & Jerry's, a retired Tillamook flavor and another Van Leeuwen flavor called Mocha Cookie Crumble.  Let's check it out.

I see quite a bit upon removing the lid.  The hazelnut base has a light tan color.  Some of the fudge swirl is visible on one of the side and there is a grainy texture within the base which I am guessing is crumbs from the cookies.  Digging in, the ice cream is thick yet easily scoopable which is consistent with other Van Leeuwen pints.  As mentioned in previous reviews Van Leeuwen's is a "french" ice cream which means that it is made with extra egg yolks.  This gives it a custard-like texture.  The hazelnut flavor in the base is not too strong but still good.  I like when hazelnut appears by itself instead of being fully blended into a nutella-like fudge.  There is a separate fudge swirl here and it is quite delicious.  The cookie pieces are soft and of variable size.  That is, some of the small crumbs have effectively blended into the base ice cream but some of the pieces are large enough to chew on.  I do not specifically taste the speculoo spices (such as cinnamon or nutmeg) but with cookies and fudge in every spoonful, it is quite delicious.

This Van Leeuwen pint is a very delicious and appealing blend of hazelnut, fudge and soft cookie pieces.  I specifically liked how the hazelnut and fudge were in every spoonful yet they were still distinct flavors and not fully blended.  My lone critique is the same one that I had for the previous Van Leeuwen flavor that included speculoo cookie pieces, Mocha Cookie Crumble.  That is that the spices in the speculoo cookies are too faint to taste amidst all the fudge.  It is still very tasty, just don't expect a lot of cinnamon or nutmeg in the mix.