Sweet Science - Vegan Cashew Caramel

Vegan Cashew Caramel - Vegan Vanilla Cashew Milk Ice Cream with Crunchy Cashew Praline and Ribbons of Coconut Caramel

 

The Twin Cities-based Sweet Science Ice Cream has a new non-dairy flavor for the fall.  This flavor is called Vegan Cashew Caramel and I picked it up at the Golden Fig market on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul.  I am never quite sure if I should try all the non-dairy flavors for each brand that I follow -- I missed Sweet Science's earlier Vegan Chocolate Chip flavor -- but this one looks interesting.  It features a non-dairy vanilla cashew milk base with ribbons of coconut caramel and crunchy cashew praline pieces.  The mix-ins look very good!

Before I start, as I write this review (a bit late), the October seasonals have been announced (instagram link here).  They feature four flavors that I have already had:

• Pumpkin Pepita Brittle
• Black Sesame
• Snicker Doodle
• Hazelnut Brownie

These are all quite excellent!  I actually tempted to go off-script and sneak a pint of one of those in between my review flavors.

Back to today's Vegan Cashew Caramel flavor!  Removing the lid, I see quite a bit of the cashew praline pieces as well as the caramel swirls right off the bat.  Digging in, I taste the caramel swirl right away.  This is a similar swirl to the one Sweet Science uses in several of my favorite flavors of theirs.  I think Salted Caramel Swirl would be the signature version of that swirl.  Here, there is a bit of coconut flavor in the mix as well which is good.  The cashews praline tastes quite good and provides substantial crunch.  The vegan vanilla cashew milk base is not bad, but I would prefer a dairy ice cream here.  They are very generous with the caramel swirl here which is normally a great thing, but I don't think the vegan base balances that as well as the dairy base does, so by the end of the pint, a sticky-sweet feeling was building up on my palate.  That could easily be resolved with portion control (i.e. don't eat the whole pint at once).

This is a solid non-dairy flavor from Sweet Science.  The caramel and cashew mix-ins were amazing.  Overall, it might be a flavor to enjoy a scoop at a time, but it is good to know that vegans now have access to Sweet Science's excellent caramel.