Pumphouse Creamery - Garam Masala

Garam Masala - Indian-inspired Ice Cream using Coriander, Cumin, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg and Cinnamon

The flavor today comes from the Pumphouse Creamery in South Minneapolis.  I like to go there at least once a season to see if they have any interesting new flavors.  Today's flavor is called Garam Masala and is an ice cream based on a blend of Indian spices.  Masala means 'spice blend', while garam means 'hot'.  I have had an Indian spice blend once before from McConnell's where it was mixed with tea, date and nuts here.  I had a sample spoonful in the scoop shop and it was quite good, so I am looking forward to this.

Removing the lid, I see an off-white yellow base with lots of speckles from the spices.  It is yellower than I would expect a sweet cream to be, so I believe the spices have modified the color of the base a bit in addition to adding the speckles.  In the first spoonful, I taste a fair amount of spices right away.  It's an interesting mix, but I don't think it is as strong as the sample that I tried at the scoop shop.  I can taste that it is different than the five-spice, or the spices that make up the spices in a pumpkin spice -- that must be the coriander and the cumin.  But it's not as distinctly Indian as I remembered my sample in the scoop shop.  Did I have the pint in my freezer too long before eating it?  Usually spices get stronger when stored, though.  Or maybe the pints were made from a different batch than the scooping bin?  I'm not sure.

This is an interesting experimental flavor from Pumphouse, but I was a little disappointed that the spices were not as strong as I was expecting.  I do have a strong spice tolerance though -- especially compared to my Midwestern neighbors.  Perhaps the flavor is muted for the local clientele, I don't know.  Sample this flavor at the shop before getting a scoop instead of committing to a pre-packaged pint.

McConnell's - Masala Chai, Dates & Walnuts

Masala Chai Tea Ice Cream Flavored with a Spice Mix of Cardamom, Nutmeg, Cloves, Mace, Peppercorns, Star Anise and Cumin with Salted Walnuts and California Dates

 

Today, we continue with the Melting Pot Collection from McConnell's.  The second pint is Masala Chai, Dates & Walnuts.  This looks like a very interesting flavor.  I think that might be the longest ingredient list that I have typed in.  Dates and Walnuts are the mix-ins and the base ice cream is a masala chai tea.    Masala is the Hindu word for a spice blend.  I have had tikka masala chicken but that is a different blend of spices than used in masala chai tea.  The Wikipedia link  for masala chai tea above lists a similar list of spices that McConnell's uses, so that checks out.  I can't want to try this out, it looks pretty exotic.

The top of the pint shows that the base is a milky off-white color and some of the mix-ins are visible already.  The first spoonful packs quite a punch.  This is quite spicy!  It is not a hot spice, it is more of a baking spice.  I don't know if I can pick out all of the flavors but I can definitely tell it has cloves, nutmeg and cardamom.  It is fairly sweet, but not overly so.  I really like this flavor.  It would make a good flavor for a sweetbread.  The walnuts and dates are distributed throughout the pint.  The walnuts provide some texture and crunch.  The dates are cut into small strip-like pieces.  With all of the other flavors present, I could not specifically taste it but perhaps it contributed to the overall blend of flavors which is quite excellent.  A half an hour after eating it, I did notice an aftertaste of all the spices in my mouth -- I could tell there was star anise and peppercorn in there.  The aftertaste did not detract from the pint at all, just a heads up to be prepared for that.

This was an excellent pint of ice cream -- one of the best that I have had recently.  If you have access to a McConnell's scoop shop and you like spicy desserts, then you have to check this out.