Van Leeuwen - Praline Butter Cake

Praline Butter Cake - Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Praline Pecans and Brown Butter Cake Pieces

 

Today is another flavor from the Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen brand.  They are carried locally at Kowalski's Markets.  This year, Kowaski's has rotated which flavors from this brand that they carry which gives me some ice cream to try.  Today's point is called Praline Butter Cake.  It has a plain sweet cream base with praline pecan and brown butter cake mix-ins.  That is an interesting combination of mix-ins.  I have had many flavors with praline pecans and a handful of flavors with butter cake, but I would not have thought to combine those two.  Plus, this is a brown butter cake.  Brown butter is butter which has been heated up to caramelize and concentrate it a bit.  I have had a couple of brown butter pecan pints from Graeter's and Sweet Science, but in today's pint the brown butter is in a cake and the pecans are praline coated.  This should be itneresting.

Removing the lid, the sweet cream base had a creamy off-white color to it and several of the mix-ins are visible right away on top.  Normally, I do think of sweet cream as being extra white, but Van Leeuwen makes "French-style" ice cream which mean that they use twice as many egg yolks.  Digging in, the ice cream is thick and the extra eggs make it creamier -- almost like a custard.  I quickly encounter all the mix-ins.  The praline pecan pieces are the size of crushed pecans (i.e. not full-sized).  They taste quite good.  The butter cake pieces are also small in size but are large enough that you notice the chewy texture.  The texture reminded me a little bit of cookie dough because it is a dense cake.  The flavor of the cake pieces is not as noticeable as the praline pecan pieces but I can tell there some caramelized flavor in there if I focus in on them.  The main thing I notice is the texture which keeps me guessing as I eat my way down the pint.  That is, some mix-ins are crunchy and some are chewy and I am never sure which one I am going to get.

This is an interesting and unique flavor from Van Leeuwen.  I would never have thought to mix butter cake and praline pecans.  It is not too exciting, but it works.  This may appeal to pralines and cream fans looking for a twist on their favorite flavor.

Pumphouse Creamery - Sea Salt Caramel and Praline Pecans

Sea Salt Caramel and Praline Pecans - Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Praline Pecans

Today's flavor is from Pumphouse Creamery in South Minneapolis.  It is called Sea Salt Caramel and Praline Pecans.  Their website lists it as one of their older (2004) and most popular flavors.  I like caramel and praline pecans so I figured I would give it a try.

The top of the pint is a fairly light beige color lighter than most caramel bases.  With the first spoonful, it is a fairly mild caramel base.  It is tasty, though.  Reminded me more of the old-fashioned salted caramel from Graeter's than the stronger and saltier caramels that seem to be common these days.  I think the point here is to serve as a vehicle for the mix-ins.  As I dig down into the ice cream, I run into the pecans.  The praline coating here is light.  It is not the thick candied brittle-like coating that some praline pecans have.  It tastes like the pecans have been soaked in salted maple syrup before mixing them in.  I can taste the pecans more than the usual praline mix-ins.

This is a mild, yet delicious version of a pralines and cream from Pumphouse.  A muted caramel base is used with simple maple-syrup-coated pecan mixed in.  I don't mean to knock it though.  It was quite delicious to eat.  It was almost like a cross between a butter pecan and a pralines and cream.  As long as you know what to expect.  Try a sample at the scoop shop and see if it is for you.

Coolhaus - Buttered French Toast

Buttered French Toast - Buttered Brown Sugar Ice Cream, Pecan Pralines, Cakey Toast Pieces, Maple Swirl

Today is the final review from my recent Coolhaus shipment. Shipments are six pints, but there were only five pints on their menu which I had not had before so my sixth pint was a duplicate (Balsamic Fig & Mascarpone if you are curious).  Today's pint is called Buttered French Toast.  This one looks very intriguing.  They bill in on the pint as being "our take on butter pecan", but they use praline pecans and there are cakey toast pieces and a swirl of maple syrup as well.  This looks very interesting.

Removing the lid, there is a 'winking face with tongue' emoji (U+1F61C) on the foil.  I had been appreciating some of the wittier phrases that have been appearing here on recent pints but this is pretty fun as well.  Peeling off the foil, the base is a milky off-white beige color and there is a beautiful swirl of maple syrup visible right away.  Coolhaus does these top-of-the-pint swirls quite well.  Digging in, the buttered brown sugar base is quite good.  It is thick and creamy and serves as a good vehicle for the swirls and mix-ins.  The maple syrup swirl is also quite tasty.  I've seen a few maple bases and swirls that get blended in to the point where it loses its punch.  Here, you can distinctly taste the maple syrup.  It is as if one had added maple syrup as a topping to a bowl of ice cream (I have never tried that, but now I am curious).  The mix-ins were dispersed throughout the pint.  The toast pieces were indeed soft and cakey.  They absorbed the flavor of the base and maple swirl and dissolved in your mouth, so it seems like their main role here is textural.  The praline pecans were crunchy and quite good.  There were about half as many as are usually included in a pralines-n-cream implementation which makes sense because they share the pint with the cake pieces.

I really enjoyed this pint.  It is one of the better pints in my recent Coolhaus shipment.  Sometimes a Coolhaus flavor is not what you imagine it to be from the flavor name and side-of-the-pint descriptions but it ends up being quite delicious anyways.  That happened here.  I was expecting some sort of butter cake or bread pudding ice cream, but it ended up being a maple syrup pralines & cream -- the cake pieces played only a supporting role here.  I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys maple syrup and praline pecans.  Enjoy.

Häagen-Dazs - Pralines & Cream

Pralines & Cream - Vanilla Ice Cream with Praline Pecans and a Caramel Ribbon

A little over a year ago, I reviewed Baskin-Robbins' Pralines N' Cream flavor which is one of their signature flavors dating back over fifty years.  In that review, I noted that they had sued Häagen-Dazs in 1984 for infringing on their trademark with their Pralines & Cream flavor.  Häagen-Dazs only changed the 'N' to '&', so they were obviously copying Baskin-Robbins.  I looked right away for the Häagen-Dazs flavor but I had trouble finding it -- tor some reason, none of my usual stores carries it.  Well, last week I was at a non-chain convenience store outside of my usual stomping grounds and I took a peek into their freezer case to see what they had for ice cream (something you should do no matter where you are) and there it was!  I finally get to compare the two flavors.  Here we go.

Opening the pint shows a lot of dark caramel visible right away on the top.  I was expecting this!  Digging in, the caramel swirl is quite good.  It almost made me forget about the vanilla base.  The vanilla was not bad but I think its purpose was only to prevent the caramel from reaching overdose levels.  The mix was good.    Next I encountered the praline pecans.  They were crunchy and tasty and the praline coating was noticeable but not too thick.  Some pralines overdo it on the coating, but not here.  There was not as many pecans in the mix as I was expecting.

This was a very good flavor.  The comparison with Baskin-Robbins reminds me of the comparison between Caramel Cone and Americone Dream flavors.  There, I enjoyed the Häagen-Dazs pint better despite the fact that the Ben & Jerry's cone mix-in was better simply because of all the extra caramel.  The same thing happened here.  I think Baskin-Robbins' had better praline mix-ins but I enjoyed Häagen-Dazs more because they had extra caramel.  I'm glad that the two implementations are different so one can decide which one they are more in the mood for on a particular day.

  

New Orleans - Praline Crunch

Praline Crunch - Praline Ice Cream with Crunchy Whole Caramel Pecans

Today we return to the New Orleans brand for their Praline Crunch flavor.   At first glance, this looks standard Pralines & Cream implementation as first popularized by Baskin-Robbins over fifty years ago, but a second glance at the ingredient list shows a praline base flavor.  So perhaps a minor twist on that popular flavor.  We shall see.

Removing the lid shows a beige color to the base.  There is a tiny amount of frost due to some air sneaking between the lid and the ice cream but it is not enough to affect the taste.  With the first spoonful, the base has a dark earthy flavor to it.  It is sort of like a brown sugar or perhaps a burnt caramel.  I guess this is consistent with what the praline coating would be like if it was fully blended into a base ice cream.  It is a noticeable difference from the usual vanilla base and I liked it.  The caramel pecans are crunchy and quite good.  I actually like a gooey coating to pecans better than a hard, praline candy coating.

I quite liked this pint.  The variation on the standard pralines & cream is quite minor, but it is a good one.  I liked the brown-sugar-like base and the caramel pecans.  If you're a pralines & cream fan and this type of subtle twist interests you, then give this flavor a try.

  

Grand Ole Creamery - Black Hills Gold

Black Hills Gold - Caramel Ice Cream with Crushed Cookies and Praline Pecans

I am still on my trip for the family reunion, so Saint Paul's Grand Ole Creamery gets the call.    The flavor I selected was Black Hills Gold.  The Black Hills are a famous area of neighboring South Dakota and General Custer's expedition did indeed discover gold there in 1874 which started a mini-Gold Rush at the time.  When I did a quick google for 'black hills gold' and found that there is a whole type of jewelry branded as made with Black Hills Gold..  So, that explains the pun and references of the flavor name.  Looking at the flavor description, it looks like it is a blend of cookies and cream and pralines and cream.  Those are both popular flavors so this is a promising combination.  Indeed when the cashier at the local market rang me up she told me "this is the best flavor".  So, with that testimonial I was looking forward to giving this a go.

Opening the pint, the top of the pint had a white color with some of the cookie mix-ins visible right away.  I was actually initially concerned upon examination that perhaps the pint was mislabeled.  This looks just like cookies and cream!   I was expecting a more caramel-like color.  Eating into the pint, the base ice cream is quite soft and creamy and the cookie mix-ins were of the Oreo sandwich cookie variety, but they were softer and chewier than Oreos.  They were quite good.  Once I got a couple of spoonfuls in, I started to encounter the praline mix-ins.  They provided a decent contrast to the cookie mix-ins.  Overall, the pint had a bit of a home-made scoop shop feel to it and the ice cream stayed rich and creamy as I neared the bottom of the pint.

This was a successful pint.  My favorite pint from the Grand Ole Creamery so far.  Don't expect caramel flavor in the base but the blend of cookies and cream and pralines and cream is a successful one.  If you like either of those flavors and are in Saint Paul, then give Black Hills Gold a try.

Häagen-Dazs - Bourbon Praline Pecan

Bourbon Praline Pecan - Bourbon Ice Cream with Nutty Praline Pecans in Pools of Brown Sugar Bourbon

Today, I am looking at another one of the new Häagen-Dazs flavors for 2017: Bourbon Praline Pecan.  Just last week I reviewed the new Ben & Jerry's Urban Bourbon flavor, so it appears that bourbon is a trendy ingredient at the moment.  That said, the mix-ins are different here.  The flavor combination for this pint appears closer to a McConnell's pint from last year.  I am looking forward to trying it out.

Removing the lid shows the creamy beige color of the bourbon base with pralines visible right away and even some of the 'pools' of brown sugar bourbon that surrond those pralines.  I wonder how they implement the pools without having them mix into the base.  There's also an air pocket on the side but that appears to be a harmless imperfection in the packing of the ice cream.  With the first spoonful, the bourbon is evident right away, but it is a sweet bourbon!  Although there is probably minimal alcohol content, you can tell that it is formulated with an alcoholic beverage in mind.  But unlike previous bourbon flavoring which provide an occasional burn in the back of my throat, there is no burn here.  A sweet candy-like alcohol flavor instead.  I still enjoyed it but it is worth noting the difference from other bourbon flavors.  The praline pecan mix-ins were quite tasty.  The pools that went along with them kept the praline coating from getting too crusty.

This was a successful flavor.  It is a different bourbon flavor than what most of the other brands are doing, so you should be prepared for that but with that expectation it was quite good.  If you'd like a pralines-n-cream like pint with sweet liqueur kick to it, then this pint is for you.

  

Izzy's - Dessa's Existential Crunch

Dessa Existential Crunch - Dark Brown Sugar and Creme Fraiche ice cream, flavored with Jameson Irish Whiskey and Disaronno Originale amaretto mixed with Praline Pecan pieces and a crunchy cashew brittle

For the last pint of 2016, I decided to stick with Izzy's for their Dessa's Existential Crunch flavor.  Izzy's created this flavor last month for a rooftop social in which the Minneapolis-born hip hop artist Dessa was performing.  Dessa herself helped in designing the flavor by providing Izzy with a list of her favorite types of snacks.  The name of the flavor reminds me of Dexy's Midnight Runners but listening to some of Dessa's songs on youtube, it doesn't sound anything like that.  The flavor itself has a large number of ingredients, a brown sugar base with two liqueurs added and with both praline pecans and cashew brittle mixed in.  It will be interesting to see how it all goes together.

Opening the pint reveals the light color of the brown sugar and creme fraiche base with plenty of the nutty mix-ins visible right away.  Eating my way into the pint, the base ice cream is delicious.  Brown sugar always makes for a good base flavor and creme fraiche in the mix just acts to make sure that it is not too strong.  The irish whiskey and amaretto are not really that distinctly noticeable but they do add a bit of complexity and some sweetness to the brown sugar flavor.  Amaretto is also an almond-based liqueur so that flavor might also blend in with the nut-based mix-ins.  Those nutty mix-ins are dispersed generously through the pint in small pieces and provide crunchy texture as well as candied nut flavor.  As with the liqueurs in the base, the nuts blended fairly well together and blended into the pint as well.  The result mixture was quite good even if I couldn't always make out all of the individual ingredients.  If you have a more sensitive palate than mine, you could challenge yourself to try and taste each ingredient instead of just enjoying the blend as I did.

All in all, a very successful pint.  For those that like brown sugar and nut flavors, then give this a try.

  

McConnell's - Whiskey & Pecan Pralines

Whiskey & Pecan Pralines - Buttery, salt-roasted ‘n caramel-coated pecan pralines, folded into California Central Coast, grass-fed milk & cream, spiked with rich, mouth-coating, smoky spicy Kentucky Bourbon.

We return to the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's brand for the latest review.  McConnell's has added a few new flavors to their menu in the past year but I had not seen any of them until last week when I found a pint of Whiskey & Pecan Pralines.  I am always intrigued by alcohol-based flavors, so I'm looking forward to giving this a try.

Removing the lid shows that the base has a beige color and some of the nutty mix-ins are visible right away on top.  Digging in, the praline pecans are numerous.  As advertised, there is a bit of a candy-like praline coating to the pecans but it is not overly done.  In some bites, it is the caramel and the pecan core that take center stage.  The 'whiskey' part of the flavor takes the form of an occasional burn that you feel in the back of your throat.  It was not too much but it was noticeable.

This was a successful pint and I enjoyed it very much.  For me, this is a premium version of the classic Pralines N' Cream flavor which is spiked with a kick of Kentucky Bourbon.  If you are a long-time Pralines N' Cream fan then you should give this one a try.

  

Baskin Robbins - Pralines 'N Cream

Pralines 'N Cream - Vanilla Flavored Ice Cream with Praline-Coated Pecan Pieces & Caramel Ribbon

This week we do a Baskin Robbins original -- Pralines 'N Cream.  The story goes that Irv Robbins and his wife Irma were at home enjoying a bag of pralines that they had brought back from a recent trip to New Orleans when inspiration hit.  Irv rushed to the kitchen to mix the pralines into vanilla ice cream with a bit of caramel and a new flavor was born.  The flavor immediately became one of their all-time best sellers and scoop shops have learned never to rotate it out of their thirty-one flavor line-up.  So popular is the flavor, that it has spawned copycats.  Haagen-Dazs' introduction of their Pralines & Cream flavor (note the & in place of the 'N) in 1984 led to a lawsuit from Baskin-Robbins which thought it had trademarked the flavor.  The Haagen-Dazs flavor is still in freezer cases in 2016 so Baskin-Robbins must have lost exclusivity in that suit, but there's no denying who is the original.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid reveals an unusually pretty top of the pint.  The carton is not quite full and the shape of the cream has some nice folds to it.  A couple of caramel swirls are visible along with a general caramel-ly tinge to the vanilla base.  Eating my way in, the caramel swirls are thick and sweet.  A bit more orange and a bit more sticky and sweet than the usual caramel swirl.  The pecans are dispersed throughout the pint and the praline coating was a bit more toffee-like and crunchy than I was expecting.  It's been a while since I've had this flavor -- I had forgotten that they weren't just regular nuts.  Honey or candy-coated nuts is a common holiday treat in my family so it is not like I am objecting.  The vanilla base provided a decent backdrop but with the ribbon and the mix-ins it did not stand out by itself.

Certainly a successful flavor.  I can see why it has remained popular for all of these years.  Personally, I might prefer just a straight pecan & caramel combination without the toffee-like praline coating but I think I'm in the minority as 'praline' is featured very prominently in the name of the flavor.  I wonder if the Haagen-Dasz flavor is much different.  Perhaps I'll try that one soon as that would make for a fun showdown.