Jeni's - Golden Nectar

Golden Nectar - (11) - Golden Vanilla Ice Cream Flavored with Ylang Ylang and Clove with Toffee Candy Pieces

 

The final flavor in Jeni's Ice Cream Truck Collection is  called Golden Nectar.  This is a very interesting flavor.  It  is a unique flavor.  The flavor name implies that there is honey in there, but I don't see it on the ingredient list.  What I do see is vanilla, clove oil, ylang-ylang oil.  They've also added turmeric to give it a golden color.  I am very intrigued.  I have actually had ylang-ylang oil once before in an ice cream (see review here for more on ylang-ylang) and clove is one of my favorite spices.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid and peeling back the seal, I see a bright yellow base.  It looks a lot like a custard, but a check of the ingredient list shows that there are no eggs.  Digging in, it tastes a lot like a vanilla custard.  Maybe a combination of the vanilla, the yellow color from the turmeric and the tapioca syrup that Jeni's uses as a stabilizing agent is giving me that impression.  It does have some nice aromatic notes.  I think that's the ylang-ylang in the mix.  The clove is extremely subtle.  Just a pinch is used here so it does not provide the bite that is present in other flavors such as Claire's Cabinet.  One thing I don't see is toffee candy.  I do taste some caramel-like flavor from time to time.  I think the toffee may have dissolved in the ice cream.  I've seen this happen several times.  Sometimes this works really well, but other times I wonder if this is supposed to happen.  This reminds me of when I had a pint of Van Leeuwen's Honeycomb flavor and the honeycomb pieces had melted in the cream when I had read articles about how crunchy they were.  Here, the side of Jeni's pint talks of 'firecracker-like snaps of aerated toffee candy' and my pint is all smooth with some caramel notes.  It all tastes really good, but I wonder if I am missing something.

This is an interesting experimental flavor blend from Jeni's.  The flavor is excellent.  It is has a very appealing vanilla-custard-like flavor with aromatic notes from the ylang-ylang and a subtle hint of cloves.  The smooth caramel sections instead of aerated candy pieces make me wonder if the toffee mix-ins dissolved and blended into the base, though.  So, although I enjoyed the flavor, it has me wondering if I should try this at a scoop shop where the mix-ins are more likely in their original intended state.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Air

Air - Ylang-Ylang Frozen Yogurt, Airy Meringue and Basil Seeds

 

The third flavor in Milkjam Creamery's April run through the classical elements is Air (instagram link here).  This is a very interesting and unique flavor.  It is a frozen yogurt flavored with ylang-ylang -- which I admit that I had never heard of before trying this -- and it has crunchy meringue mix-ins and basil seeds (not leaves).  After all the ice creams that I have eaten, unique is always a bonus so I am looking forward to checking this out.

As mentioned above, I had never tried ylang-ylang before.  Whenever I get a new ingredient I like to write about it a bit.  Ylang-ylang is a perfume-like essential oil extracted from the flowers of a cananga tree which is native to southeast Asia, Australia and the Philippines.  I also also never had basil seeds, just basil leaves (which were surprisingly tasty) from Sweet Science here.

Cracking open the lid, the top of the pint is bright white with a few of the basil seeds lurking below and I can see a few of the meringue pieces.  Digging in, the yogurt has a tangy flavor.  I'm not sure if that is the ylang-ylang or the yogurt.  I can smell the floral notes of the ylang-ylang but it is fairly subtle flavor-wise.  It is a lot like lavender or vanilla that way (but a different smell of course).  The meringue pieces are crunchy and fun to chew on.  I tend to think of meringue as being a creamy pie topping, but this is meringue that has been baked long enough that it is crunchy like a light airy cookie.  The basil seeds provide some interesting texture but not very strong flavor.  They don't taste anything like basil leaves.

This is an intriguing and unique flavor from Milkjam.  The flavors are not super strong, but it is still refreshing and pleasing to the taste.  I liked the meringue pieces as mix-ins.  This is potentially a good complement to one of the spicy meals that they serve next door at the World Street Kitchen.  It is too bad that we are not yet in a world for sampling flavors before you buy because I think a spoon-sample would go a long way towards explaining this flavor.  But it is worth a try if you like trying new things.