Graeter's - 150th Birthday Cake

150th Birthday Cake - Cake Batter Ice Cream with Cake Pieces and Sprinkles

Graeter's Ice Cream of Cincinnati is turning 150 this year!  I was able to find six flavors which I had not reviewed before so I pulled the trigger on an online shipment.  This first flavor is called 150th Birthday Cake.  Looking at that weblink tells me that the flavor might actually be called "Birthday Cake", but the "150th" is displayed so prominently on the packaging that I'll leave it in.  150 years is a long time!  Dating back to 1870, Graeter's is the oldest ice cream company in my rotation.  It is hard to describe how long ago that was.  There were only thirty-seven states -- the Civil War had recently ended.  Ulysses Grant was president.  There was no major league baseball yet, but the first all-professional team played in Cincinnati the year before.  150 years later and the brand is still being run by the Graeter family.  You can read more about the history of Graeter's on their website.  This birthday cake flavor appears to be an implementation of a "sheet cake" flavor -- similar to other flavors such as McConnell's Sprinkle Cake, Coolhaus's Hey!! Cupcake and old short-release flavors from Ample Hills & Ben & Jerry's.  This is a cake batter ice cream with cake pieces and sprinkles.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see colorful sprinkles right away!  The base has an off-white color to it.  Digging in, the ice cream is expectedly sweet, but not overly so.  Unlike many 'sheet cake' flavors, there is no frosting in the mix here and frosting can sometimes (but not always) be a source of excessive sweetness.  The base is described as a 'cake batter' flavor.  There is a bit of yellow color, so I don't think it's a white cake batter, but it is not so yellow as to be a yellow cake.  I think it's more like white cake but they have not removed all the egg yolks from the mix, hence the off-white color.  The sprinkles are good.  They are the crunchy cake sprinkles and not the softer sprinkles that you often find on cupcakes and donuts. The cake pieces are distributed throughout the pint.  They are small in size, but are soft, chewy (that is, not frozen).

This is a delicious birthday cake flavor from Graeter's.  It does indeed taste like a good piece of birthday cake that you might have at someone's party.  This is one of the better implementations that I have had.  I don't think it is quite as good as McConnell's but that is perhaps setting the bar too high.  If you see this pint and are in the mood for celebrating Graeter's sesquicentennial birthday, then give this a try.

Talenti - Caribbean Coconut

Caribbean Coconut - (19) - Coconut Gelato with Coconut Shreds

Today we return to Talenti Gelato for their Caribbean Coconut flavor.  The Talenti brand numbers their flavors and this is "recipe #9" so it is one of their earliest flavors.  I bought it at a grocery store locally.  I think it was Lund's in Highland because they had a buy-one-get-one sale, but I have seen this flavor at Target & Cub as well.  The link above says that Talenti actually gets their coconuts from the Philippines, but that we should "just go with us on this one because geographical discrepancies taste amazing".  I had not heard that before, but now that I hear it, it sounds completely true!  Let's check it out!


Unscrewing the lid, the coconut gelato appears very milky white.  Digging in, the texture has that softer-than-usual, yet still ice cream texture common in many of the Talenti gelato bases.  The coconut flavor is appealingly sweet and delicious.  There are flakes in the midst as well which add texture and a bit of coconut flavor.  There is no toastedness to this coconut -- everything is bright white and has a sweet flavor.  Coconut can make for a great sorbet because it comes with its own oil and 'milk', but this is not a sorbet.  The top three ingredients are milk, sugar and cream, so there is a lot of dairy in this pint.

I enjoyed this coconut gelato from Talenti quite a bit.  Checking my archives, simple coconut flavors are not very common.  Usually there is chocolate and caramel in the mix as well.  For a sorbet with toasted coconut, I'd go with Milkjam but for a simple coconut ice cream (gelato) this one is the pick.

Pumphouse Creamery - Chocolate with Blood Orange infused Olive Oil & Sea Salt

Chocolate with Blood Orange infused Olive Oil & Sea Salt - Chocolate Ice Cream with Blood Orange infused Olive Oil & Sea Salt

I decided to check out Pumphouse Creamery in South Minneapolis and see what they were up to.  They have a new flavor:  Chocolate with Blood Orange infused Olive Oil & Sea Salt.  So, I stopped by and picked it up along with a couple of other flavors from their regular line-up which I have not yet tried.  Today, I try the chocolate-orange flavor.  As mentioned in previous reviews, orange goes surprisingly well with chocolate.  I have had a chocolate-orange flavor from Three Twins and chocolate-orange-spice flavors from Izzy's and Milkjam.  Often citrus does not mix well with dairy because of the acidity, but the flavor of orange comes from a chemical called limonene which is oil-soluble.  Here, a blood orange flavor is blended into an olive oil which is then blended into a chocolate ice cream.  I am looking forward to trying this.

Opening the lid, the chocolate base has the expected cocoa brown color.  The top is so smooth that it is hard to get the camera to focus.  Digging in, I actually taste the blood orange right away.  It is very good.  The chocolate is definitely in there, too, but it is something you taste after the orange.  I can have not had Pumphouse's simple chocolate flavor, yet, but I can tell it is good chocolate.  As I continue eating the balance between the orange and the chocolate stays fresh -- one doesn't grow to dominate the other.  The use of blood orange is fun.  It's like there is a hint of berry within the orange as well.

This is an excellent orange-chocolate pint from Pumphouse.  The rich flavor of chocolate blends very well with the bright flavor of blood orange.  Orange-chocolate flavors should be more common.  Check it out.

Alden's - Dough Yeah

Dough Yeah - Vanilla Ice Cream with Cookie Dough Pieces and Ribbons of Chocolate Fudge

Today I return to the Oregon-based Alden's Ice Cream for a flavor called Dough Yeah.  It is their implementation of chocolate chip cookie dough with extra ribbons of chocolate fudge.  I bought this pint at the Target in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul.  Let's check it out.

The top of the pint shows that the vanilla base has an off-white color while the some of the chocolate fudge swirls are visible just underneath.  Digging in, the ice cream has a soft and sticky texture to it.  As I taste it I sense there are some ice crystals in it.  I think something went wrong with this pint.  This is my third Alden's pint and this is the second time that this has happened (previous time here).  I even went to a different store in case it was a problem with the freezer case of a particular grocery store.  I continue eating to see what it might taste like if there were no consistency issues.  The fudge is alright, but the cookie dough pieces are not that numerous and do not taste like much.

This is a bit of dud pint from Alden's -- for the second time in three pints.  I think I may give up on this brand.  If this was a discount brand, I could appreciate it for what it is, but this is marketed as organic ice cream from Oregon and is priced the same as Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs.  Chime in if you've had better luck than me.

Jeni's - Raspberry Rose Jelly Donut

Raspberry Rose Jelly Donut - Vanilla Custard with Donut Pieces and a Soft Raspberry Rose Petal Jam

Today is another flavor from the Columbus-based Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.  This is the sixth and final flavor from my recent online shipment.  The first five pints from my shipment formed the State Fair Collection.  Shipments can be up to six pints, though, so I added another flavor called Raspberry Rose Jelly Donut.  This flavor came out earlier this year and is based on those jelly donuts which are so commonly found at any place that sells donuts.  I am always worried about the red jelly dripping all over my shirt when I have these, but here I get to use a spoon.  Here, vanilla custard forms the base and donut pieces and raspberry rose jam are the mix-ins.

Removing the lid and peeling back the protective seal, the top of the pint is quite beautiful.  The Vanilla custard has a yellowish off-white color and the swirl of raspberry rose jam forms a nice streak across the top.  Digging in, the custard base is a bit 'fluffy' in texture.  Perhaps that is the effect of the donut pieces mixed into it.  The donut pieces are soft and chewy and work pretty well -- they stay soft and not soggy while immersed in the custard.  The raspberry rose jam has a rather funny taste to it.  It is sweet and tart as expected but the balance between those two is a bit off -- or perhaps not to my personal preference.  It tastes a bit medicine-y to me -- sort of sticky sweet.  I was able to finish the pint, but I had a funny jam taste in my mouth for most of the time.

In my opinion, this is a rare misfire from Jeni's here.  I was prepared to love this pint, but I found the taste of the jam swirl a bit too off-putting.  Jeni's has done Berry swirls very well in the past -- Brambleberry Crisp is one of the best berry-themed pints I have ever had and the Outland-themed Clare's Cabinet is a fun, exotic twist mixing berries with chamomile and clove.  Maybe it's the raspberry they used?  Anyhow, I cannot personally recommend it.  If you don't trust me -- or if I got a bad batch -- then you could sample it yourself at a scoop shop to see if this particular jam is more appealing to you.

Van Leeuwen - Strawberry

Strawberry - Strawberry Ice Cream

Today's flavor is from Van Leeuwen Ice Cream of Brooklyn.  It is an implementation of a simple strawberry flavor.  Kowalski's on Grand in Saint Paul stocks about a half dozen Van Leeuwen flavors.  I bought this pint there.  Van Leeuwen is a brand which makes "French Ice Cream" which means that they use extra egg yolks in their base to create a custard-like texture.  I have confirmed this by checking out an article which quotes a few recipes from their ice cream cookbook.  Let's check it out.

Popping off the lid, the ice cream has a very light pink color.  Digging in, the ice cream has a thick and easy to scoop texture typical of Van Leewen bases.  It has the density of an ice cream but  the extra eggs give it a smooth texture someone like a frozen custard.  The strawberry flavor is quite appealing.  It tastes a lot a strawberry shake in ice cream form.  There are no mix-ins.  Many strawberry implementations include strawberry pieces in the mix (some small like Graeter's and Häagen-Dazs and some large like McConnell's) but here it is all base. 

This is a solid implementation of a simple strawberry ice cream with no mix-ins.  There's nothing to cut the flavor (no cheesecake, balsamic vinegar, mascarpone, malt, etc), it is just careful to add just the right amount of strawberry so that it tastes like a good strawberry shake.   Van Leeuwen fans who like strawberry will have no complaints here.

Jeni's - Wildberry Lavender

Wildberry Lavender - Black Currant Ice Cream flavored with Orange and Lavender

Today is the fifth and final pint from my recent online purchase of the State Fair Collection from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream of Columbus, Ohio.  The Minnesota State Fair was cancelled this year, so I thought it would be fun to order myself some fair-themed ice cream online.  A note to local readers that I am not aware that this flavor is available in local grocery stores.  Today's flavor is called Wildberry Lavender.  This is actually an older flavor -- the text on the side of the carton mentions that it has been made for over two decades -- but it is new to me.  It looks like a fruit blend flavor.  Blackcurrant is the main flavor, mixed with orange and lavender.  Blackcurrant is a common ingredient of Jeni's.  They feature it in their Brambleberry Crisp flavor as well as their rare, special-batch Claire's Cabinet flavor.  Those both involve a thick swirl of blackcurrant in a base ice cream.  Let's see how the fruit-blend nature of Wildberry Lavender compares.

Removing the lid and peeling back the protective seal, I find the base has an appropriately lavender color.  It is nice blackcurrant and lavender both have purplish colors.  Digging in, I taste the berry-like flavor of the blackcurrant first, then I can tell there is a bit of citrus flavor in the mix as well and the lavender shows up mainly as the 'finish'.  It's quite good.  I would say it is at least half berry, probably a little more, but it does not overpower the other two.  It's all blended together as a homogeneous pint with no mix-ins.

This is an excellent fruit blend pint from Jeni's.  It is very well balanced.  The blending of the blackcurrant, orange and lavender works well, but you can also clearly identify each of those ingredients as well if you want.  This is one of the better fruit blends that I've tried.  My other favorite is Cabernet de l'Orange from Izzy's which is a different mix, but just as good.  For Jeni's fans, you can't go wrong with the two blackcurrant themed pints.  Choose Brambleberry Crisp if you'd like a berry-pie-a-la-mode type of pint and choose Wildberry Lavender if you'd like a full blended pint.