Jeni's - Dark Chocolate Truffle

Dark Chocolate Truffle - Non-dairy Dark Chocolate Frozen Dessert with a hint of Coconut Cream

 

Today's flavor is from the Columbus-based Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.  This is from their non-dairy line -- not a 'sorbet' but made with dairy substitutes to simulate the feel of ice cream.   I don't always review the non-dairy flavors of the major brands but I have made a couple of on-line purchases recently from Jeni's to get limited batch flavors (like White House Chocolate Chip) and I needed pints to fill out the shipment.  Into the non-dairy line I go!  As I said before, I bought this online and not from a local grocery store.  It is possible that local Whole Foods stores carry this (it is a fairly basic non-dairy flavor) but I have not checked.  Today's flavor is called Dark Chocolate Truffle.  It looks like a relatively simple implementation of chocolate ice cream but made with coconut cream instead of dairy cream.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I am greeted with a nice Lord of the Rings reference on the extra seal for the top of the pint.  Nice.  Peeling back the seal, the base is a medium to light brown color.  Although 'dark' is in the flavor name, this is not that dark.  Digging in, this has a good cocoa flavor to it.  I have written before about how some chocolate ice creams taste like frozen hot cocoa while others taste like chocolate bars.  This flavor is on the cocoa side.  The texture is smooth and creamy, like an ice cream.  I do not notice specific coconut flavor but it does taste slightly different from dairy chocolates. It is quite good, though.

This is a solid non-dairy implementation of chocolate from Jeni's.  It does not taste like a copy of one of their dairy chocolates.  The level of chocolatey-ness is about halfway in between their Darkest Chocolate and Milkiest Chocolate and the texture was too smooth and creamy to qualify as a sorbet.  That helps it be its own flavor and I was not fixated on whether or not I noticed that it was not dairy.  They did a good job in that regard though.  If I did a blind taste test I might not have noticed that it was dairy free.  Personally, I prefer Jeni's Darkest Chocolate flavor to this.  And for dairy free, I recommend local readers try Milkjam Creamery's unique and amazing Black flavor.  But this is still quite good.  Check this out if you are at Jeni's and need a dairy-free option.

 

 

Cheesecake Factory - Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake - Premium Cake Flavored Cheesecake Ice Cream with a Signature Cream Cheese Blend, Sour Cream, Cake Pieces, Swirls of Icing and Candy Sprinkles

 

Today I am continuing my survey of ice cream flavors from the Cheesecake Factory's "At Home" collection of ice cream flavors.  Today's flavor is Birthday Cake.  I bought it locally at either Cub, Target or Hyvee (sorry, I forgot, but I see this brand at all three places regularly).  Like their other flavors, this pint features a cheesecake base made with a cream cheese blend and sour cream.  What is different here are the mix-ins: cake pieces, swirls of icing and sprinkles.  This type of "birthday cake" flavor (based on a sheet cake, frosting and sprinkles) is not uncommon.  I have tried it from McConnell's, Graeter's, Coolhaus, Ample Hills and Ben & Jerry's.  Mostly in limited batch releases.  Let's see how this flavor compares!

Removing the lid, the top of the pint has a bright white color and some of the rainbow-colored sprinkles are visible on top.  Digging in, the ice cream has a thick, creamy and appealingly sweet flavor to it.  It takes like a piece of birthday cake!  There are a few cake pieces embedded in the mix add to this effect.  There is also the occasional swirl of frosting (see the small blue streaks in the photos below).  These are fairly small, so this is not a frosting-heavy pint.  It is quite good.  Some birthday cake implementations are too sweet from all the frosting, but the best ones prevent that.  Here, there is not a large amount of frosting in the mix to begin with and the cream cheese in the cheesecake base also does a good job of muting excessive sweetness.  I like it.  One thing I notice about this flavor compared to other Cheesecake Factor flavors is the lack of tangy-ness from the sour cream.  I noticed it in both their Original and Key Lime flavors and figured it was part of their signature blend.  Here, it either got muted by the extra sugar of the cake and frosting or they chose to de-emphasize it in the mix.  I don't miss the tangy-ness -- I do not think birthday cake is supposed to be tangy -- I am just bringing it up as a notable difference.

This is a solid and delicious implementation of a birthday cake flavor from the Cheesecake Factory.  It tastes like birthday cake and it avoids being too sugary sweet.  My favorite birthday cake flavor is still McConnell's, but this flavor is much easier to find (cheaper).  So, if it's your birthday or you just want to pretend that it's your birthday, go ahead and treat yourself.  I should also note that similar cake flavors are coming soon from both Talenti and Jeni's.  Cake flavors appear to be a thing this year.

 

 

Sweet Science - Raspberry Fudge Swirl

Raspberry Fudge Swirl - Sweet Cream with Ribbons of Raspberry Compote and Fudge

 

The Saint Paul-based Sweet Science Ice Cream has three new flavors for Valentine's Day (instagram link here).  They have new flavors almost every month, but sometimes they have seasonal flavors that I have tried in previous years.  The first of these flavors is Raspberry Fudge Swirl.  Raspberry and chocolate is a common flavor combination, but here the mix is a little different.  It has a sweet cream base instead of a raspberry base and there is both a raspberry swirl and a fudge swirl.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the sweet cream base has an off-white yellow color.  There is a lot of marbling of the swirls.  It looks like it is mostly raspberry on top but I see a little brown from the fudge as well.  Digging in, I taste the raspberry right away.  The compote is like a good jam-like spread.  It is slightly tart, but not too much.  The fudge swirls are in there as well, although not as prevalent.  This is quite delicious.

This is a fun and interesting twist on raspberry and chocolate from Sweet Science.  Normally, both the raspberry and chocolate are not provided as swirls.  The raspberry is often a base or the chocolate is often chunks or chips.  It had the feel of one of their pie-a-la-mode or cheesecake flavors like their own Raspberry Cheesecake or Berry Crumble but with a smooth fudge swirl instead of crunchy pieces of crust or crumble.  If that combination appeals to you, then check this out.

 

Talenti - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - Vanilla Gelato with Fudge Swirls and Chunks of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I am continuing my way through the back catalogue of Talenti Gelato while I away the 2021 flavors to show up in grocery store freezer cases.  Today's flavor is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  This flavor is "recipe #36" and dates from 2015.  It looks like a simple implementation of the classic flavor that I have seen from Häagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's, McConnell's and Graeter's (which separates the chips from the dough).  Let's see how Talenti compares.

Unscrewing the lid, I see the off-white color of the vanilla base with quite a bit of the fudge swirl visible on the top.  Digging in, the vanilla ice cream is decent.  The fudge swirl is noticeable on top and on the sides, but it tends to blend in with the base further down in the pint.  I have written about this effect of Talenti swirls in the past.  This might be one of the reasons for their "layers" line -- so they can have thick goopy mix-ins without having to 'swirl' them.  The cookie dough chunks are scattered throughout the pint.  They about the size of a small jelly beans and have the gritty-chewy texture typical of cookie dough pieces.

This is a decent pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from Talenti.  The cookie dough pieces are pretty good.  The fudge swirls are not as prominent inside the pint as they appear through the jar, but that's true of all Talenti swirls.  Something to keep in mind when you are looking at the jars in the freezer case (sometimes that swirl looks really good).  This is not a bad pint, but I think cookie dough is a bit outside of Talenti's wheelhouse.  They excel most at homogeneous bases and sorbets.  Still it's worth checking out if you're a Talenti fan who likes cookie dough.  I wonder if they'll ever make a cookie-dough-themed "layers" pint?

 

 

Jeni's - Honey Vanilla Bean

Honey Vanilla Bean - Vanilla Ice Cream with a touch of Honey

 

Today is the next flavor from my recent shipment from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream of Columbus, Ohio.   This flavor is called Honey Vanilla Bean.  I bought this flavor with an online shipment, but since this is such a basic flavor, it's possible that it might be available at local places that carry Jeni's such as Kowalski's and Whole Foods.  This flavor is the only vanilla on Jeni's menu of flavors but it is not the simplest of vanillas.  There is enough honey blended in as to make it "honey vanilla".  I have had a flavor like this once more from Sweet Science called Honey Vanilla.  It will be interesting to see how this flavor compares.

Removing the lid and peeling back the protective label, the vanilla ice cream has a light off-white color with the bean specks clearly visible.  Digging in, the primary flavor is vanilla.  It's possible that if I focus, I can notice some softer notes of honey in it, but it is a minor effect.  Looking at the ingredients, cane sugar is still the dominant sweetener used while honey is listen a little further down.  It is a good vanilla, though, quite delicious.

This is a solid implementation of a basic vanilla flavor from Jeni's.  The honey is a subtle accent here and not a dominant flavor.  That's a similar response that I had trying Sweet Science's Honey Vanilla as well.  Good vanilla and very subtle honey.  Because the flavor is so simple, I don't know if I would recommend paying a super-premium price for this flavor, but this is still very well done.  If vanilla is your favorite flavor and you want to see what a top brand like Jeni's does with it, then check it out.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Drunk in Love

Drunk in Love - Sparkling Rosé & Hibiscus Sorbet with Edible Flowers

 

Today I return to Minneapolis's Milkjam Creamery.  I am continuing my run through their February flavors (instagram link here).  In previous years, I reviewed two of the flavors:  XOXO and I ♥ You.  Last week I reviewed a third flavor called Ruby Rose.  Today is the fourth and final February flavor and it is called Drunk in Love (instagram link here).  This is a non-dairy sorbet flavored with hibiscus and sparkling rosé wine.  It also has edible flowers inside.  I have never had edible flowers in an ice cream before, but I guess hibiscus is an edible flower and I have had hibiscus flavors before (from Talenti and McConnell's).  So I guess the flowers in here are probably larger chunks of hibiscus.  Let's check it out.

Opening the pint, the color is an almost fluorescent pink.  It looks like the color of bubble gum.  It smells fruity, too.  Digging in, I can taste the rosé wine and the strawberry-like flavor of the hibiscus.  It has a very soft and easy-to-scoop texture.  Sometimes sorbets can be hard, dense and icy, but this is quite smooth. This is delicious!  The flowers small and are fun to look at, but they don't provide a change in texture when I'm eating.  There is a hint of alcohol noticeable from the rosé but this is not a boozy pint.  The effects of the rosé being 'sparkling' is fairly minor.

I enjoyed this sorbet quite a bit.  Hibiscus is not a common flavor, but do not fear it.  It has a pleasing flavor.  Milkjam's instagram post describes it as being reminiscent of strawberry and watermelon and I can definitely see that comparison.  The rosé gives it a touch of an adultness (a virgin version of this flavor would be great for kids).  It is late winter here.  If you are in the mood for something fruity to tide you over before the warmer weather comes, check this out.

 

 

Ben & Jerry's - Thick Mint

Thick Mint - Mint Ice Cream with Chocolate Cookie Swirls & Mint Chocolate Cookie Balls Topped with Chocolate Cookies and Chocolatey Ganache

 

Ben & Jerry's has new flavors for 2021!  All seven new flavors have a common theme as well -- Topped flavors.  I went to the Ben & Jerry's scoop shop on Excelsor Blvd in Minneapolis to find these.  I imagine they will start showing up in other grocery stores soon, but I have not spotted them yet.    These new flavors all are "topped" with a hard layer of either chocolate or white chocolate.  This looks similar to what the Magnum ice cream brand does with their pints.  Magnum is not on my brand rotation (yet?) so this topping is relatively new to me.  I have had a few Tillamook pints (two examples here and here) that have put all the mix-ins in a hard-top layer.  Here, Ben & Jerry's loads mix-ins in the ice cream below as well -- so the top layer seems like more of a bonus layer instead of splitting up the pint.  For the first flavor, I am trying their Thick Mint flavor.  This is a mint chocolate chip theme.  Peppermint ice cream, chocolate cookie swirls, mint chocolate cookie balls and topped with chocolate cookies embedded in chocolate ganache.  I like mint chocolate chip, so this should be fun.

Removing the lid, I see what looks like a bunch of chocolate chips on top.  They are sitting on a layer of chocolate.  This layer does not fully cover the top of the pint, but it is close.  It takes a bit of effort to dig my spoon through this top layer, but once I get through it is easy to break and the layer gets quite soft when I put it in my mouth.  You could consider a knife to make the initial cut but it is not necessary.  The ice cream below reminds me a lot of Mint Chocolate Cookie with its peppermint ice cream and cookie swirls but instead of large cookie pieces they have the mint chocolate balls from the old retired Chocolate Peppermint Crunch flavor.  Mint Chocolate Cookie is one of my old favorites that I used to eat regularly before I started writing these reviews, so I am pleased with the similarity.  The top layer adds extra chocolate which is fun.

I liked this new "Topped" flavor from Ben & Jerry's very much.  A hard top can be cumbersome and gimicky but here the top layer melts in your mouth pretty easily and the ice cream below is loaded with mix-ins.  Instead of just mint and chocolate, it is mint and several-different-kinds of chocolate.  I would recommend this for Mint Chocolate Cookie fans who want to try a suped up version.  It is fun.