Milkjam Creamery - Toasty Strudy

Toasty Strudy - Puff Pastry Ice Cream with Strawberry Jam and and Icing Swirl

 

The next flavor in Milkjam Creamery's June Nostalgia series (instagram link here) is called Toasty Strudy (instagram link here).  From the link, it looks like this is based on Pillsbury's strawberry Toaster Strudel.  As far as personal nostalgia goes, my father worked for Pillsbury back when they were still an independent company (today, they are brand owned by General Mills).  That said, I haven't had one of these Toaster Strudels before.  It looks like a softer version of a pop tart.  The ice cream implementation features a puff pastry ice cream with swirls of strawberry jam and frosting.  I am looking forward to checking this out.

Removing the lid, I see a mostly white base on top.  I see some hints of strawberry around the rim plus perhaps a little hint of some white frosting in there as well.  Digging my spoon in, I start to see more of the strawberry swirl.  The swirl does taste like jam and not just a strawberry sauce.  It is not too sweet or too tart.  It is the type of jam that would go well on a piece of toast.  The base ice cream is good vehicle for the strawberry swirl, but I do not notice hunks of pastry in it.  Reading the instagram links above, it looks like they blend house-baked pastry into a custard.  It works.  There is not as much frosting in the mix as I was expecting but I do encounter a little bit of it from time to time which delivers a bit of extra sweetness.  The pictures below do not show a lot of strawberry, but a little bit of this swirl goes a long way and there was good strawberry flavor in just about every spoonful.

I enjoyed this strawberry-swirl based pint from Milkjam Creamery.  It is not as intense of a strawberry swirl as some other pints that I have had, but it is still quite a pleasant and delicious pint.  This reminds me of a muted and more balanced version of the pop tart-themed Strawberry Topped Tart pint which Ben & Jerry's released earlier in the year.  Both are delicious in their own way.  Ben & Jerry's was embracing the low-brow, candied and sweet nature of a pop tart.  Toasty Strudy is a more an implementation that you'd see in a cloth-napkin restaurant.

Pumphouse Creamery - Non Dairy Muscovado Sugar

Non Dairy Muscovado Sugar - Muscovado Coconut Cream

 

Today's flavor from the Pumphouse Creamery of south Minneapolis is one of their non-dairy offerings, Non-Dairy Muscovado Sugar.  This features a coconut cream base which is flavored with an unrefined sugar called muscovado.  Since it is unrefined, muscovado has some similarities with brown sugar and might have notes of molasses.  Pumphouse's website notes that you may also notice the taste of butterscotch.  I have had muscovado once before as the base of Van Leeuwen's Brooklyn Brown Sugar Chunk flavor.  In that pint, the highlight was candied walnut mix-ins.  Here, the muscovado gets the center stage.  Let's dig in!

Opening the pint, the muscovado coconut cream base has a creamy light tan color consistent with the color of butterscotch.  In the first spoonful, I do get notes of butterscotch right away.  I also notice the mild taste of coconut in the coconut cream.  It is a good blend.  The non-dairy coconut base is well implemented.  It is light and creamy and not at all icy or sorbet-like.  As I eat my way further down, the butterscotch brown sugar flavor of the muscovado holds up.  It is quite delicious.  This is a homogenous pint with no mix-ins.

This is a nice an appealing non-dairy flavor from Pumphouse.  The muscovado flavor is quite appealing.  The notes of butterscotch go well with the notes of coconut from the coconut cream.  It is a good option for those with dietary restrictions or an interesting flavor to check out if you like butterscotch as well. 

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Hawaii N Punch

Hawaii N Punch - Tropical Fruit Punch Sorbet

 

The theme for June for the Minneapolis-based Milkjam Creamery is nostalgia (instagram link here).  Today's flavor is Hawaii N Punch (instagram link here).  It is a tropical fruit punch sorbet based on the soft drink.  Hawaiian Punch was developed by A.W. Leo in Fullerton California in the 1934.  It is currently owned by Dr. Pepper.  Fun fact, the word "punch" is not related to the punching of the fist or punching of a hole through something.  It comes from the Hindi word for 'five' because early recipes for this type of drink contained five ingredients.  The original 1934 recipe for Hawaiian Punch did actually contain five juices - orange, pineapple, passion fruit, guava and papaya.  As far as nostalgia goes, I do remember loving this drink when I was eight.  I do not drink things that sweet anymore, so we'll see how this goes.  This is a sorbet, so it is just the punch with ice and then churned -- no cream.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the sorbet has a lighter pink color than I was expecting.  I remember Hawaiian Punch being a deep red color.  Digging in, the fruit punch flavor is also not as concentrated as I remember the old soft drink being.  But it turns out that this is a very wise choice.  Above, I mentioned that I was a little apprehensive I don't crave hyper-sweet fruit punch like I did when I was eight.  Well, they've muted the flavor just enough to make it delicious.  I very much approve.  I was able to eat the entire pint in one sitting -- perhaps aided by the fact that it has been hot here in the Twin Cities this month.

This is a delicious and tastefully implemented fruit punch sorbet from Milkjam Creamery.  The flavor is a bit muted from what I remember of the original soft drink but it is not going to make you so hyper that your mother makes you run around the house ten times to tire you out.  That said, it is still fruity and sweet enough for kids, too.  Enjoy.

 

 

Pumphouse Creamery - Fig, Black Tea & Local Blue Cheese

Fig, Black Tea & Local Blue Cheese - Blue Cheese Ice Cream with swirls of Fig and Black Tea Jam

 

Today's flavor from the Minneapolis-based Pumphouse Creamery is called Fig, Black Tea & Local Blue Cheese.  This flavor looks very interesting!  It reminds me a bit of the one other time I have had fig in an ice cream before Coolhaus' Balsamic Fig & Mascarpone ice cream.  That flavor was billed as "like a frozen cheese plate".  I think that idea applies even more here with its use of blue cheese instead of mascarpone.  Black tea is also mixed into the fig jam here.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, I see that the blue cheese base has a thick and chunky texture and with thick sections of the fig and tea jam.  Digging in, this is not a sweet pint.  The fig tea jam swirl has a complex flavor similar to that of the filling of a fig newton.  The flavor of the blue cheese base is fairly mild.  It is not at all salty like some blue cheeses that I have had.  It is thick, but it is still scoopable like an ice cream.

This is a very interesting and eclectic flavor from Pumphouse.  This has more of a "frozen cheese plate" flavor to it than the Coolhaus pint linked above.  I did like it though.  Perhaps especially because I tend to appreciate out-of-the-ordinary flavors more than most because of all the different kinds of ice cream that I have had.  If you like fig newtons or if you are just feeling adventurous, give this flavor a try the next time it is available.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Nana's Pudding

Nana's Pudding - Roasted Banana Ice Cream with Kool Whip, Nilla Wafers

 

Milkjam Creamery of south Minneapolis has released its June flavors (instagram link here).  The theme is "nostalgic favorites".  The first of these flavors is called Nana's Pudding (instagram link here).  It is a roasted banana ice cream with swirl of kool whip and vanilla wafer mix-ins and it is available only in pints.  This flavor is based on the classic "banana pudding and vanilla wafers" recipe.  A google search for this recipe returns more hits than I can count.  I do remember it being so popular that when my mom bought a box of Nabisco's Nilla Wafers when I was a kid, the box itself often features pictures of this dessert on the back and had it's own recipe for it printed on the side.  I have had a few banana-and-vanilla-wafer themed pints before from Steve's, Graeter's and Phin & Phebes.  It will be fun to see how Milkjam's flavor compares.

Removing the lid, I can see the textured yellowish color of the roasted banana base with some of the "kool whip" swirls of whipped cream visible in it.  I also some several generous-sized chunks of vanilla wafers visible right away on top as well.  Digging in, the banana flavor is quite strong, aromatic and sweet.  I love it, but you have to be a fan of sweet banana.  I have written before about how I find there are two types of banana flavoring: the earthy banana-bread banana and the sweet banana-cream-pie banana.  This is definitely a banana-cream-pie banana.  The swirl of whipped cream adds to this as well.  You don't get big hunks of whipped cream by itself, but the presence of this swirl definitely makes the banana sweeter.  The vanilla wafer chunks are some of the larger that I have seen in an ice cream flavor which is a good thing.  They provide a lot of chunk to this otherwise creamy and sweet pint.

I loved this banana-pudding-and-vanilla-wafer pint from Milkjam Creamery.  This is my new favorite implementation of this flavor.  I tastes a lot like banana cream pie which is my favorite type of pie.  In addition to being sweet, the banana flavor is quite strong as well.  I don't know how they got the banana flavor to be strong while keeping the bananas looking nice and yellow, but whatever it is, it worked.  A warning, though, that this is a very strong and sweet flavor which might not be everyone's cup of tea.  But if you are a fan of that type of banana pudding then you will love this flavor.

 

 

Tillamook - Cold Brew Chocolate Chip

 

Today's flavor comes from the Tillamook Creamery and is called Cold Brew Chocolate Chip.  I bought it at Kowalski's on Grand in Saint Paul, but I have also seen Tillamook carried at local Target stores.  As mentioned in recent reviews, Tillamook has re-imagined their flavor menu for pints this year.  Their preview coffee flavor, Stumptown, appears to have been retired with this coffee-chocolate-chip flavor placed in its stead.  I have written in the past many times that coffee and chocolate is a great natural pairing because they each have a similar stimulant included -- coffee has caffeine and chocolate has theobromine.  Let's see how this Tillamook flavor compares.

Opening the pint and peeling back the protective foil, the coffee base has a pale beige color -- a lighter color than the usual coffee base.  The flavor is not strong, but it is quite delicious.  These frozen custards from Tillamook have a thick, but soft texture with not a lot of air churned into it.  As I keep digging my way down, I occasionally run into the chocolate chips.  These are of decent size such that a single chip can provide a good amount of chocolate.

This is a pretty good coffee and chocolate flavor from Tillamook.  Neither the coffee nor the chocolate is very strong, but both have an appealing taste.  I think this appeals to fans of Tillamook's frozen custard texture, but coffee and/or chocolate junkies may want something stronger.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Dreamsicle

Dreamsicle - Orange Creamsicle with Blueberry Swirl

 

I am really enjoying all the special monthly flavors from Milkjam Creamery of late.  Waiting for the June flavors to drop (which they did, see instagram link here -- reviews coming soon), I saw that they snuck in a special pints-only flavor release in between May and June.  The flavor is called Dreamsicle (instagram link here).  It has a orange creamsicle base with a blueberry swirl.  I had an orange cream base from Graeter's once (they put a picture of a creamsicle on the label).  It is a very appealing flavor.  It will be interesting to see this type of base with a swirl of blueberry.

Opening the pint, the swirl dominates the top of the pint.  I see a lot of the blueberry swirl.  It looks good.  The orange cream base has a very light color -- lighter than the Graeter's pint I linked to above.  Digging in, I taste the blueberry first.  It is quite delicious.  The orange flavor in the base is not as obvious at first -- it gets dominated by the blueberry a bit, but when I grab a spoonful which does not contain blueberry then I can definitely taste it.  It does remind me of the flavor of a creamsicle a bit.  A true 'creamsicle' implementation would have marbling of orange sorbet and vanilla ice cream, but this blended orange-vanilla flavor is still quite good.

This is a fun, interesting and unique blend of orange and blueberry from Milkjam Creamery.  I have not seen orange and blueberry together before, but I should not be too surprised that this worked out well because lemon and blueberry is a fairly standard pairing (see pints from Jeni's and Bebe Zito).  Those who like a good blueberry swirl should check this one out.