Milkjam Creamery - Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap - Cheese Curd Ice Cream with Crunchy Fried Batter Pieces

 

Today brings the second of the four September flavors from Milkjam Creamery having the "State Fair" theme (instagram link here).  This flavor is called Mouse Trap (instagram link here) and is a cheese-curd-based ice cream!  Cheese curds are a very popular treat at the State Fair.  I have never had cheese-curd-based ice cream before.  I am quite curious to see how this will turn out.  I guess crunchy piece of fried batter have been added to the mix adding to the state fairs tendency to deep fry everything.  On to the ice cream!

Removing the lid, the ice cream has a light yellow color.  Digging in, I find that there are no pieces of cheese curds, but that this is ice cream that has been infused with cheese curd flavor by steeping the milk and cream with curds for a while before straining the curds back out and then churning and freezing.  Does it taste like cheese curds?  I guess so.  I can taste a bit of curd-like flavor in the mix, but it is not too strong.  It definitely is a bit saltier than the usual ice cream.  Dispersed through the mix are small pieces of fried dough which add a little bit of textural variation from time to time, but there is not as much of these pieces as I was expecting.

This is an interesting experimental flavor from Milkjam Creamery.  I must admit, I was expecting chunks of cheese curds in the ice cream, but I guess that must not have worked out in their kitchen so they went with flavor infusion instead.  Although, I could taste a bit of the salty cheese in the mix, the flavor did not wow me as much as I was expecting.  The result was not bad, but Milkjam already has their namesake Milkjam flavor which I found to be a bit better.

 

 

Sweet Science - Cherry Sorbet

Cherry Sorbet - Morello Cherry Sorbet

 

Twin Cities-based Sweet Science has a new fruit sorbet for the fall called Cherry Sorbet.  Their scoop shop is now in Edina, but I picked up this flavor at the Golden Fig on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul.  Other places such as Whole Foods, Kowalski's and several co-ops also stock Sweet Science, but the Golden Fig does well to keep up with the latest seasonal flavors (which is usually what I am looking for).  Checking the ingredient list, today's sorbet uses Morello cherries which is the darker variety of a sour cherry -- which I recall from a previous review is not all that "sour" in absolute terms (in fact that flavor was quite delicious).  I have had many cherry flavors before (see flavor tag here), but I think this is my first simple cherry sorbet.  The closest I have come is the old Izzy's flavor Pomegranate Pizzazz! which was a cherry-pomegranate sorbet.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid, the sorbet has a beautiful bright red color.  Digging in, the cherry flavor is quite delicious.  The flavor of the Morello cherry is not as dark as a dark cherry but not as bright as a Bing cherry.  A melted version of this would make for a delicious juice.  The texture of the sorbet is quite good.  It is a sorbet, which means there is no dairy or even non-dairy or imitation 'creams' -- it is just fruit juice and ice. Sweet Science does a very good job of churning their sorbets so that they are still easy to scoop and don't get hard or slushy.  The flavor is good, but not overwhelming and I am easily able to eat the entire pint in one sitting.

This is a very delicious cherry sorbet from Sweet Science.  It makes me think that there should be more cherry sorbets.  It's worth checking out if you're in the mood for a fruit sorbet this fall.

 

Dolcezza - Mascarpone & Berries

Mascarpone & Berries - Mascarpone Gelato with a Berry Sauce Swirl

 

I am back to the Dolcezza Gelato brand for their Mascarpone & Berries flavor.  I picked this pint up at the Whole Foods on Selby in Saint Paul.  This has a mascarpone base with a swirl of berry sauce.  Checking the ingredient list on the side of the pint, the berry sauce is a blend of raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, cherry and blackberry.  Elsewhere on the pint, they describe this particular blend of fruits as originating from the gelato parlors of Buenos Aires.  Anyhow, I do like berries and I love how mascarpone (the italian 'dessert cheese') blends with other flavors in ice creams.  I am looking forward to this.

Removing the lid, the berry sauce swirl is visible right away on top of the pint.  It is quite a dark purplish color and it also looks to have a very thick consistency.  Digging in, the berry sauce tastes a lot like a jam.  It's an interesting flavor blend, though.  I am sure all the ingredients contribute to the blend, but I do specifically taste the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.  This jam-like sauce would be too much by itself, but mascarpone is the perfect base to balance that.  It is thicker than a sweet cream or a vanilla, yet still sweeter than a cream cheese base would be.

This is a very good berry swirl pint from Dolcezza.  My favorite flavors which are similar to this would be Jeni's Brambleberry Crisp and Pumphouse's Local Honeyberry and Raspberry Crisp.  I think the 'jammy' nature of the berry sauce here kept this Dolcezza pint a notch below those, but it was still tasty.  If you're a fan of berry swirl pints, you'll want to check this out.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Uncle Spud

Uncle Spud - French Fry Ice Cream with a Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

 

Today is the first of Milkjam Creamery's September flavors with a State Fair theme (instagram link here).  I have fallen way behind in my write-ups but I did try to forward along instagram links in previous Milkjam reviews.  Anyhow, this flavor is called Uncle Spud (instagram link here).  It is a french-fry-infused base with chocolate covered potato chip clusters.  I have had a french fry based flavor once before from Coolhaus (it turned out to be shoestring potatoes) and I have had potato chips a few times from Ben & Jerry's recent Chip Happens (the old Late Night Snack predates this blog) and a couple of flavors from Ample Hills, most notably their Commodore flavor.  Let's see how Milkjam Creamery compares.

Removing the lid, the base has an off-white cream color to it and I can see a couple of chunks of chocolate which I presume are the chocoalte-covered potato chips.  Digging in, the chocolate covered potato chips are excellent.  Crunchy potato chips and the salt that they deliver make for excellent ice cream mix-ins.  The challenge is usually trying to keep them crunchy in the pint (it is a bit easier in the scoop shop when you can mix it in right before you eat it.  The solution to keeping the potato chips crispy is often to coat them in chocolate.  It succeeds quite well here!  The base ice cream is said to be 'french fry infused'.  I can indeed taste a bit of starchy potato flavor in this base and that does go well with the potato chip mix-ins.  But 'infused' means that the fries themselves have been strained out before the final churn and freeze.  Just setting expectations here for what is billed as the 'french fry' flavor.  It's understandable that french fries themselves would likely get too soggy in the cream (unless they were coated with chocolate or something).

This is a very delicious pint from Milkjam.  It is perhaps misleading that this gets billed as the 'french fry' pint when the base is only 'infused' with the flavor of french fries.  But I still must recommend this for the excellent chocolate covered potato chip mix-ins.  They are salty, tasty and still very crunchy.  If you love potato chips, check this out.

 

 

 

Sebastian Joe's - Turtle Latte

Turtle Latte - Coffee Ice Cream with Chocolate Caramel Truffles

 

Today I am back with another flavor from the Minneapolis-based Sebastian Joe's.  This flavor is called Turtle Latte and I picked it up at the scoop shop in Lowry Hill in Minneapolis.  The 'latte' means that it has a coffee flavored ice cream base and the 'turtle' means that it has chocolate caramel truffle mix-ins.  Checking my archives, I have not had this flavor combination too often.  Of course there are loads of coffee-chocolate flavors (too many to count) and several coffee-caramel flavors, but all three flavors is much less common.  The closest I can find is a limited batch Caramel Macchiato flavor from Graeter's.  Let's check out Turtle Latte!

Removing the lid, this pint is stuffed!  It is a bit overflowing (thanks Sebastian Joe's scoopers!) and there are lots of large chocolate-caramel truffles visible right away.  I have seen truffles like this before, but normally they don't put so many of them into a pint.  Digging in, these truffles are a bit like Rolo candies, but with a higher chocolate to caramel ratio.    I took some close-up pictures below.  The coffee ice cream base has a decent flavor, but its main purpose here is to serve as a vehicle for delivering all the truffles.

This is packed chocolate-caramel-coffee flavor from Sebastian Joe's.  If you like Rolo Candies, then you'll love this pint.  I must say that I had a similar reaction than I had to the previous Sebastian Joe's flavor -- it was almost too much.  That says quite a bit, because I do not get full that easily.  If you are feeling indulgent, then go for it!  Otherwise, perhaps not a full pint -- or share!

 

 

Sweet Science - Chai Tea

Chai Tea - Masala Chai Tea Ice Cream

 

Sweet Science has new flavors for September and fall (instagram link here).  Half of them I have reviewed in previous years:  Caramel Apple Cider Crisp, S'mores, and Oatmeal Cookie.  Today's flavor is a chai tea flavored with lots of spices (the ingredients list ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg and cloves).  I have had spiced tea ice creams a few times.  Looking in my archives, it looks like the closest flavor to this would probably be Blue Mountain Spice from Izzy's (although I preferred their Norwegian Chai flavor which is similar).  McConnell's also had a limited batch flavor with a similar base called Masala Chai, Dates & Walnuts but it had crunchy mix-ins.  So, it has been a while since I've had a spicy tea flavor and I am looking forward to it.

Removing the like the tea ice cream has the expected tan/beige color.  Digging in, I taste the spices right away.  It's quite delicious!  The tea flavor is quite good and I can tell that there is cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom in the mix, but I don't taste too much of one particular spice.  This is very well blended. The other flavors above are probably in there as well, but they play a more subtle part in the mix.  The texture is quite good.  This is a light and creamy base and very easy to scoop.  This flavor also smells very nice.  It is a homogeneous flavor with no mix-ins.  This is good stuff.

This is an excellent spicy tea implementation from Sweet Science.  You can tell a lot of thought was put into creating an appealing spice blend which accents the tea quite well without being overpowering.  It's a fun pint to smell as well.  Even though this is not a pint which is overloaded with mix-ins the flavor is so well done, I feel like I am getting my money's worth with this one.  Enjoy.

 

 

Sebastian Joe's - Marion Berry D.C. Nut

Marion Berry D.C. Nut - Marionberry Ice Cream with Almond Pieces

 

Back to the Minneapolis-based Sebastian Joe's today for their Marion Berry D.C. Nut flavor.  I have written before about how the marionberry is a caneberry hybrid descended from varieties of blackberries and raspberries which was developed in Marion County, Oregon in the 1940s.  To be honest, though, the first time I bring up marionberries to a friend or a family member, they assume I am making a bad joke about Marion Barry, the crack-smoking mayor of DC from the 1980s.  Well, Sebastian Joe's has decided to work this amusing homophone into their flavor name by calling this flavor "Marion Berry D.C. Nut".  A marionberry base is used and the 'nut' here is almonds.  Previously, I have had marionberry flavors from McConnell's, Tillamook and Van Leeuwen.  Let's check it Sebastian Joe's flavor!

Removing the lid, the marionberry base is a beautiful dark purplish pink color.  They overfill the cartons when you order a pint at Sebastian Joe's and this looks very dense.  Digging in, the marionberry flavor is quite potent, yet still quite delicious.  The flavor is a lot like that of it's caneberry cousins the raspberry and blackberry, sort of like a deeper flavored black raspberry.  Soon I encounter the almonds.  These are almond pieces -- perhaps quarters of almonds.  They supply a decent crunch which gives good textural variety to the pint.  As I continue to eat my way down the pint, I admit that the strong marionberry flavor can be a bit overwhelming at times.

This is a delicious, yet very strong implementation of a marionberry flavor from Sebastian Joe's.  It is hard to complain about something so delicious, but it took effort to eat so much of a strong flavor in one sitting.  I'd still reccomend it, but maybe not a whole pint in one sitting.  Try a scoop of this with a scoop of something like lemon or vanilla.  Or share the pint with a friend.