Talenti - Caramel Pretzel Blondie

Caramel Pretzel Blondie - Sea Salt Caramel Gelato, made with Dulce de Leche, and Salted Pretzel Gelato with Blondie Pieces

 

Talenti Gelato has a new line of flavors for 2022.  They call them Gelato Pairings.  Basically, they have one gelato on one side of the pint and a second gelato on the other and then in many cases they add some mix-ins.  This new way for them to combine multiple gelatos contrasts with their Gelato Layers flavors where the gelatos (and thick mix-ins) are horizontal layers stacked from bottom to top.  With the left-right vertical layers it is perhaps easier for someone to eat right out of the jar -- I found that the stacked layers worked well when it was gently scooped into a bowl first.  There are four new pints, the first of which is called Caramel Pretzel Blondie.  The two gelatos here are Sea Salt Caramel (pint link here) and Salted Pretzel (previously seen as a layer in the Chocolate Pretzel flavor).  The mix-ins are blondie pieces.  Let's check it out.

Unscrewing the lid and peeling off the protective seal, the I can see the two bases cut the top of the pint roughly in half (there is an extra streak of pretzel base across the top, but that does not persist as I eat further down.  The caramel base, I am familiar with, the pretzel base here is light in color with small specks in it.  It looks like this base is created by grinding pretzels into crumbs and then blending them into the gelato.  Digging in, the caramel base is good like I remember.  The pretzel base is decent.  It is a relatively mild flavor, but I can taste the salted pretzel flavor in the mix.  The two go fairly well together and it is fairly easy for me to use my spoon to scoop from one side or the other.  I usually tried to get a little of both into each spoonful.  The blondie mix-ins are relatively small but provide a bit of chewy texture from time to time.

This is a solid mix of a caramel base with a pretzel-flavored base from Talenti.  The pretzel flavor is a bit mild but still very agreeable.  There are no crunchy pretzel mix-ins, so adjust your expectations for that.  For crunchier pretzel flavors from Talenti try Peanut Butter Pretzel.  I am liking this "pairings" format.  The older layers format allows for very extra thick non-gelato layers (fudge, peanut butter, jam, etc) but this side-by-side format appears easier for simpler combinations.  I am looking forward to trying more pairings flavors this spring.

Talenti - Chocolate Pretzel

Chocolate Pretzel - Layers of Salted Pretzel Gelato, Chocolatey Waffle Cone Pieces, Salted Pretzel Sauce, Vanilla Gelato and Chocolate Flakes

Talenti Gelato has new layers flavors for 2021!   An article about the release is here.  Their website has had these flavors for a while, but I haven't been able to find them in local grocery stores until recently.  I found this flavor at the Cub in Eagan, but since then I have started to see them pop up at the Cub in Saint Paul, the Target in the Midway and even the Lund's in Highland.  So, they should pop up locally eventually.  Today's flavor is called Chocolate Pretzel where the five layers are salted pretzel gelato, chocolate waffle cone pieces, salted pretzel sauce, vanilla gelato and chocolate chunks.  Let's check it out.

Unscrewing the lid, I see an extra seal to peel back.  This is the first time I have seen that from Talenti.  I like the extra seal, although this particular seal is a bit clumsy to peel back.  Like other layers flavors, I only see the top layer of the pint from the top which in this case is a salted pretzel gelato.  This layer looks interesting.  Not only has the base been steeped in pretzels during the processing, it looks like the pretzels have been incompletely filtered out.  There are nice crumb-sized pretzel pieces immersed in this base.  At this point, I cut out a 'slice' of the pint for the benefit on the pictures below.  Interesting in these slice pictures is how thick the two interior mix-in layers are (the waffle cone pieces and the pretzel sauce).  In many layers pints, this middle layer is very thin and blended, but here it looks like there will be quite a lot of waffle cone pieces to enjoy.

Ok, time to finally dig in!  The salted pretzel gelato is quite tasty.  The pretzel flavor is not too strong, but it is very delicious and I liked the texture of all the pretzel crumbs inside.  The waffle cone pieces are quite delicious as well.  What I noticed about the salted pretzel sauce was the primarily the salt, but that was a fun twist to the flavor of the waffle cone pieces.  The pieces on the bottom provided a bit of chocolate into the mix and the layer of vanilla kept all the other flavors from becoming too overwhelming.

This is a very successful layers flavor from Talenti Gelato which I really enjoyed.  I thought the waffle cone pieces trumped the pretzels as the dominant flavor of the pint, but it was all very delicious.  As with other layers pints, it is up to you as to how to get everything mixed up.  Cutting out the slice works great for me, but I admit that's a bit weird for those not taking pictures.  I think simply scooping it out of the jar into another bowl would work really well.  It allows you to sample all the layers without fully blending them.

 

 

 

Graeter's - Malted Pretzel Ball

Malted Pretzel Ball - Milk Chocolate Pretzel Balls in Malted Ice Cream

I got a shipment from the Cincinnati-based Graeter's Ice Cream!  Graeter's has a lot of seasonal flavors and I was noticing while shopping online that I haven't tried any of their late-spring/early-summer selections (my shipment last year was in late summer).  They also have a couple of limited batch flavors which look quite interesting.  The shipment almost did not happen.  Often Graeter's runs out of their seasonal and limited batch flavors -- at least online.  It seemed like that was happening to me as a couple of flavors were being marked as sold out, but then one day all the flavors that I wanted got restocked!  And they came, too.  Woohoo!  Anyhow, the first flavor in my shipment is one of the limited-batch flavors:  Malted Pretzel Ball.  It is a malted ice cream with milk chocolate pretzel balls.  Let's check it out!

Removing the lid, the base ice cream is quite light in color.  It is not a pure white, but it could pass for a sweet cream or vanilla.  One of the pretzel balls is visible right away on the top.  As I dig in, the malt flavor is noticeable, but not too strong.  Next I encounter the pretzel balls.  These are excellent.  They are about the size of marbles.  They are salty and crunchy on the inside with a chocolate coating.  They are dispersed throughout the pint, but not quite as many of them as I expected.  They're good when I encounter them, though.

This is a pretty good pint of pretzel ice cream.  It is basically a simpler and lighter version of Chubby Hubby -- malt and chocolate-covered pretzels, but without the peanut butter in the base or mix-ins.  Peanut butter is a big part of Chubby Hubby, though, so this ends up being a very different flavor.  Here, the malted base is simple and not very strong, but it serves as a good vehicle for the excellent pretzel balls.  I would have liked a few more pretzel balls.  I understand you don't want to overdo this type of mix-in but they were hard to find at times.  It is still a solid pint and worth checking out if you like pretzels.

Häagen-Dazs - Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel - Chocolate Ice Cream with a Peanut Butter Swirl and Crunchy Pretzel Pieces

The next flavor in Häagen-Dazs' City Sweets Collection is called Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel.  This features a chocolate ice cream with a swirl of peanut butter and pretzel pieces.  Pretzels are relatively new for Häagen-Dazs.  They use them in one of their Spirits Collection, but it is not present in any of their other standard flavors.  Checking the pretzel tag on my archive, combining these three ingredients (chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels) is not uncommon, although usually a vanilla or peanut butter base is used instead of chocolate.  The closest flavors I can find is Coolhaus's Midnight Munchies.  It will be fun to see how this compares.

Removing the lid, I see the familiar brown color of Häagen-Dazs' chocolate base with darker chocolate pieces (the pretzel pieces appear to be chocolate colored) and perhaps hints of the peanut butter swirl.  Digging in, the chocolate base is the same as their simple Chocolate flavor and it is delicious.  The peanut butter swirl becomes more evident as I dig further down (see photos below).  The peanut butter flavor that it adds is noticeable and well-done.  The chocolate-covered pretzels provide something to chew on and a little bit of salt.  They are not soft but they are not as crunchy as some pretzel mix-ins.  It is hard to get pretzels to stay super-crunchy when it is inside ice cream for long periods of time.

This is a solid and successful chocolate-peanut-butter-pretzel flavor from Häagen-Dazs.  The stars of the show here are the chocolate and the peanut butter -- those flavors simply go very well together.  The pretzels add some textural difference which is fun, but the pretzels were not the main attraction here.  There is nothing not to like about this flavor, but I will be curious to see if it stands out above their other chocolate-and-peanut-butter flavors.

Sebastian Joe's - Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzel

 

Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzel - Cinnamon Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Pieces

Today's flavor comes from the Sebastian Joe's scoop shop in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis.  This flavor is called Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzel.  The flavor is self explanatory.  It is a relatively unique combination of flavors.  There are lots of chocolate-cinnamon flavors (sometimes called Mexican Chocolate) and lots of chocolate pretzel flavors, but I believe this is the first pint I have had which contains all three.

Removing the lid, I see the cinnamon chocolate base has a deep brown color.  I can see at least one of the pretzel mix-ins as well.  Digging in, the chocolate flavor is quite good and I notice the notes of cinnamon in the mix right away.  The mix is good.  It is more of a sweet cinnamon than a hot cinnamon.  Scattered throughout the pint are little chocolate coated pretzel balls.  There is not a whole lot of them, but they provide quite a bit of crunch when you do encounter one in your spoonful.

This is a fun flavor from Sebastian Joe's.  It's basically a Mexican chocolate implementation with pretzel balls mixed in.  The pretzel balls played more of a supporting role in this ensemble.  If you like a non-hot cinnamon-chocolate blend and you see this in the scooping bin, then give it a try.  The pretzels are a bonus.

Jeni's - Strawberry Pretzel Pie

Strawberry Pretzel Pie - Cream Cheese Ice Cream, Pretzel Streusel, and a Whole Lotta Strawberry Sauce

Jeni's released a special flavor last month in collaboration with Dolly Parton called Strawberry Pretzel Pie.  I did manage to get my hands on a pint of it, but it was quite an adventure.  The first online release crashed their website and it took them a week to fix the website and they had an extremely limited supply.  Normally, this is almost good publicity when something like this happens, but Jeni's is a big player in the ice cream business now and I think the frustration level from buyers distracted from what was supposed to be a fun partnership with Dolly which benefitted her Imagination Library.  The flavor is totally sold out now, but my order did go through and I can review it now.  This is a flavor based on strawberry pretzel pie.  I have never had this type of pie, but there are lots of recipes online for it.  The main elements in the recipes are a salted pretzel crust, cream cheese and a strawberry sauce -- all elements which are included in this ice cream flavor.  Let's check it out!

The packaging is nice.  There is a nice drawing of Dolly on the side of the carton.  There is a nice feel-good message on the protective foil when I remove the lid.  Peeling back the foil, I see the creamy white cream cheese base with one of the strawberry swirls prominently displayed on top.  I like it when this happens.  Digging in, the cream cheese base is thick -- I can tell that it is thicker than their usual ice cream.  The cream cheese flavor is mild and does not have the aftertaste that some cream cheeses and cheesecakes have.  That's good.  The strawberry swirl is quite delicious.  It is not too sweet and not too tart.  It does not take a lot of strawberry to fill your mouth with flavor so the cream cheese here serves as a balance to that.  There are quite a bit of sizeable pretzels pieces in here (see pictures below).  Some of these pieces are crunchy, but not all of them.  Mix-ins like this tend to soften up when immersed in ice cream.  On the whole, this is quite delicious.

This is a solid strawberrys and pretzels pint from Jeni's.  I liked it quite a bit, but I did not love it as much as their previous two 'special batch' flavors this year - White House Chocolate Chip and Everything Bagel.  I think I would have loved it more if all the pretzel pieces were crunchy.  But I know keeping pretzels crunchy in ice cream is a hard problem and you cannot fall back on coating them with chocolate in this recipe.  Maybe the expectations for this 'special batch' and all the trouble involved in ordering it raised my expectations too high.  It's still a very enjoyable pint!  I would say to check it out, but I don't know when or if this flavor will be available again.  Some of those strawberry pretzel pie recipes look fun, though.  So you could try that.

 

 

Milkjam Creamery - Aunt Darleen

Aunt Darleen - Strawberry Ice Cream with Malted Pretzel Crumble

 

The final flavor from Milkjam Creamery's August Summer Cookout collection (instagram link here) is called Aunt Darleen (instagram link here).  This is a strawberry ice cream with a malted pretzel crumble.  This looks a bit similar to Jeni's recent Dolly Parton-inspired flavor Strawberry Pretzel Pie, though their own link says that it is more of a reference to strawberry pretzel 'salad'. (Google recipe search here).  I must admit that I have no idea where the name Aunt Darleen comes from.  I googled and I couldn't fine anything.  But Milkjam is much cooler than I am in terms of their pop culture references, so it wouldn't surprise me if it a reference to a song I don't know about.  Ok, let's check out this flavor.

Removing the lid, the strawberry base has a light pink color with a couple of darker red dots in it.  I also see some rough textured mix-ins which are probably the pretzels.  Digging in, the strawberry base is quite good.  It is the kind of strawberry that tastes like a strawberry shake.  The pretzel crumble provides the expected crunch.  I don't notice too much salt.  It is probably in the mix, but it is not as salty as some pretzel mix-ins are.

This is a good pint from Milkjam Creamery.  It's very pleasant and agreeable like most strawberry ice creams are and the pretzels provide a little bit of crunchy interest into the mix.  It is not quite as bold as some of Milkjam's other implementations, but its hard to dislike this flavor.  Strawberry fans will enjoy this.

This concludes their August Summer Cookout collection which in addition to this flavor included Smoked Peach Crisp, Lemonade Stand and from a previous season Gimme S'more.  Smoked Peach Crisp is my favorite of this month, but they are all pretty good.  I am looking forward to next month.

 

 

Museum of Ice Cream - PB & P

PB & P - Peanut Buttery Ice Cream with Chocolatey Covered Pretzel Pieces & Peanut Butter Swirls

Today we return to the Museum of Ice Cream for the last of the new flavors that they released in 2019.  This flavor is called PB & P.  Everyone knows what PB & J is: peanut butter and jelly.  Here, instead of jelly, they add pretzels so they call it PB & P.  Searching my archives for "pretzel", I can see several similar flavors.  Several interesting combinations of chocolate, butter and pretzels are in there.  The one that looks the most simialr to me would be the other one which has a peanut butter base:  Talenti's Peanut Butter & Pretzel.  The Museum of Ice Cream brand is available in Minnesota from Target stores.  I bought this pint at their Saint Paul Midway location.

Popping off the lid and removing the extra foil, I see the peanut butter base is a creamy off-white yellow color.  A hint of the pretzel mix-ins can be seen from time to time and also some darker brown sections which appear to be the peanut butter swirl.  As I dig down into the ice cream, the peanut butter swirls appear to be mostly blended into the base  That is OK as it is still a good peanut butter flavor.  Then I encounter the chocolate covered pretzels.  There is a bit more chocolate on some of these pieces than I expected which is a pleasant surprise.  I was also impressed that the pretzels were really crunchy.  In fact, every third or so piece was super-crunchy to the point where I thought the pretzel was fresh and had not been immersed in the ice cream since the factory.

This is a very well-done implementation of a peanut butter and pretzel falvor from the Museum of Ice Cream.  I actually enjoyed this flavor better than Talenti's pint using the same flavor combination.  The Museum of Ice Cream got a bit of grief last year that their first batches of flavors were too sweet and/or sugar-candy based.  This summer's releases went for much more rich flavors such as malt and peanut butter.  It will be interesting to see which direction they explore in the future.

Sweet Science - Peanut Butter Pretzel

Peanut Butter Pretzel - Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Pretzels and Chewy Dark Chocolate Ganache Squares

Today we cover the fourth and final of the "State Fair" flavors from the Saint-Paul-based Sweet Science Ice Cream.  This flavor is called Peanut Butter Pretzel (instagram link here).  It's a peanut butter base which chocolate-covered pretzels and dark chocolate ganache.  Whenever I think of this flavor combination, I immediately think of Ben & Jerry's famous Chubby Hubby flavor.  That's actually a vanilla-malt base with peanut butter swirls.  Here, the base is peanut butter.  Checking my archive for similar flavors I see pints from Talenti and the Museum of Ice Cream.  Let's check it out.

Removing the lid shows a lot going on.  I see quite a few mix-ins right away in the light-colored peanut butter base.  I see sizable chunks of chocolate ganache and some smaller chunks of what are probably chocolate-covered pretzels.  I also see a few small strip-like chunks of peanut butter.  That's an unexpected bonus!  I figured the peanut butter would only be in the base, but it appears there are also some small swirls of peanut butter in the mix as well.  Digging in, I like the peanut butter flavor of the a little mild, but extra flavor is delivered by the peanut butter swirls.  The chocolate-covered pretzels are not as crunchy or as numerous as I expected, but they are tasty and insert a bit of salt into the mix as well.  I've seen the chocolate ganache squares in other Sweet Science flavors (here and here).  These are soft, but chewy squares of chocolate rather than a thick sauce.  It is quite tasty and it goes very well wit the peanut butter.

I enjoyed this Peanut Butter Pretzel flavor from Sweet Science quite a bit.  It was not as pretzel-ly as I was expecting, but the excellent peanut butter base/swirls and chocolate ganache more than makes up for that.  For a more pretzel-heavy implementation, I'd go with Talenti, but otherwise, you can't go wrong here.

This completes the State Fair from Sweet Science.  This was problem the one that could slide into the main menu the easiest -- the other three had a bit of a fair-food novelty slant to it.  My favorite of the four flavors was Tipsy Cherry Pie, the mini-pie pieces with tangy wine-cherry filling and excellent crust worked really well as a mix-in.  Today's flavor was my second favorite.  I enjoyed the other two (Caramel Caramel Corn and Animal Circus) but I think they'd work better at the fair where you are more inclined to embrace quirky fair-food ingredients.

Talenti - Peanut Butter Pretzel

Peanut Butter Pretzel - Peanut Butter Gelato with Peanut Butter Ribbons and Chcoolate and Peanut Butter Covered Pretzels

Looking at the freezer case of my local grocery store, I realized I hadn't had a pint of Talenti gelato in a while.  I figured, I'd try their Peanut Butter Pretzel flavor because it seemed like an interesting flavor mix.  I'm also curious as to how a peanut butter gelato base will come out.  Gelatos tend to be lighter while peanut butter tends to be thick and heavy.  It'll be interesting to see how that balances out.


Unscrewing the lid (I still love these jars!) reveals the beige color of the peanut butter base.  No mix-ins are visible right away.  Digging in, the peanut butter flavor in the base is noticeable but not too heavy.  Soon, I ran into the pretzel mix-ins.  These are interesting, they are spherically shaped and fully chocolate covered.  They were pretty good.   I took some extra pictures below to show what they are like.  I could see chocolate-covered pretzel balls being a non-ice-cream snack.  I did some googling and found that indeed such a treat does exist.  As I continued to eat, I ran into some peanut butter clumps.  Checking the ingredients, this appears to be the 'peanut butter ribbons'.  These were OK.  It provides a more concentrated flavor than what was in the base but there wasn't a lot of these ribbons.

This was a decent pint.  Talenti lovers who like peanut butter will want to check it out.  For me, I kept thinking that when I want peanut butter I'm not looking for a light gelato.  So, in that regard, I think I prefer Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby flavor, but your mileage may vary.