What is Jeni’s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream?
Ever wanted to be able to sneeze while eating a jelly donut without spraying your countertop with powdered sugar? Jeni’s has endeavored to create an allergy season compatible version of the treat with vanilla custard, raspberry jelly, and a brown sugar donut crumble.
How is it?
From how easily my ice cream scoop glided through the top of the pint, it was clear this was going to have the same heavenly consistency as other Jeni’s ice creams I’ve tried. The custard was thick, creamy, and smooth with a slight chewiness, and there were big pockets of both jam and crumble to keep the texture interesting.
Despite the high quality of the ice cream and mix-ins, I was disappointed with how little it tasted like a powdered jelly donut. Each bite had an unfitting cream cheese-like tang, which I suspect resulted from using a salted custard but may have been from a natural flavor added to mimic the taste of powdered sugar. There was also a noticeable nutmeg flavor that, when combined with the sweet and egg yolky custard, made the ice cream taste like eggnog.
The donut crumble wasn’t quite right either. As far as I know, jelly donuts are usually yeast donuts, but the flavor and texture of the crumble led me to believe more inspiration was taken from cake donuts. The nutmeg flavor throughout strengthened that assumption since I associate the spice with plain cake donuts.
Jelly was spot on, though. So spot on that I wished there was even more of it since it was the only thing making the ice cream taste like a jelly donut.
Anything else you need to know?
This is premium ice cream and priced accordingly. If this flavor doesn’t sound 100% up your alley, it might be a bit too expensive to take a chance on. However, Jeni’s ice cream is so high quality and delicious that it truly is worth splurging on from time to time (I’m particularly fond of its buttermilk frozen yogurts).
Conclusion:
I’ve still given Jeni’s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream a decent rating because it’s a tasty ice cream that I’ll have no problem finishing. I don’t know that anyone could be unhappy with the flavors in this pint if they tried it name unknown. But, as a powdered jelly donut ice cream, it was unsuccessful. Seems my countertops (and floor, and pants, and…) will continue to live with powdered sugar on them.
Purchased Price: $8.99
Size: One pint (473 mL)
Purchased at: Whole Foods
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 Cup / 123g) 310 calories, 17 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 80 mg of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of total carbohydrates, 33 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protein.
If I worked for Jeni’s. I would had used local powdered jelly donuts then slice them up. Use it as a mix-ins. Then add extra jelly swirls. I noticed many ice cream companies using generic cake pieces, cookie bits, and donut pieces not even jazzing up the mix-ins. Good example would be Little Debbie Ice Cream; not using the actual dessert pieces. That would be more exciting.
I know that Jeni’s started out with making all of their own “mix-in” items. I’m pretty sure that they still do, I could be wrong though.
Jeni’s uses cream cheese in their base, so perhaps that’s where the cream cheese flavor comes from? I think it’s just a bit though, for texture, not like “this is supposed to taste like cream cheese.” I wonder if it’s the same salted vanilla custard they use in the Boston Cream Pie. That’s my favorite Jeni’s so far.
Hmm…I’m sure they use it in their base for cream cheese ice creams, though there isn’t any in this ice cream.
Sorry Jeni, I can’t support a product that perpetuates the misspelling of “doughnut.”
Either spelling is actually accurate and acceptable.
Welcome to 2022…it’s not 1856 anymore. I don’t know of anybody who spells donut in that manner.
Fully in support of Kirk, here! I can’t stand the lazy spelling of “doughnut”. As such, *I* am someone who spells it, in that manner. We do still exist, I assure you.
High five! Doughnut for the win!
I think it tasted like hot dogs.
🙂 So happy to be in the presence of others who still respect the English language!