REVIEW: Little Debbie Fudge Rounds and Birthday Cakes Ice Cream

/ / Reviews / 3 Comments

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and I will keep reviewing it. That seems to be the unspoken agreement between the folks behind Little Debbie at McKee Foods Co., the Michigan ice cream makers of Hudsonville Ice Cream, and me, the enthusiastic consumer.

Fudge Rounds and Birthday Cakes are the latest additions to the successful and vast Little Debbie Ice Cream pint lineup. I found them in a freezer endcap at a local Walmart, directly across the aisle from a Little Debbie snack cake display. Clever choice.

Fudge Rounds Ice Cream

Fudge Rounds variety swirls together two types of chocolate ice cream to mimic the Fudge Rounds’ chocolate cookie and chocolate cream filling. The two ice creams, one darker chocolate and one closer to milk chocolate, had distinct flavors on their own. Over time, though, the flavor did sort of just mellow out into one “chocolate” note.

There were some hearty chocolate cookie-ish chunks in the base, and. they were tasty, but didn’t quite taste the same as the Fudge Rounds cookie. In general, I tend to prefer more inclusion pieces, so I would’ve liked more. They offered a nice disruption to the heavy chocolate flavor and overall made the Fudge Rounds Ice Cream pretty interesting and a decent match to the bakery confection.

Birthday Cakes Ice Cream

I’d read a few early positive reviews of the Birthday Cake Ice Cream already, and I think the classic imitation vanilla and almond extract flavor of an American confetti birthday cake is fantastic, so my expectations were pretty elevated. This iteration is a reliably delicious vanilla ice cream with somehow still crunchy sprinkle bits and the occasional glob of vanilla cake, but I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. Yes, it was delicious, but the Birthday Cake flavor wasn’t there as much as I wanted. I mean, you wouldn’t catch me turning this down at a bowling alley birthday party. I just think that given the track record of absolutely nailing the Little Debbie flavors on the nose, this one could have been closer.

Overall I am happy to report that I was generally delighted by these latest Little Debbie Ice Cream additions. I like how this line started with the undisputed cult favorites and then have been working down the “Oh, but do you remember THIS one?” list. I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see a banana marshmallow pie iteration. Please and thank you!

Purchased Price: $2.50 each
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Fudge Rounds), 7 out of 10 (Birthday Cake)
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) Fudge Rounds – 210 calories, 10 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 70 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 20 grams of sugar (including 16 grams of added sugar), and 4 grams of protein. Birthday Cakes – 230 calories, 10 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar (including 18 grams of added sugar), and 4 grams of protein.

SPOTTED: Reese’s Chocolate Frozen Dairy Dessert and Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cones Duo

/ / Spotted on Shelves / 2 Comments

Don’t forget there are others, like Reese’s Peanut Butter Sandwich and Reese’s Peanut Butter Light Ice Cream. (Frozen dairy dessert spotted by Geoffrey at Save Mart. Cones spotted by Robbie at Randall’s.)

SPOTTED: Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Coffee and Caramel Latte Frosting

/ / Spotted on Shelves / 2 Comments

It’s all about cold foam on cold brew nowadays. How about some coffee frosting instead? (Spotted by Robbie at Walmart.)

SPOTTED: Limited Edition Post Berry Pebbles Cereal

/ / Spotted on Shelves / 6 Comments

I totally forgot there was a previous berry-flavored Pebbles cereal. (Spotted by Sage G at Harris Teeter.)

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Caramel Chocolate Cold Brew

/ / Reviews / 3 Comments

You know that Coke commercial where people from around the globe gather to sing about how they’d like to buy the world a Coke and teach everyone to sing in harmony? Well, I would like to buy everyone (or at least those who enjoy sweetened iced coffee) a Caramel Chocolate Cold Brew from Dunkin’.

It features cold brew mixed with caramel chocolate syrup that’s topped off with a layer of chocolate cold foam and cocoa caramel sprinkles. I’m repeating the word cold, but this drink is firing on all cylinders. It’s so harmonious and an excellent example of a sweet coffee drink that still tastes like coffee and not a cup of sugar that may have coffee in it somewhere.

Taking it from the top, the cocoa caramel sprinkles are not traditional sprinkles. It looks like the drink has been scattered with pebbles, and this was no more apparent than when I set mine on a stoop to take a picture and it camouflaged perfectly. They’re sort of like the coating on those chocolate eclair ice cream bars but less solid. If you eat them at first, they feel a bit crunchy, like an ice cream topping, but I let some melt into the drink and found no trace of them at the bottom.

This tasty rubble is being admirably held up by a thick layer of chocolate cold foam that’s surprisingly stable. I’m often disappointed by drinks with cold foam because they’re great for the first sip or two, but then the foam just disappears. I was shocked that this foam held up while I walked with it for several blocks and maintained a presence on top for most of the time it took me to finish the drink. It was chocolatey and sweet without being overly so with a nice whipped consistency.

The majority of the drink is cold brew with a caramel chocolate syrup, and somehow despite all the additions here sounding like the makeup of a candy bar, this isn’t saccharine. The chocolate and caramel flavors accentuate and don’t overwhelm the cold brew. It tastes like drinking coffee but a sweeter and more indulgent variety than my everyday cup. Often the specialty drinks at Dunkin’ can feel more like dessert, but this one was smooth and coffee-centric with a pleasant bitterness that plays well with the cocoa and caramel notes.

As someone who usually takes their coffee less adorned but sometimes likes to have a sweeter version, this really struck a perfect balance. I have a terrible voice and could never teach anyone to sing, but if I had the funds to get everyone who likes iced coffee a Caramel Chocolate Cold Brew, I think I’d please people across the coffee consumer spectrum, and we’d all get caffeinated in harmony.

Caveat: I tried this a second time from a different Dunkin’ to totally different results. The cold foam was still great, but the cocoa caramel gravel was replaced with cinnamon sugar. The drink tasted disappointingly like straight chocolate syrup with little to no caramel or coffee. I would not want to buy anyone that, including myself.

Purchased Price: $5.19
Size: Medium
Purchased at: Dunkin’
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 220 calories, 4 grams of total fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 46 grams of total carbs, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 44 grams of total sugar (44 grams of added sugar), and 1 gram of protein.

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