Tag: Ice Cream

REVIEW: My/Mochi Sugar Cookie, Hot Cocoa, and Gingerbread Ice Cream

Marvo Leave a comment

In order to cover all the holiday flavor bases, My/Mochi has expanded its Christmas time varieties beyond Cool Peppermint and introduced Sugar Cookie, Hot Cocoa, and Gingerbread Ice Cream. Yes, popular seasonal flavors like egg nog, fruitcake, and lumps of coal are missing, but maybe they’ll come next year.

Sugar Cookie

It features sugar cookie flavored ice cream with sugar cookie pieces floating in it. At first I didn’t taste anything. But as I chewed the mochi coating, a sweet, light buttery flavor came through that instantly brought Santa’s favorite to mind. While the pieces embedded in the creamy filling don’t enhance the baked good taste, they do add a bit of texture, but not one you’d expect from an ingredient called “sugar cookie pieces.” Instead of a cookie crunch, the pieces floating in the ice cream add a sugar crystal crunch, like the decorative sugar sprinkled on top of the cookie. Personally, I prefer a sugary crunch over a cookie one. With its combination of flavor and crunch, I find these to be quite delicious.

Hot Cocoa

I partially expected this Hot Cocoa one to taste chocolate ice cream with marshmallows, but it’s much better than that. Its description says it’s hot cocoa flavored ice cream with marshmallows, and it tastes like what I wish my hot cocoa made from water and instant hot cocoa mix would taste like. While there are tiny mallow bits, the creamy filling itself tastes like there’s a bit of marshmallow within the chocolate base, which gave it a bit of maltiness. The bits are not soft, and they’re also not like what you’d get in cereal, but they add a snappy texture to contrast the creaminess and chewiness of the other two components. I enjoyed these slightly more than the Sugar Cookies ones.

Gingerbread

Gingersnap cookies was the first thing that came to mind when I took my first bite from My/Mochi’s Gingerbread Ice Cream, and then my body instinctively braced itself for the ginger burn that it’s experienced with the cookie. Thankfully, it never came. The level of ginger in this ice cream is strong and similar to Nabisco Ginger Snaps, but not having the burn makes these easier to eat. However, there’s something about this variety that makes me enjoy it slightly less than the other two. They’re good, but I find myself reaching for the other two first.

Overall

I’ve never had a disappointing product from My/Mochi and that continues with these three. I’m also sure that if the company comes out with a Lump of Coal flavor someday, it’ll probably taste great too.

DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples from My/Mochi. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 6-pieces
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Sugar Cookie), 8 out of 10 (Hot Cocoa), 7 out of 10 (Gingerbread)
Nutrition Facts: (1 piece) Sugar Cookie – 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 15 milligrams of sodium, 15 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 11 grams of sugar (including 10 grams of added sugar), and 1 gram of protein. Hot Cocoa – 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 15 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 12 grams of sugar (including 11 grams of added sugar), and 1 gram of protein. Gingerbread – 70 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 15 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar (including 9 grams of added sugar), and 1 gram of protein.

REVIEW: Baskin-Robbins Brie My Guest Ice Cream

Marvo 2 Comments

Baskin-Robbins’ Flavor of the Month for November 2024 is Brie My Guest. It’s a cheeseboard-inspired flavor that features brie and burrata ice creams, almond slivers, pistachio pieces, and apricot swirls. I was a bit saddened it wasn’t a charcuterie board-inspired flavor, but there’s always future Flavors of the Month.

Pardon my lack of cheese knowledge, but I’d never heard of burrata before having this ice cream. It sounds more like a Taco Bell mad food scientist abomination, but it’s a semisoft Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. Thankfully, I know and have had brie before.

The cheese-flavored ice creams give this a cheesecake-like vibe. There’s some savoriness, but thankfully, it doesn’t go too far that it gets weird, like Van Leeuwen’s pizza flavor. The sugar and cream are doing their job of helping balance the savory with sweetness. I thought the flavors would be a little odd, but they were surprisingly tasty. They also paired nicely with the apricot swirls, which added a pleasant fruity tartness. My favorite spoonfuls were those with just the bases and the swirl.

Disrupting my enjoyment of the sweet, cheesy bases were the almond pieces, which provided a slightly crunchy texture but also a bit too much nuttiness that gets in the way of the ice creams. Maybe they should’ve been chopped a bit more instead of slivers? But I had a much better experience with the smaller pistachio pieces, which provided enough of their flavor that they let the headliners shine but also contributed some of their nuttiness.

The idea of eating brie and burrata-flavored ice creams may seem weird, but I enjoyed it and would’ve like it more if it weren’t for those almonds.

Purchased Price: $4.39
Size: Single scoop
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 260 calories, 13 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 25 grams of sugar (including 18 grams of added sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Blue Bell Chocolate Brownie Truffle Ice Cream

Brandon 5 Comments

The term “one of the most delightful things I’ve ever put in my mouth” gets thrown around a lot these days. Well, that, or I’m prone to exaggeration. But believe me when I tell you that Blue Bell’s new Chocolate Brownie Truffle Ice Cream is one of the most delightful things I’ve ever put in my mouth.

Having said this, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m by no means an ice cream snob; I’ll just as soon happily consume a pint of “frozen dairy dessert” or whatever lots of brands sell these days that can’t qualify as actual “ice cream.” So maybe it’s just me– maybe all Blue Bell is this great. (I don’t know that I’ve had a ton of it, truthfully, though I did try and really enjoy the recent Cinnamon Twist variety. Also, let it be entered into the record that I am a cinnamon ice cream fiend, particularly when said cinnamon ice cream contains chunks of a) cinnamon roll dough or b) churros.

Anyway, how can you go wrong with chocolate ice cream teeming with chunks of brownie and hunks of chocolate truffles? The ice cream itself is creamy and silky. The brownies are slightly chewy and decadent. The truffles are… well, okay, if I have one beef, it’s that the chocolate shell of the truffle pieces is pretty thick. In its frozen state, it’s a pretty jarring textural disposition. It’s, “mmm, chewy brownie, yum, silky soft ice cream, BOOM, molar rattling truffle.” Truly, though, it’s a minor complaint– “Boo-hoo, I wish this delicious chocolate truffle shell was a bit thinner.”

Okay, but if you’ll permit me another minor complaint— and again, it feels as silly as complaining about a singular errant brush stroke on a masterpiece of a painting— it’s that this ice cream is rich. My sweet tooth is strong, and I rarely find things to be too much, but a regular serving of this stuff wears me out. But honestly, that’s probably not the worst thing from a waistline standpoint. It’s fall treat/pumpkin spice season, and I’m starting to look like the subject of a Francisco Botero work. (To continue the Fine Arts theme for the art nerds in the house.)

Purchased Price: $8.32
Size: Half-gallon
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 Cup) 280 calories, 14 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 30 grams of sugar, including 25 grams of added sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Churn Out the Vote Ice Cream

Sean 1 Comment

Turning out to vote this November is very important. Also very important? Trying every new flavor that Ben & Jerry’s churns up. It is my duty to hunt the freezer aisle for any new chunky concoction the boys in Vermont grace the shelves with. Don’t you feel left out when a new one doesn’t quickly pop up in your local Target or grocery store? I know I do. It kind of makes me wish this pint came with an “I Scooped” sticker to showcase how proud I am that I have a new Limited Batch Ben & Jerry’s pint.

Anyway…

Churn Out the Vote is vanilla ice cream with pretzel swirls, fudge chips, and swirls of chocolate mousse.

The vanilla ice cream is your standard slightly floral, sweet, and creamy base that you’ve had a dozen times, yet it largely gets transformed by the presence of the chocolate mousse swirls. A good amount of it bleeds into the base, creating a lighter chocolate flavor with little pockets of pure vanilla. Initially, I was a little disappointed, but as I kept digging, I found more pockets where the mousse stayed more intact, bringing a gooey chocolate texture and richer fudge-like flavor to the profile. It’s a fun, albeit very predictable (classic?) flavor pairing that, when joined with the gently crunchy and melty fudge chips, tastes about as vintage-scoop-shop as can be.

What makes this pint stand out beyond a straight 40s-style throwback are the pretzel swirls. I am a big fan of Ben & Jerry’s pretzel swirl. It’s a key component in one of my all-time favorites, Glampfire Trail Mix, as well as this year’s simple yet impressive Impretzively Fudged. I believe this is the first time the swirl has been used in a vanilla base, and it helps elevate the flavor to something more unique yet still pretty classic.

The swirls don’t pop as much as in Glampfire Trail Mix but are sprinkled throughout the pint. Their presence brings a salty depth and gritty texture to the experience that, when taken all in one spoonful, starts to taste like another old school parlor staple — a chocolate malt. Something about the lighter chocolate, in tandem with the molasses-adjacent pretzel taste and touch of salt, comes together like a throwback funky malt, making the whole scooping experience much more dynamic than I anticipated going into it.

Ultimately, this is a flavor that tastes as traditionally button-down as the act of voting itself. While it may not be the most inventive or the most satisfying for gob-loving mix-in hounds like myself, it’s inescapably tasty and salty enough to avoid being too basic.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from Ben & Jerry’s. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: One Pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup, 138g) 390 calories, 23 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 32 grams of total sugars, and 6 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen French Silk Pie Blizzard

Denis 2 Comments

My wife rarely reads my reviews, so I’m going to roll the dice and hope she doesn’t see the following statement: If I could marry a member of the pie family, I would get on bended knee and offer a glistening strawberry ring pop to French silk pie so that we could be together forever

I’m not even a big pie person, but there’s something about that smooth, chocolatey goodness that just gets me. So, I was quite interested in trying Dairy Queen’s new-ish French Silk Pie Blizzard, which is part of the Fall Blizzard menu. It was apparently introduced in 2004 and has been available at various times since, but we’ve never reviewed it. It’s quite possible—even likely—that I’ve had it in the past and forgot, considering I don’t even remember what I ate for lunch today, and I had to check my phone to determine the day of the week. So it’s new to me.

I knew I would probably like this Blizzard, but the question was whether I would love it. The list of components was promising: choco chunks, pie pieces, and cocoa fudge with whipped topping. But despite my high hopes, let’s just say this Blizzard is more like a friend rather than marriage material. The chocolate flavor is great, and even a bit silky, at least as silky as you can get for ice cream, and the whipped topping always makes a Blizzard better.

My issue is the pie crust. I’m not sure if my local DQ got a bad batch, but the crust pieces were very crunchy, almost with the consistency of an animal cracker. There was very little of the crumbliness I associate with pie crust, and the pieces were monstrous, with a few being about the size of two Cinnamon Toast Crust pieces fused together. And the flavor was more like a cookie than pie crust.

Again, the chocolate part was wonderful. The cocoa fudge flavor did a perfect job of transforming the vanilla soft serve into chocolatey bliss, and the choco chunks brought an added layer of texture and taste. But the crust pieces just put a damper on the whole thing.

So I like you, French Silk Pie Blizzard, but I’m sorry to say that I don’t want to marry you. But we can still be friends. And yes, it is you, not me.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Small
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 730 calories, 33 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 310 milligrams of sodium, 98 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 76 grams of sugar, and 14 grams of protein.