What is Jeni’s Maple Soaked Pancakes Ice Cream?
Emulating a breakfast staple, it’s fluffy pancakes in salted butter and Vermont maple syrup ice creams.
The side of the pint shares a heartwarming blurb on her inspiration — Young Jeni enjoyed freshly tapped maple syrup, from her grandparents’ trees, with a triple stack of buttermilk pancakes. She soaked them until they became a syrupy, sweet mush.
How is it?
Buddy the Elf would approve and count this as part of his syrup food group!
After pulling back the lid, I could immediately see two swirl colors – a cream one and a light brown sugar-esque one.
From tasting it, the darker part was unmistakably the maple syrup ice cream. It had a light and caramel-like flavor. However, it wasn’t cloying like caramel can get sometimes. Could I tell that it was from Vermont? Nope, but I can appreciate Jeni’s attention to detail. What I can also appreciate is how one manages to freeze real maple syrup without it crystallizing or diminishing the flavor! Food magics.
By the process of elimination, I anticipated the lighter part to be the salted butter portion. It didn’t really have a pronounced taste, but my taste buds did pick up the saltiness.
The pancake was swirled throughout. But the adjective fluffy should really be in quotes because it creates unrealistic expectations! They were also more like pancake pieces, or in today’s snack vernacular, they could be considered pancake bites. The texture was fine. They were crumby, so they reminded me a bit of stale pancakes, but at least they weren’t frozen solid. I found myself hunting for them like cookie dough pieces in vanilla ice cream, but it was a lot more difficult because these were practically camouflaged.
Altogether, this was pretty good and unique from what’s in the ice cream aisle today! I also always appreciate creamy ice cream that’s easy to scoop, with a spoon, right out of the freezer.
Anything else you need to know?
Since day one, Jeni’s has been faithful to her philosophy of high-quality ingredients. All her cream comes from grass-fed cows from a local Ohio milk producer. None of her ice creams have stabilizers, emulsifiers, or corn syrup! Even for the color of this specific flavor, she used hibiscus, apple, and carrot to achieve it. We pay a pretty premium for this, but I think it’s worth it!
While Jeni’s is relatively new to grocery store shelves, she’s been rockin’ it since 2002. If you get a chance to visit one of her 40+ locations, there are scoop shop exclusives (shameless plug for the Pear Riesling Sorbet paired with the Darkest Chocolate ice cream)!
Conclusion:
I didn’t need a unique breakfast flavor analog like this to convince me to eat ice cream for breakfast, but I enjoyed the idea AND execution of this.
Purchased Price: $12
Size: 1 pint (473 mL)
Purchased at: Jeni’s Website
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 serving – 2/3 cup or 123g) 300 calories, 18 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 320 milligrams of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 28 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein.
Ulp–$12 for a pint. I definitely live in a different world, lol (not meaning to denigrate anyone pleased enough to pay $3-$6 per serving).
They sell pints in a store around my house. They’re more like 7$ (and very good if you want to occasionally splurge) in store. Wondering if some of that price was shipping/delivery since Tiffany indicates they bought it online?
Thanks–found Jeni’s flavors being sold at Whole Foods, $9/pint in my area. And so, a modified “ulp.” 😉 Definitely (for me) for special occasions–I’m generally content with my Ben & Jerry’s chocolate chunk brownie. 🙂
Once a year, Whole Foods has a pretty good sale on ice cream (30% discount I think??) and I use that opportunity to pick up a lot of these weirdly expensive pints and see if they’re actually any good 🙂
Good to know about the sale, thanks! They’re not weirdly expensive though, hehe; you pay for quality and smaller businesses 😉
Thanks for the info., Ruffy. And altho Holly notes that “you pay for quality and smaller businesses,” I agree with you that $9-$12/pint is pretty expensive, for me–I still can find quality at my stores for half that amount and less.
I tried this flavor about a month ago, and the review is pretty much spot on. The $12 is in store or online at Jeni’s. You can usually get most of these flavors at any grocery store for far less, especially if there’s a sale. I still think Boston Cream Pie is my favorite.
Thanks–the website indeed has a store locator, which is very helpful.
Jeni’s is the best! Although I have not tried this flavor, I did not regret paying $8 for any of the pints that I have tried. They are richer than what I am used to so the pints last me longer than other lighter brands. I’m hoping they can maintain the high quality as they continue to grow.
Yep, that’s what happens when you don’t pump an ice cream full of air and also use quality ingredients, hehe.
I’m just curious: how would you compare them to Ben & Jerry’s? I find Ben & Jerry’s chocolate brownie chunk highly rich (why they keep on getting me back for more!).
In my opinion they are very different from Ben & Jerry’s. The quality of the ice cream itself is much better but they have fewer mix-ins. I love both brands but if you want great ice cream that stands on its own, try Jeni’s. If you want an ice cream laden with candy baked goods, “cores”, etc, then reach for Ben & Jerry’s.
“What I can also appreciate is how one manages to freeze real maple syrup without it crystallizing ” maple syrup contains a good amount of invert sugars.
And pear Riesling for the win!!! It was the very first flavour that I tried years ago at her flagship stand.
Maple stuff during maple season. Finally.
Let the tree tapping begin!!!
Holly May: While indeed “you pay for quality and smaller businesses,” $9-$12/pint still is expensive, at least for me, and I can find quality ice creams for half the price, or less. Mind you, I also wouldn’t turn these down . . . . 😉
The only thing I ever get to brag about is that there are multiple Jeni’s stores I can go to and eat their fresher ice cream instead of buying those expensive pints.