Tag: Ice Cream

REVIEW: Museum of Ice Cream 2019 Flavors

Marvo 4 Comments

Museum of Ice Cream 2019 Flavors

Target’s exclusive Museum of Ice Cream line has four new flavors this year — Malt Shake, Queen Bee, PB&P, and Cone Zone. To be honest, I didn’t try any of the original varieties that debuted last year. I assume they must’ve been decent to justify having new flavors. Well, let’s find out how these new varieties are.

Malt Shake

Museum of ice Cream Malt Shake

If you’ve ever wanted to eat a Wendy’s Chocolate Frosty without having to go to a Wendy’s, the Museum of Ice Cream Malt Shake flavor would be one way to do it. Of course, the other way would be to order it via DoorDash and hope it’s not a cup of chocolate malt soup when you get it.

The pint features malted chocolate ice cream with mini malted milk balls.

The base tastes like a hardened Wendy’s Frosty, making it a pint that was hard for me to put down. One complaint I’ve read about this is how the tasty base is a little gritty. It is, but being that it’s supposed to be like a malted shake, it should be that way. After all, if I remember correctly, a Wendy’s Frosty has some grittiness.

Museum of ice Cream Malt Shake Closeup

The Whoppers-like candy encased in the base taste and crunch better than the classic candy. Biting into one turns the maltiness up to 11. Unfortunately, there were significantly less than 11 of those mini malted milk balls in my pint. Hence, the reason why the photo above is an empty sea of malted chocolate ice cream.

Malt Shake is a great flavor, and my favorite of the four, but it would’ve been more fabulous with more balls.

Purchased Price: $4.00 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 230 calories, 14 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 100 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Queen Bee

Museum of ice Cream Queen Bee

Of the four new flavors, Queen Bee sits on the throne.

Nah, just kidding. I wanted to shoehorn that throne line into this review. But you already knew that since I mentioned Malt Shake is my favorite 15 seconds ago. It’s tasty, but it’s not what I’d hope it would be. It features honey ice cream with chocolatey covered honeycomb and English toffee with almonds.

While there are two honey-related ingredients, Winnie the Pooh would take off his red shirt, stomp on it, and growl in protest of how little honey flavor the pint has. The honey ice cream reminds me of Ben & Jerry’s Sweet Cream base, and the chocolatey coating overwhelms the honeycomb’s flavor. The English toffee isn’t Heath-like. Instead, they’re like gloops of caramel with chunks of almonds.

Museum of ice Cream Queen Bee Closeup

With all that said, it’s a decent ice cream, but it has a ho-hum flavor doesn’t make me want to protect it by stinging anyone who might be a perceived threat to eat some of it.

Purchased Price: $4.00 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 230 calories, 14 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 24 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

PB&P

Museum of ice Cream PB P

The PB stands for peanut butter, but the P stands for pretzels. The pint contains peanut buttery ice cream with chocolatey covered pretzel pieces and a peanut butter swirl. If you’re a fan of sweet and salty, this would be the pint to get.

Obviously, there’s a potent peanut buttery presence. The ice cream base has a pleasant nutty and sweet flavor, while the swirl brings more of the salty side of peanut butter. The thing about the swirl is that it’s not a gooey ingredient that’s easy to scoop out. It’s a hardened stream that I sometimes had to stab at to break it up into smaller pieces.

Museum of ice Cream PB P Closeup

The chocolatey covered pretzels are a much-needed addition to cut through the rich peanut buttery flavor of the other two components. They have a significant crunch and the saltiness from the swirl enhances them. Unlike the chocolatey coating around the honeycombs in Queen Bee, the one that surrounds the pretzels doesn’t mask the flavor of what’s inside of it.

Overall, PB&P is a good sweet and salty flavor, and my second favorite of the four.

Purchased Price: $4.00 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 230 calories, 15 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Cone Zone

Museum of ice Cream Cone Zone

Finally, we have the pint that honors Conan O’Brien. Just kidding. But it would’ve been cool if it did. Inside the pint there’s vanilla and chocolate ice creams with chocolate coated sugar cone pieces and a fudge ribbon.

Museum of ice Cream Cone Zone Closeup

The fudge ribbon tastes similar to the fudge flakes in Ben & Jerry’s pints, but maybe a tad sweeter. Much like the peanut butter swirl in PB&P, the fudge in the pint is solid, which can lead to excavating things like this:

Museum of ice Cream Cone Zone Chunk

The ribbon also amps up the flavor to make the battle between the chocolate and vanilla ice creams in the pint unfair. And you might think the chocolate-coated sugar cone pieces might further enhance the cocoa flavor, but with most of them, I noticed a strong marshmallow flavor that made the chocolate less intense and prevented the pint from being overly one note.

Cone Zone is a fine ice cream, but even with the crunchy sugar cone pieces, I didn’t find it to be as exciting of a flavor as PB&P and Malt Shake.

Purchased Price: $4.00 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 250 calories, 16 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Salted ‘n Swirled Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

Marvo 2 Comments

Ben Jerry s Chocolate Salted n Swirled Non Dairy Frozen Dessert

Thank you, Ben & Jerry’s!

Thanks for adding a space between “almond” and “milk,” and not making it a compound word like Silk and Starbucks do. Spelling it almondmilk irritates me because my autocorrect always splits it up and then I have to go back to turn it into one word because I have to spell it the way they do. It’s like how I have to use “doughnut” instead of “donut” when referring to Krispy Kreme products because that’s how the chain spells it.

Also, thanks for your Chocolate Salted ‘n Swirled Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert.

Ben & Jerry’s newest non-dairy treat features chocolate sandwich cookies and salted caramel swirls in a chocolate-flavored frozen dessert made with almond milk. It’s currently a Target-exclusive.

Will it ever be free to see other stores? If we look throughout Ben & Jerry’s flavor history, exclusive products usually remain in a committed relationship.

This is the first time I’ve had the brand’s non-dairy almond milk chocolate base, and it’s not going to be mistaken for Ben & Jerry’s chocolate ice cream. Its flavor is still quite pleasing, but it’s also familiar to my taste buds. It reminds me of Silk’s chocolate, ugh, almondmilk.

Ben Jerry s Chocolate Salted n Swirled Non Dairy Frozen Dessert Closeup

When I saw “chocolate sandwich cookies” listed on the front of the container, I didn’t expect to see a whole cookie standing in the middle of my pint like it was the crash-landed Star Destroyer in The Force Awakens. I expected chunks throughout the container. I mean, there were some, but most of the cookie mix-ins in the pint consisted of that whole one and another half that sat at the bottom of the pint. Having an entire cookie wasn’t too much of an issue because I treated it as if it was one of Ben & Jerry’s Core varieties and just scraped away some of the, unfortunately, soggy cookie while getting a spoonful.

While those two components are good, the gooey salted caramel swirl is a bit odd. It doesn’t taste like caramel or have much saltiness. Instead, I get more of a toasted marshmallow vibe. Of course, your results may vary, or I might’ve broken my taste buds after doing over 1,250 reviews. But that’s what I get, and I guess if it’s going to taste like something different, toasted marshmallow is one of the best scenarios. So I shouldn’t be saying the swirl is odd because when eaten together, all the components make a sweet, satisfying, and almost s’mores-like spoonful.

Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Salted ‘n Swirled is, I believe, the second non-dairy frozen dessert I’ve had from the company, the first being Cinnamon Buns. I enjoyed my first dip into Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy frozen world, and I also liked my second, although not as much as my first.

Purchased Price: $3.50 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 320 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 28 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Talenti Gelato Layers Mint Fudge Cookie and Salted Caramel Truffle

Tiffany 3 Comments

Talenti Gelato Layers Mint Fudge Cookie and Salted Caramel Truffle

Summer is right around the corner, and the new Talenti Gelato Layers is the perfect sweet treat to celebrate after a brutal winter – goodbye polar vortex! – and a moody spring that has included snow.

This innovation is basically a sundae with the visual appeal of a parfait. Each pint has five layers consisting of signature gelato, toppings, and sauces. It’s all perfectly packaged in the usual transparent, recyclable plastic jar.

The line launched with seven different layer combinations, which made it incredibly hard to pick. So, I picked my favorite gelato bases and ended up with Mint Fudge Cookie (mint gelato, cookie crumbs, fudge sauce, mint gelato, chocolate cookies) and Salted Caramel Truffle (sea salt caramel gelato, chocolate cookies, dulce de leche, vanilla gelato, caramel truffle).

Talenti Gelato Layers Mint Fudge Cookie and Salted Caramel Truffle Top Layer

I started with the Mint Fudge Cookie with no rhyme or reason! Because I was worried it would be difficult to get through to all the layers, I began with a meek spoonful of the gelato. It’s surprising how fluffy and light it is; it almost didn’t seem gelato-like! In general, Talenti isn’t one of those hard-to-scoop frozen treats, but I didn’t expect it to be like butter. The flavor of the gelato itself was the Mediterranean Mint I knew and trusted.

Talenti Gelato Layers Mint Fudge Cookie

It was just as easy to take my spoon and dig all the way down to get all the layers. Amazing! My only mistake was that I didn’t use a long spoon.

Talenti Gelato Layers Mint Fudge Cookie Spoon

The mint was the perfect backdrop for all the layered goodness. What stood out to me was the delicious, rich fudge. I love me some good hot fudge, and this did not disappoint. I was also amazed that it wasn’t frozen solid. Magic. I enjoyed the added textural elements from the chocolate cookies and crumbs as well. Admittedly, they got a little soggy, but then it became almost like a chocolate cake texture which was I was not mad about.

Talenti Gelato Layers Salted Caramel Truffle 2

When starting on the Salted Caramel Truffle, I grabbed a larger/longer spoon so I could get more of the good good. I did notice that there was a bit of freezer burn around the bottom-most layer, which was the caramel truffles.

Talenti Gelato Layers Salted Caramel Truffle Spoon

This flavor was sweeter than the mint one, but it’s a caramel lover’s dream come true. It’s like caramel on caramel with the gelato and dulce de leche. I enjoy caramel, but the sweetness was a bit too much for me. Also, I only picked up on the “salted” part of the salted caramel from the truffles below. Although, like the mint version, I enjoyed the texture, particularly from the cubed-shaped chocolate truffles.

All in all, I’m kind of angry because this is SO good. The texture of everything is perfect, which I would think is incredibly difficult to mass produce and keep right on shelves and in freezers at home! But, Talenti has done it. It’s captured lightning in a bottle with the kind of deliciousness that gives me the excuse to eat the whole pint because I don’t want to ruin it by dumping it in a bowl.

Purchased Price: $5.29 each
Size: 1 Pint
Purchased at: Meijer
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Mint Fudge Cookie)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Salted Caramel Truffle)
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) Salted Caramel Truffle 320 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 42 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 34 total grams of sugar, 26 grams added sugar, and 5 grams of protein. Mint Fudge Cookie – 310 calories, 15 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 gram of dietary fiber, 33 total grams of sugars, 28 grams added sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Toffee Break, Caramel Crisp, and Nutty Caramel Swirl (Scoop Shop Exclusive Flavors)

Marvo

Ben Jerry s Toffee Break Caramel Crisp and Nutty Caramel Swirl Scoop Shop Exclusive Flavors

Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops aren’t as prevalent as McDonald’s restaurants, Starbucks locations, or mattress stores. But if you happen to live within a reasonable driving distance from one, you can try three Scoop Shop-exclusive flavors this summer, all inspired by the candy aisle — Nutty Caramel Swirl, Toffee Break, and Caramel Crisp.

Nutty Caramel Swirl

Ben Jerry s Nutty Caramel Swirl

As you can guess, since this flavor has nougat ice cream, peanuts, fudge flakes, and a salted caramel swirl, Nutty Caramel Swirl honors the iconic Snickers bar.

But it’s not a new variety. It made its debut back in 2013 as a 7-Eleven exclusive. We reviewed it back then, and you can read that review by clicking here. If you want an updated version, please read on.

Packed with peanuts, Nutty Caramel Swirl satisfies. Okay, not as much as an actual Snickers, but this flavor does a good job at paying homage to the candy bar. First off, that nougat-flavored base is spot on. If you want cold nougat in your mouth, you could freeze/refrigerate a Snickers or Milky Way bar, or you could buy a scoop of this ice cream.

Ben Jerry s Nutty Caramel Swirl Top

The caramel added a gooey texture and a buttery and salty flavor. The peanuts were everywhere in the pint. It was as if Marcellus Gilmore Edson’s lab was in it. The legumes don’t have the same crunch as peanuts in a Snickers bar; they were slightly dull, which was a bummer.

As for the fudge flakes, they were the least impressive component. They didn’t make themselves known too often. With every spoonful, I thought to myself that it could’ve used a little more chocolate flavor to capture the spirit of a Snickers. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I feel as if it could’ve been better.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 scoop/85 grams) 230 calories, 13 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber 19 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Toffee Break

Ben Jerry s Toffee Break

If you want my recommendation for which of the three flavors you should try, which you might since this is a review site, go with Toffee Break.

When I first tried this and started jotting down my thoughts, that was my opening sentence. It’s now crossed out because after eating a second scoop (and a third), I don’t believe it anymore.

Toffee Break features buttery brown sugar ice cream with almond brittle and a toffee caramel swirl. It tries to capture a Heath Bar in ice cream form. What got me loving this at first was the combination of the buttery flavors with almond peeking out every so often and the super crunch of the brittle. But after dipping my spoon into the pint for a second time, those flavors didn’t seem to pop as much as they did when I first dug into it.

Ben Jerry s Toffee Break Top

When that happened, I thought maybe it’s not the ice cream. Instead, it’s me. So I rinsed my mouth with water and scraped off whatever build up there was on my tongue. But I still couldn’t recreate the euphoria I had when I initially dug into this flavor.

The buttery brown sugar base tastes more like vanilla, while the caramel still brings the butteriness, but it’s not as intense as before. At times, spoonfuls with just the base and swirl remind me of birthday cake. The almond is still there whenever I bite into a piece of brittle, which has a jaw-shaking crunch that’ll appeal to ice chewers and helps those spoonfuls that have it taste somewhat like a Heath Bar.

Toffee Break is a fine ice cream, but it doesn’t stand out among the other two.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 scoop/85 grams) 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 135 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Caramel Crisp

Ben Jerry s Caramel Crisp

Finally, we have Caramel Crisp, a flavor that has milk chocolate and caramel ice creams with mini caramel-filled cups and crispy bits. The combination makes it sound as if the pint honors Nestle’s 100 Grand Bar, one of my favorite candy bars.

Like a 100 Grand Bar, my pint was loaded with crispy bits. Unless you have extreme precision with a spoon, there’s no way to NOT get at least one in a spoonful. They provide a crunch that’s slightly better than Rice Krispies. Although, I did get my pint within days of coming out of the factory, so that might contribute to their freshness.

Ben Jerry s Caramel Crisp Top

While it’s hard to miss the crispy mix-in, there weren’t a lot of the caramel-filled cups in my pint. It took a lot of digging before I got my first one. It’s an issue because the gooey caramel inside each chocolatey cup is the key to making the flavor similar to my favorite candy bar. The caramel ice cream doesn’t do that for me. When I’m able to get all the ingredients together on one spoon, it’s grand.

There’s a part of me that wishes this came with a caramel swirl instead so that there’s an even distribution of the buttery confection, but I understand why it might not have one since the other two varieties do. So if you do try this flavor at a Scoop Shop, be THAT customer who asks for a scoop that has a lot of caramel cups.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 scoop/85 grams) 230 calories, 13 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 45 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

I know it might seem like I’m a little down on these, but I really enjoyed all three flavors. They all do a decent to good job at emulating the flavors of their respective candy bars. Which one you choose should really come down to which candy bar you prefer — Snickers, Heath, or 100 Grand.

Are these flavors worth the trip to a Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop?

Well, it’s getting warmer, which means you’re getting warmer, and ice cream is cold, so eating ice cream will make you less warm. That’s physics or thermodynamics or both. I don’t know. I barely passed every science class I took. But if you’re looking for a sweet treat to help you beat the heat for a brief moment, any of these three would be fine.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free sample of each flavor from Ben & Jerry’s (Thanks, Ben and Jerry). Doing so did not influence my review in any way.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Red, White & Blueberry and Ice Cream Sammie

Meghan 9 Comments

Ben Jerry s Red White Blueberry and Ice Cream Sammie

As spring winds down and electricity bills ramp up from air conditioning, grocery stores nationwide are busy curating their ice cream supplies to make room for this season’s newest releases.

Walmart is no exception, and it’s entirely appropriate that it, as the most distinctly “American” superstore, be the exclusive distributor of Ben & Jerry’s two newest pints celebrating summer in the USA.

Red, White & Blueberry

This Old Glory-themed pint blends pieces of shortbread cookies with raspberry, blueberry, and vanilla ice creams. Colorful name aside, this appears woefully pale under the lid, and its taste is similarly one-note.

Ben Jerry s Red White Blueberry

Rather than enhancing the more interesting blueberry and raspberry ice cream swirls, the intense vanilla base comprised roughly 70% of this pint’s volume, and almost entirely masked every unique component promised in this flavor’s description.

Granted, Ben & Jerry’s makes an excellent vanilla ice cream (so excellent, in fact, that Delish.com declared it to be the best vanilla ice cream you can buy in stores), but nobody is buying this Walmart-exclusive because they want something so…vanilla.

Blueberry is a woefully underrepresented flavor in the frozen dessert aisle, and I was hoping for this to be its moment to break out into the limelight. Sadly, the only blueberries I found were in the swirl’s light purple color. Somehow, the raspberry ice cream was even more indecipherable. I didn’t see a single trace of pink or red in my entire container.

Even the shortbread pieces seemed uninspired. Although not entirely terrible, they were soggy, lacked any notion of creativity, and didn’t seem up to par with Ben & Jerry’s usual “everything plus the kitchen sink” attitude.

Ice Cream Sammie

Supposedly a more expensive and less portable spin on the classic childhood treat, Ice Cream Sammie combines chocolate sandwich cookies and chocolate cookie swirls into a base of rich vanilla ice cream.

Ben Jerry s Ice Cream Sammie

Like Red, White & Blueberry, this flavor also failed to live up to my expectations. Unlike its sister pint, however, the issue here isn’t from lack of flavor. Rather, the true nature of this pint is misrepresented by its name. The cookies used here are basically Oreo-like, not true ice cream sandwich wafers. That difference may seem minor, but the impact it has on how this ice cream comes across is enormous.

Rather than reminding me of actual ice cream sandwiches, this is more like Cookies ‘N Cream on steroids. Is it a good version of Cookies ‘N Cream? Yes, absolutely! (And if you’re into Cookies ‘N Cream, then this is something for you to pick up on your next trip to Wally World). But is it like those unmeltable ice cream sandwiches I loved so much as a kid? Not even close.

Although those in search of the ultimate Cookies ‘N Cream may dig Ice Cream Sammie, both of these Walmart-exclusives were way off the mark for me. With so many other delicious options from Ben & Jerry’s, I’d recommend sticking to your usual favorites during your next ice cream run.

Purchased Price: $3.48 each
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 4 out of 10 (Red, White & Blueberry)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Ice Cream Sammie)
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) Red, White & Blueberry – 220 calories, 120 calories from fat, 13 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 19 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein. Ice Cream Sammie – 290 calories, 150 calories from fat, 17 grams of total fat, 8 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 150 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of total carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 24 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein.