Ice Cream – Page 37 – The Impulsive Buy

REVIEW: Twix Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Bars

Rachel / March 21, 2019 / Reviews / 3 Comments

What is the Twix Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Bar?

Depending on how you choose to see it, these are either a new twixt (get it?) on the existing Twix ice cream bars or a meltable version of the Twix Triple Chocolate candy bar. The chocolate shell remains the same as the original ice cream bar, but the vanilla ice cream and cookie bits are now chocolate. The filling is not the chocolate caramel of the candy bar, but the same gooey caramel of the O.G. ice cream bar.

How is it?

I was a tiny bit disappointed that neither iteration of the Twix ice cream bar maintains the classic Twix cookie-on-the-bottom construction. It’s what makes a Twix a Twix. But I didn’t linger long on this because I was won over by its taste on the first bite.

These were straight up delicious, and the experience was more than the sum of its parts. The fluffy ice cream had a strong hot cocoa essence, which was unexpected in a cold item. The cookie bits brought a nice crunch and a darker chocolate. The coating, while a standard milk chocolate, brought us to three different chocolate profiles, which I loved. The caramel filling wasn’t anything special but was tasty and a little on the thin side, which works well with ice cream.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Whatever you do, do not peel off the top layer of chocolate coating. The visual of these bars naked is something out of an HR Giger nightmare. I’m pretty sure those cookie balls are hatching in my belly right now…

Yeesh.

Conclusion:

Do not wait for sunburn season to find these. Chocolate fans, Twix fans, Alien fans – they’re well worth a try. They might be my go-to summer treat. Just don’t look under the hood.

Purchased Price: $4.29
Size: 11 oz. box / 6 bars
Purchased at: ShopRite
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bar) 160 calories, 9 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 50 milligrams of sodium, 18 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 grams of fiber, 15 grams of total sugars, 13 grams of added sugars and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Haagen-Dazs Spirits Collection Ice Cream (U.S.)

Meghan / March 20, 2019 / Reviews / 9 Comments

Judging from the length of their corresponding aisles at the grocery store, it’s no secret that Americans love alcohol and ice cream. Despite this, mergers between the two seem rare with mainstream brands.

Befitting of the most drunken-sounding ice cream brand, Haagen-Dazs has risen to fill this void of boozy frozen desserts with the release of its new Spirits Collection. Each pint features a different variety of popular liquor, paired alongside indulgent mix-ins, and Haagen-Dazs’ famously rich ice cream.

Bourbon Vanilla Bean Truffle

Perhaps the most basic of the bunch, this offering blends classic vanilla ice cream with miniature chocolate truffles and a spicy bourbon swirl.

Although that description may sound unexciting when compared to this line’s other offerings, this flavor goes to show that ice cream doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. With a dense, sweet, vanilla bean-flecked base, I found it easy to appreciate this variety’s superb consistency and mouthfeel, and the tiny truffles dotted throughout helped to provide intermittent bursts of crunch and texture.

Rather than finding distinct ribbons of bourbon swirled throughout, I tasted hints of booze in each spoonful and found the alcohol’s slight edge helped to make this flavor seem like an “adult’s only” version of vanilla bean ice cream.

Purchased Price: $4.39
Purchased at: Food Lion
Size: 14 fl. oz.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 340 calories, 20 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 34 grams of total sugars, 29 grams of added sugars, and 4 grams of protein.

Rum Tres Leches

This flavor swirls a trio of south-of-the-border indulgences — generous chunks of tres leches, dulce de leche, and a rum-infused base.

Don’t speak Spanish? Then I’ll translate for you – this is a white rum ice cream with chunks of cake soaked in sweetened condensed milk and ribbons of gooey caramel sauce. And, yes, it’s as tooth-achingly sweet as it sounds.

Although I like each component individually, they’re too much when together. The alcohol, although detectable, is much more muted than in the Bourbon Vanilla Truffle, and the milk-soaked cake pieces were surprisingly dry and stale. Rather than buying this, I’d recommend heading down to your local Mexican restauranté and drinking a mojito or two alongside a slice of traditionally prepared Tres Leches.

Purchased Price: $4.39
Purchased at: Food Lion
Size: 14 fl. oz.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 360 calories, 21 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 35 grams of total sugars, 25 grams of added sugars, and 5 grams of protein.

Irish Cream Brownie

Voyaging across the Atlantic, this St. Patrick’s Day-approved variety utilizes an Irish cream-flavored base, brownie chunks, and a fudge swirl.

Calling the brownie bits “chunks” is being pretty generous, though, because I got very few fully intact pieces in my pint. Instead, most were obliterated in a brownie crumb explosion that masked whatever pitiful amount of fudge swirl Haagen-Dazs managed to get into this flavor.

I didn’t think the Irish Cream base was anything special, either. It tasted good – all Haagen-Dazs tastes good – but I would have been just as happy to pour some Baileys on top of a scoop of its vanilla ice cream.

Purchased Price: $4.39
?Purchased at: Food Lion
Size: 14 fl. oz.
Rating: 6 out of 10
?Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 360 calories, 21 grams of total fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 25 grams of added sugars, and 5 grams of protein.

Stout Chocolate Pretzel Crunch

Also drawing inspiration from Ireland, this pub-grub-styled dessert features stout-infused chocolate ice cream mixed with chocolate covered pretzels and a fudge swirl.

Similar to the previous flavor, this variety also suffered from having a less than impressive fudge swirl. Even so, I didn’t find myself missing the swirl’s added richness as much here, because I thought the chocolate stout base was plenty satisfying by itself. Although I had initially been concerned about its boozy infusion being covered up by cocoa, my concerns were unjustified, as the two flavors work to complement one another well.

The chocolate covered pretzels were similarly well-executed. I find that most pretzels tend to get soggy in ice cream, but these were pleasantly crunchy and added a needed pop of salt that helped to break through the dessert’s richness.

Purchased Price: $4.39
Purchased at: Food Lion
Size: 14 fl. oz.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) 360 calories, 19 grams of total fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of total carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 32 grams of total sugars, 27 grams of added sugars, and 6 grams of protein.

Conclusion:

Although each of these flavors has minor flaws, Haagen-Dazs is definitely on the right track by expanding its library of desserts to include its Spirits Collection. I only hope other brands will follow its lead because booze-infused ice cream is a trend that I can get behind!

Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream

REVIEW: Toy Story 4 Carnival Churro Cravings Ice Cream

Denis / March 4, 2019 / Reviews / 1 Comment

What is Toy Story 4 Carnival Churro Cravings Ice Cream?

One of two new flavors (Chocolate Peanut Butter Midway Mash-Up is the other) released by Edy’s/Dreyer’s in advance of Toy Story 4, which presumably includes a plot featuring a carnival with a midway and a couple of oh-so-cute stuffed animal prizes featured on the package. According to Wikipedia, my sole source of sometimes accurate information, the two new characters are Ducky and Bunny, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. (Wikipedia didn’t specify which was which, and I didn’t think it would affect how the ice cream tasted, so I moved on).

How is it?

Quite good, especially considering it’s a light ice cream. It has a surprisingly rich and creamy taste and a more complex flavor than your run-of-the-mill cinnamon ice cream. However, I suspect the particular tub I purchased might have been produced when the quality control manager was taking a potty break, as it seemed pretty light on churro pieces and despite some furious digging I could barely locate the graham cracker swirl promised on the label.

Even taking into account that the photo on the package rarely matches what’s inside, the lack of churro and swirl was a minor letdown. But the churro pieces I did manage to find added a nice texture and extra flavor, and there is definitely a hint of graham cracker, so overall this is a winner.

Is there anything else you need to know?

The movie is not set to be released until June 21, so this product debut seems a bit premature. The good news is that it should be available at least through the end of summer. Also, I learned from the package that it’s “Great for birthdays!” Wow, thanks for the tip, otherwise I might have picked up some frozen broccoli for my next birthday blowout.

Conclusion:

Even with a possible churro and graham cracker swirl shortage, this ranks high for me as a solid choice. And bonus points for it being a light ice cream with 1/2 the fat and 1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream. I was never good at fractions, but I think that means you can eat ten times as much.

I’m also tempted to sneak this into a movie theater this summer, especially since my local megaplex also serves warm churros, and that would make an incredible, albeit messy and probably short-lived, utensil to deliver the ice cream to my hungry mouth.

Purchased Price: $3.98
Size: 1.5 quarts
Purchased at: H-E-B
Rating: 8 out of 10 (possibly higher with some more freakin’ graham cracker swirl)
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup serving) 160 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 18 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

Dreyer's/Edy's Ice Cream

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

Marvo / February 19, 2019 / Reviews / 4 Comments

If you’ve been following Ben & Jerry’s over the past few years, you know the brand has come out with a line of Core pints that feature a sweet middle that in the past has included cookies, cheesecake, caramel, and whatever Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Gurus dream during REM sleep (Of course, REM meaning Ruminating on Edible Middles). This time, though, it’s cookie dough.

The line features three varieties — Chocolate Chip, Sweet Like Sugar, and Wake & “No Bake” — and they all have a cookie dough core running through the middle of each pint. But here’s the thing about these, they sound exciting, but they’re very similar to other flavors. Ben & Jerry’s has basically Core-ified its core (totally intended) varieties.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

If anyone knows how to make completely safe edible cookie dough, it’s Ben & Jerry’s.

Its classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor that features vanilla ice cream with gobs of cookie dough has been around for decades. All that experience, I imagine, has helped with the development of the new Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream.

The pint has cookie milk ice cream with fudge chips and a chocolate chip cookie dough core. After trying it, it’s hard not to think of this as kind of like a reboot to the Ben & Jerry’s classic because the difference in taste between the two is so slight.

The cookie milk base seems to have a bit of the brown sugar that the cookie dough has, but I have to really think about it to notice it. If eaters don’t look at the label, they may assume it’s vanilla.

There’s more of a chocolatey presence because of the fudge chips, which, thankfully, are smaller than fudge flakes. Because they’re smaller pieces, there are more throughout the pint, which ensures that you’ll get a little bit in every spoonful.

As for the cookie dough, I want to say it’s slightly different from what’s in the classic in that it has a stronger brown sugar flavor and it tastes as if there’s a little maltiness. Its texture is the same sugar gritty feel as the gobs in the classic, which I love chewing on.

Bottom line with this variety is that if you love Ben & Jerry’s classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, then you’ll most definitely enjoy this.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 290 calories, 18 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 25 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Sweet Like Sugar Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

This features sweet cream ice cream with a hint of almond flavor, shortbread cookies, cherry ice cream with cherries, and a sugar cookie dough core.

From the first spoonful, I’ve wanted to call this by another name, Cherry Garcia Dressed Up as Santa Claus. But I don’t think any graphic designer could legibly fit that on the front of a pint-sized ice cream container. My logic for the name is this: It has a lot of the same flavor as Cherry Garcia (mainly the cherry), but both ice creams are light in color like Santa’s beard and sugar cookies are what you leave out for Santa.

The cherry base and cherries are going to remind you of Cherry Garcia, minus the fudge flakes, which I don’t miss here. The other base is sweet cream with a hint of almond, but “hint” is a little modest. Eating the ice cream and its mix-in, the shortbread cookies, tastes like I’m eating Chinese almond cookies and it’s wonderful.

Haven’t you had Chinese almonds cookies? Find some, they’re wonderful!

Combining the almond with the cherry makes it divine. Cherry is the driving flavor, but at times I thought the combination tasted like pistachio. But no matter how I scooped it, I loved it. Although my love for Cherry Garcia, probably plays a major role in how I feel.

If I didn’t have to stop to type out my thoughts, I think I might’ve eaten half a pint in record time. You can see my lack of willpower with this in the photo above. Notice how far I’ve dug into it before taking a photo. Now look at the other pics. I didn’t dig very far into those.

As for the sugar cookie dough core, it doesn’t play a prominent role in terms of flavor. It has that wonderful sugar grittiness like the other cookie dough, but its taste is kind of plain compared with the chocolate chip one.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 270 calories, 16 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

Wake & “No Bake” Cookie Dough Core Ice Cream

So if the first pint was like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the second pint was like Cherry Garcia, then the third must also be like another. And, it is, Sherlock. It reminds me of Peanut Butter Half Baked, which had chocolate and peanut butter ice cream mixed with gobs of peanut butter cookie dough and fudge brownies.

Wake & “No Bake” features vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cookies, peanut butter ice cream with fudge chips, and a no bake cookie dough core.

You may think, due to its color, that the core will bring a chocolatey-ness. It does, but it’s also noticeably nutty and salty. I don’t know if that’s because the peanut butter ingredients somewhat permeated into it, but it shifts the flavor of the pint more into a nutty direction. Also, I’m not going to test this scientifically, but the core feels grittier than the other two, which I liked.

The fudge chips weren’t too plentiful in my pint, so that could also explain why it leaned more toward peanut butter. The vanilla base also helps prevents it from becoming too peanut butter-heavy.

While this has the best name out of the three, because I do love them Ben & Jerry’s pint names that are also weed references, it’s my least favorite of the three. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great flavor if you like peanut butter, but don’t want to be smacked in the face with it. I found it easy to control myself around this pint, unlike the other two, which I had to force myself to put back in the freezer.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Ben & Jerry’s
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 290 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

Other Things

Don’t think of the cookie dough as this spreadable. I mean, if you let it thaw enough, it might be spreadable, but, at the same time, your ice cream will also be liquid.
Even though they’re new and wonderful, the flavors are too familiar.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free samples from Ben & Jerry’s. Doing so did not influence my review in any way. Although I know with 7, 8, and 9 ratings, it reads like it, but I assure you it did not.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

QUICK REVIEW: Bubbies Chocolate Egg Nog and Peppermint Candy Mochi Ice Cream

Marvo / December 20, 2018 / Reviews

What are Bubbies Chocolate Egg Nog and Peppermint Candy Mochi Ice Cream?

If you’re not familiar with mochi ice cream, it’s ice cream inside mochi, which is a chewy Japanese rice dough. I know “rice dough” might not seem delicious, but I assure you, the ice cream stands out and the mochi’s texture is a wonderful contrast to the creamy ice cream. One of the first companies to offer mochi ice cream, Bubbies, has two holiday flavors — Chocolate Egg Nog and Peppermint Candy.

How are they?

Let’s start with the egg nog one because it’s the one I dream about when I close my eyes. It tastes like the holiday beverage in frozen treat form. While the nog spices excite my taste buds, the chocolate mochi exterior doesn’t come into play because the flavor of the ice cream is so rich and strong. But despite that, I adore these.

Peppermint Candy, on the other hand, doesn’t appear in my dreams, but the flavor is spot on. The level of mint is not intense. It’s slightly more sweet than minty, which is just like actually peppermint candy. The mochi exterior with this one also doesn’t play a significant role with the flavor. I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t make me want to go all mochi ice cream monster on the entire pack, like the other one does.

Is there anything else I need to know?

There are only six of them in each box, which go for about $5-$6 per box. And each one is about two inches in diameter and weigh 1.25 ounces. So if you do the math, it’s pricey for the amount of ice cream you get.

Also, while Bubbies is a company based in Hawaii, its mochi ice cream is available across the country. You can find them at Whole Foods and other grocers.

Conclusion:

Bubbies’ Chocolate Egg Nog and Peppermint Candy Mochi Ice Cream are great, but as you can tell from what I’ve written, I love the Chocolate Egg Nog way more because, full disclosure, I’m an egg nog hog.

DISCLOSURE: I received free samples from Bubbies, but doing so didn’t influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 7.5 oz. box
Purchased at: Received from Bubbies
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Chocolate Egg Nog)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Peppermint Candy)
Nutrition Facts: (1 piece) Chocolate Egg Nog – 90 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 10 milligrams of sodium, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein. Peppermint Candy – 90 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 10 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein.

Ice Cream