Tag: Turkey Hill

REVIEW: Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert

Sean 22 Comments

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Tub

Mystery flavor Doritos in plain silver bags marked only with test numbers. Mystery flavor Mtn Dew VooDEW that creeps around for Halloween. That one time Oreo made a mystery flavor that turned out to be Fruity Pebbles with a chocolate cookie. These are some of the many notable mysteries in junk food history, and to kick off the new year, we have a game-changing mystery on our hands — mystery ice cream.

Never, in all my years of scooping, have I heard of a mystery flavor ice cream. For 2022, Turkey Hill invites customers to grab this 48-ounce container of its finest frozen dairy dessert, scan the QR code (or visit www.turkeyhill.com/mysteryflavor), and try their hand at solving the creamy puzzle for a chance to win free Turkey Hill ice cream for life. If you want to go down this rabbit hole yourself, it’s time to turn away because detective Sean has arrived, and it’s spoiler season.

Technically this isn’t ice cream. Due to its lower milk fat content, it’s considered frozen dairy dessert, but I’ll refer to it as ice cream in this review because that’s how most people view it. Since it’s lower fat and far lighter than anything with any premium tag attached, the texture is a bit airy and fluffy. Although fluffed out, it has a decently lush mouthfeel, with a smooth creaminess that intensifies the more it tempers. Sometimes frozen dairy desserts have a wateriness and lack any depth of flavor, but that’s not the case here, and I’m pleasantly surprised.

So what IS the flavor?

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Top

It’s a bit of a letdown. It’s a white base with a blueberry swirl, and that’s it. When I say “white base,” I mean that it’s kind of hard to nail down because it’s not jumping out with anything notable. Again, it has a pretty decent mouthfeel that reminds me of something richer than it is, like cream cheese or even cheesecake, but it isn’t too tangy. It’s also not floral like a proper vanilla bean, so the base flavor lacks character beyond its surprising texture.

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Top 2

The swirl is just okay. Slightly tart with a fruit-meets-candy blueberry taste that reminds me a bit of Pop-Tarts without going fully processed. My issue with the swirl isn’t in the taste though, it’s in the quantity and texture. There isn’t nearly enough of it, both in terms of density and actual thickness, to bring any real textural character to the decent but un-exciting base. There are some denser pockets towards the middle of the container, but in those thicker slabs, a more noticeable iciness comes through, a common problem with fruity swirls that take away from the smoothness.

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Middle

So the answer to the mystery is — blueberry? Maybe blueberry cheesecake? Blueberries and cream? Having only one swirl is a massive missed opportunity from Turkey Hill to make something more complex and fun. Add in a graham cracker swirl and a slightly more complex base and this could be a fantastic low cal Blueberry Cheesecake. Amplify the vanilla and add in a regular crust or streusel swirl and it’s an excellent Blueberry Pie a La Mode. But as it stands? It’s a really fun idea that falls flat to deliver on the excitement it promised via the cool and mysterious magnifying glass on the carton.

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Scoop

Update 3/16/22: The mystery has been revealed. Turkey Hill announced that the mystery flavor is…Blueberry Pancake.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from Turkey Hill. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 48 ounces
Purchased at: Received from Turkey Hill
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup, 90g) 150 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 21 grams of total sugars, and 3 grams of protein.

QUICK REVIEW: Turkey Hill Caramel Peanut Butter Gelato Swirls

Marvo

Turkey Hill Caramel Peanut Butter Gelato Swirls

I’ve had caramel swirls in ice cream. I’ve had peanut butter swirls in ice cream. But I’ve never had a caramel AND peanut butter swirl.

Thank goodness crossing the swirls is not like crossing proton pack energy streams which would cause all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light because if it was I’d be gone thanks to Turkey Hill’s Caramel Peanut Butter Gelato Swirls.

According to the ingredients, the peanut butter caramel swirl contains actual peanut butter, but it’s what makes the swirl taste a bit odd. The nicest way I can explain its flavor is to say it tastes like a cheap artificial peanut butter-flavored candy, and the caramel’s sweetness seems to amplify the peanut butter’s odd flavor.

As for the base gelato, I’m not sure what flavor it is and whatever it is it’s not very strong. It looks like vanilla, but it tastes more like a nondescript sweet flavor. Even though I’m not a fan of the swirl, there are enough of them at almost every level in the container to give the nondescript sweet base a bit more flavor.

Turkey Hill Caramel Peanut Butter Gelato Swirls 2

As for the gelato’s texture, it has a consistency too similar to frozen dairy dessert. Sure, that makes it easy to scoop, but when I think of gelato, I think premium and this doesn’t have a premium vibe to it.

Turkey Hill’s Caramel Peanut Butter Gelato Swirls is not horrible. I’ll eat it before freezer burns sets in, but its swirl is something that makes me not want to purchase another quart.

Disclosure: I received this quart for free from Turkey Hill. Receiving it for free did not influence the review, which you probably knew already since this wasn’t a positive review.

Purchased Price: FREE (received from Turkey Hill)
Size: 1 quart
Purchased at: N/A
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1/2 cup) 180 calories, 50 calories from fat, 6 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 100 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 19 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Turkey Hill Seasonal Favorite Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Ice Cream

Adam 4 Comments

Turkey Hill Seasonal Favorite Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Ice Cream

Let’s talk regional delicacies, shall we? Like Black and White cookies from New York City, frozen custard from the Midwest, and San Francisco’s It’s-It ice cream sandwich, there’s an air of mystery and exotic appeal to sweet potato pecan pie for all of us not living in the Southeast.

Sweet potatoes, in pie? Oh my, how wonderfully rustic and old-fashioned. And pecans! Why, if there was ever a pie worthy enough to make into an ice cream flavor (after this one, this one, and obviously this one) it would be sweet potato pecan pie!

Okay, so the pie thing in ice cream has perhaps lost some of its avant-garde appeal, but while pumpkin pie has gotten the full treatment from most commercial ice cream makers, this is the first mass-produced take on a sweet potato flavor to my knowledge. Vegetables in ice cream usually go together like pizza and Twinkies, but add enough cream and brown sugar to anything—not to mention pecans—and you’ve got something thoroughly in the realm of dessert.

I’m not quite sure what to expect as I open the container. Will it be an unnatural Garfield the Cat orange? Will there be skins from the sweet potatoes? Will the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” spontaneously start playing, serenading me to the virtues of other southern staples like sweet tea and homemade wine?

Here are the answers to those questions; no, no, and yes, although in the case of the last one, that’s because I had Pandora on in the background to set the mood. And yes, I set the mood before eating ice cream.

Turkey Hill Seasonal Favorite Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Ice Cream Closeup

The color is a slightly darker version of vanilla, with a pleasant and not overpowering aroma of all the usual fall spices. I try to forget it’s May for a moment and dig in, immediately discovering that a viscous and plentiful pecan swirl runs its way throughout the base. However, there don’t appear to be any pecans. This shatters my only previous conceptions of sweet potato pecan pie, as gleaned from one to many hours gawking at Pinterest.

Obviously, the romantic in me covets plump and crunchy nuts in my ice cream. The actual person in me, though, laughs hysterically at “plump and crunchy nuts.” That person also recently ate pistachio ice cream with plump and crunchy nuts, and remembers it being totally “meh.” Truth be told, whole nuts in ice cream tend to have a raw and somewhat bitter flavor, and I’m thankful for being saved the overly gritty texture which can often ruin an ice cream’s base. By adding the pecans and an invert sugar swirl, this problem is avoided completely, creating a smooth and sweet textural component to compliment the base’s natural creamery fresh taste.

The flavor itself is brown sugar-cinnamon-caramel-sweet cream-pecan, then kinda pumpkiny, and exactly in that order. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of walking around New Orleans while sober with the sole intention of trying every free sample of pralines imaginable (what, doesn’t everyone?) you’ll recognize it tastes exactly like one of the sweet potato pralines offered by any of the numerous vendors. Take my word for it; this is an enjoyable taste, and one which you will come back for repeatedly.

Turkey Hill Seasonal Favorite Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Ice Cream Cone

Clearly, I’m impressed. The flavor is more nuanced than Turkey Hill’s graham cracker-infused pumpkin pie flavor, and it’s got a deeper, richer praline effect than your standard cinnamon ice creams. My one complaint is that the sweet potato flavor could use more development. I say this with some trepidation (do I really want to taste the vegetableness of a sweet potato in ice cream?) but knowing how well the brown sugar and cinnamon sweetness works, a little extra sweet potato flavor could go a long way.

Turkey Hill’s Sweet Potato Pecan Pie is a great addition to what’s become a solid lineup of limited edition seasonal flavors, although calling it “seasonal” for May is more of a stretch than marketing the ice cream as a way to sneak vegetables into your diet would be. While the sweet potato flavor is restrained, the brown sugar and praline effect comes through in full force amidst the creamy base, and makes for a new and creative take on a southern specialty.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein, 6% calcium.)

Item: Turkey Hill Seasonal Favorite Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Ice Cream
Purchased Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Size: 1.5 quarts
Purchased at: Giant
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Excellent brown sugar-cinnamon and sweet cream flavor. Notes of caramel. Smooth pecan swirl provides pecan flavor without raw nut grit. Doesn’t taste like a vegetable flavored ice cream.
Cons: Could use a more pronounced sweet potato flavor. Base isn’t super premium or rich. Does not have the health benefits of an actual vegetable.