Apologies for the delays in posts: J has been out of town since Saturday (but will return soon) and B has been feeling under the weather, so it's been hard to fit any ice cream into the mix. Never fear, reviews will be upcoming!
What's on the schedule: Three flavours of Haagen Dazs, a review of a local confectionery that makes their own ice cream on site, The Udder Guy's Roasted Coconut flavour, and Hedgehog ice cream by Purdy's.
Stay tuned!
B
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Review: Chapman's "Hokey Pokey" Ice Cream
First off, we'd like to give a big shout out to Dubba from On Second Scoop - thanks to him linking our blog in one of his posts, we got a huge influx of traffic, and this blog has now been viewed by people in seven different countries! Wow, talk about the power of networking! If you are unfamiliar with his blog, go check it out, it's great!
On to today's review of Chapman's "Hokey Pokey", one of their premium label ice creams, and if you're wondering what the name could possibly mean, Chapman's describes it as "toffee ice cream with chocolatey covered sponge toffee pieces and a milk chocolate ribbon." But will the flavour have us wanting to do the dance of the same name? Well that remains to be seen...
OK, so upon opening this guy up, it looks pretty unimpressive. We can see a lot of toffee ice cream, approximately three little chocolatey covered (insert obligatory comment about how it's not real chocolate here) sponge toffee pieces, and the beginnings of that milk chocolate swirl. Doesn't look promising, but I think we have learned that the top layer can be deceiving.
Alright, that's what I'm talkin' about! Much better distribution further down! I appreciate that the milk chocolate swirl seems to be mostly in the middle, because if you don't like it all that much, you have the option of eating around it. Probably won't give you the best idea of what Hokey Pokey is all about (OK, I swear, I'm almost done on the awful hokey pokey references...), but it's nice to have that flexibility.
Once we dug in and started to eat this ice cream, it became clear what Hokey Pokey is all about: sponge toffee. It says "toffee" flavoured ice cream on the label, but that's a pretty broad flavour. I mean you could have butter toffee, English toffee, molasses toffee... But this flavour is unmistakeably the rich caramelized sugar taste of sponge toffee. I remember actually exclaiming "Dude, this tastes like sponge toffee!" in excitement before I remembered that that was the whole idea. The texture of the ice cream is creamy, and very soft, which seems to be a trend among Chapman's products.
The picture on the bucket is a bit misleading in terms of the chocolatey covered sponge toffee pieces. In the photo they appear to be mostly sponge toffee, whereas in the actual ice cream they are overwhelmingly chocolatey coating. OK, let's be fair, it was inconsistent. But typically if you were getting a larger piece, it was because there was more chocolatey coating, not because you'd be getting more sponge toffee. To give an idea of how big the average piece of toffee was, here is a (very blurry) penny comparison.
The milk chocolate swirl is very, very sweet. Both J and I sampled this ice cream numerous times before this review was written (because it's a 2L bucket, and we can only eat so fast!), and each time we had a slightly different opinion. And each time, that opinion correlated with how sweet we thought this product was. When you don't get a ton of swirl in your serving, you get the nice flavour of the ice cream with the occasional crunch of the chocolatey covered toffee bits, and the sugar is manageable. When you get a lot of swirl, this stuff is a diabetes in a cup. Neither of us have a huge sweet tooth, but we can still appreciate fairly sweet things. Depending on the ice cream-to-swirl ratio you receive, Hokey Pokey can be complete sugar overkill.
On our last sampling, J and I were ready to give this ice cream a total pass because of how sweet it was. But after finishing the last of it this morning (which had less of the swirl), I'm inclined to go easier on it. I don't know, maybe my taste buds are deader in the morning or something, but with mostly just the ice cream and sponge toffee bits, it wasn't half bad.
Recommend to a friend? If you like sponge toffee, definitely. If you're not sure, but you like to finish your sugary treats by entering into a diabetic coma, then also definitely. If you have a real sweet tooth, this ice cream will have you dancing the hokey pokey. Otherwise, it may not be your best bet.
Repurchase? J: No B: No, it was too much for us.
On to today's review of Chapman's "Hokey Pokey", one of their premium label ice creams, and if you're wondering what the name could possibly mean, Chapman's describes it as "toffee ice cream with chocolatey covered sponge toffee pieces and a milk chocolate ribbon." But will the flavour have us wanting to do the dance of the same name? Well that remains to be seen...
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| You put your right foot in... |
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| You take your right foot out... |
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| ...and you shake it all about! |
Once we dug in and started to eat this ice cream, it became clear what Hokey Pokey is all about: sponge toffee. It says "toffee" flavoured ice cream on the label, but that's a pretty broad flavour. I mean you could have butter toffee, English toffee, molasses toffee... But this flavour is unmistakeably the rich caramelized sugar taste of sponge toffee. I remember actually exclaiming "Dude, this tastes like sponge toffee!" in excitement before I remembered that that was the whole idea. The texture of the ice cream is creamy, and very soft, which seems to be a trend among Chapman's products.
The picture on the bucket is a bit misleading in terms of the chocolatey covered sponge toffee pieces. In the photo they appear to be mostly sponge toffee, whereas in the actual ice cream they are overwhelmingly chocolatey coating. OK, let's be fair, it was inconsistent. But typically if you were getting a larger piece, it was because there was more chocolatey coating, not because you'd be getting more sponge toffee. To give an idea of how big the average piece of toffee was, here is a (very blurry) penny comparison.
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| Picture-taking skills of FAIL |
The milk chocolate swirl is very, very sweet. Both J and I sampled this ice cream numerous times before this review was written (because it's a 2L bucket, and we can only eat so fast!), and each time we had a slightly different opinion. And each time, that opinion correlated with how sweet we thought this product was. When you don't get a ton of swirl in your serving, you get the nice flavour of the ice cream with the occasional crunch of the chocolatey covered toffee bits, and the sugar is manageable. When you get a lot of swirl, this stuff is a diabetes in a cup. Neither of us have a huge sweet tooth, but we can still appreciate fairly sweet things. Depending on the ice cream-to-swirl ratio you receive, Hokey Pokey can be complete sugar overkill.
On our last sampling, J and I were ready to give this ice cream a total pass because of how sweet it was. But after finishing the last of it this morning (which had less of the swirl), I'm inclined to go easier on it. I don't know, maybe my taste buds are deader in the morning or something, but with mostly just the ice cream and sponge toffee bits, it wasn't half bad.
Recommend to a friend? If you like sponge toffee, definitely. If you're not sure, but you like to finish your sugary treats by entering into a diabetic coma, then also definitely. If you have a real sweet tooth, this ice cream will have you dancing the hokey pokey. Otherwise, it may not be your best bet.
Repurchase? J: No B: No, it was too much for us.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Flavour Showdown: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Sometimes a classic flavour like vanilla, chocolate, or cookies n' creme is made by several different brands. If they're all similarly priced, how do you decide which to choose?
Thus the inspiration for tonight's Ultimate Flavour Showdown. Since I was already planning to attend a party tonight with a group of classmates, I decided to bring three variations on the flavour of chocolate chip cookie dough, made by Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, and Island Farms so my classmates could help me decide which brand truly captured the essence of cookie dough in ice cream form. As I went through the check-out at the grocery store, the man behind me, after I explained why I was buying so much ice cream, expressed his confidence that Ben & Jerry's would be the clear winner, with Breyers in second and Island Farms coming last. Was he correct?
Contestant Number One: Breyers
First up is the Breyers entry, one of their "family classics." The fact that it is called "chocolatey" chip, rather than using the word "chocolate" already tells me that it's fake chocolate, or at least doesn't have enough cocoa in it to be legally deemed chocolate. To be fair, I actually really like the taste of some fake chocolate, but it can also err on the side of horrible. Once you open it up, it's easy to scoop out, but the chocolatey pieces and cookie dough nuggets are small and extremely sparse. We had a hard time finding enough cookie dough pieces to ensure that everyone's sample actually had cookie dough in it! Not a good sign!
Contestant Number Two: Ben & Jerry's
Next we have Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. They have some other awesome-looking cookie-related flavours that I really wanted to try, but this was the fairest one for the sake of comparison. This guy had fairly substantial cookie dough pieces in it, but the real downside was that is was extremely hard to scoop any out! In retrospect, I could have left it out on the counter a bit longer, but I was feeling impatient. Trying to chisel your way through frozen-solid cookie dough is not fun!
Contestant Number Three: Island Farms
Finally we have the Island Farms version from their "Vanilla Plus" line, which was kind of middle of the road in terms of cookie dough distribution; certainly much more than Breyers anyway. Like Breyers, it was easy to scoop and had separate little nuggets of chocolate and cookie dough, rather than the Ben & Jerry's that had the chocolate chips actually mixed into the dough.
So who came out on top? We put a spoonful of each brand into plastic shot glasses on colour-coded plates, and asked the rest of the party guests to sample one from each plate, choose which they liked best, and describe what the ice cream was like. Let the fight commence!
After much sampling, considering, and discussion, we took a vote. Out of eleven people, not including myself, these were the results for which brand was liked best:
Breyers: 2 people
Ben & Jerry's: 5 people
Island Farms: 4 people
Though no one really hated any of the options, Breyers did not get a lot of fans, and the primary reason was the lack of mix-ins. For a cookie dough ice cream, there just wasn't enough cookie dough! Some people also felt it was "too creamy" in an unnatural sort of way.
Island Farms was close to Ben & Jerry's, and it may have been partly due to the smaller size of the cookie dough pieces, the fact that there were more of them, and the flavour and texture of the ice cream component. Personally, I found the cookie dough in this brand to be extremely gritty, and at some points I almost felt like I was chewing on sand.
I will have to agree with the majority and say that Ben & Jerry's, as the man at the check-out predicted, was the superior product in this comparison. Their cookie dough actually seemed like something you might feasibly be able to bake cookies out of, and even though it was a giant pain in the butt to try to scoop out, it had good flavour that didn't seem artificial, and the texture wasn't offensive.
At the check-out, all three worked out to be about $6.99 CAD, but since the Breyers and Island Farms flavours were on sale, the Ben & Jerry's did have a lower regular price. Yes, it's a much smaller container, but I think this taste test shows that it is worth the money.
-B
(if anyone who helped test has anything to add, please feel free!)
Thus the inspiration for tonight's Ultimate Flavour Showdown. Since I was already planning to attend a party tonight with a group of classmates, I decided to bring three variations on the flavour of chocolate chip cookie dough, made by Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, and Island Farms so my classmates could help me decide which brand truly captured the essence of cookie dough in ice cream form. As I went through the check-out at the grocery store, the man behind me, after I explained why I was buying so much ice cream, expressed his confidence that Ben & Jerry's would be the clear winner, with Breyers in second and Island Farms coming last. Was he correct?
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| Which ice cream will reign supreme? |
Contestant Number Two: Ben & Jerry's
Contestant Number Three: Island Farms
So who came out on top? We put a spoonful of each brand into plastic shot glasses on colour-coded plates, and asked the rest of the party guests to sample one from each plate, choose which they liked best, and describe what the ice cream was like. Let the fight commence!
 |
| Ice cream shots shots shot shots shots shots shots shots... |
Breyers: 2 people
Ben & Jerry's: 5 people
Island Farms: 4 people
Though no one really hated any of the options, Breyers did not get a lot of fans, and the primary reason was the lack of mix-ins. For a cookie dough ice cream, there just wasn't enough cookie dough! Some people also felt it was "too creamy" in an unnatural sort of way.
Island Farms was close to Ben & Jerry's, and it may have been partly due to the smaller size of the cookie dough pieces, the fact that there were more of them, and the flavour and texture of the ice cream component. Personally, I found the cookie dough in this brand to be extremely gritty, and at some points I almost felt like I was chewing on sand.
I will have to agree with the majority and say that Ben & Jerry's, as the man at the check-out predicted, was the superior product in this comparison. Their cookie dough actually seemed like something you might feasibly be able to bake cookies out of, and even though it was a giant pain in the butt to try to scoop out, it had good flavour that didn't seem artificial, and the texture wasn't offensive.
At the check-out, all three worked out to be about $6.99 CAD, but since the Breyers and Island Farms flavours were on sale, the Ben & Jerry's did have a lower regular price. Yes, it's a much smaller container, but I think this taste test shows that it is worth the money.
-B
(if anyone who helped test has anything to add, please feel free!)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Nanaimo: Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar
It's taken a while to get this review live (we're already 6 stamps into our frequent customer cards!), but since these guys were nice enough to let us take photos all over their establishment, we owe it to them to bump them up our queue a bit!
Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar is located in Nanaimo North Town Centre (formerly known as Rutherford Mall) right across from the London Drugs, which is actually kind of a shame because NNTC has a bit of a reputation as being a pretty "dead" mall. Hopefully this place, with the addition of some key anchor stores, can breathe some life back into the place.
Yorway is a frozen yogurt bar that has preset flavours of frozen yogurt in soft-serve machines and a selection of toppings to be added, unlike somewhere like Yogen Fruz where fruit is chosen by the consumer and mixed directly into the yogurt as it is being dispensed. B has previously visited Pinkberry (at its first and only Canadian location in West Vancouver), which also employs the flavoured yogurt +toppings method, and it was pretty bomb. However, Yorway gets the upper hand for one reason and one reason alone:
Self serve.
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| Three different machines that dispense six flavours at a time, with the middle handle in each dispensing a twist of the two flavours in that particular machine. |
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| Fresh fruit toppings and sauces |
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| Dry toppings like nuts, coconut, candy, and cereal. |
Since only six flavours can be available at one time, they are rotated. So far we have seen country vanilla, chocolate, new york cheesecake, original lemon tart (our favourite!), cookies n' cream, raspberry-pomegranate, peach-mango, and no-sugar-added strawberry-banana. We also saw green tea in their pre-packaged mini freezer, but not in the machines yet (maybe soon, please?). You dispense this into a cup or a cone (with the cone they provide a stand for weighing and subtract the weight of the stand from your total), and then add however many toppings you desire. As you are paying by weight, you are getting your money's worth, not wondering if maybe someone skimped on a standardized amount while you pay full price.
At our most recent trip, J decided to try out cookies n' cream (which had a weird grey colour, but an interesting chocolatey taste) with blueberries and oreo cookie pieces, while B had original lemon tart with a variety of fresh fruit (would have added shredded coconut to this too, but it was not available at the time). Both were pretty awesome.
When we asked the employee who was working there at the time we visited what they would want potential consumers to know about Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar, they said that one of the most important things people should know is how healthy the yogurt is. All the flavours are reportedly nonfat, and they well exceed the minimum requirements for active probiotic cultures. And we don't think this is BS either, because B (who is lactose intolerant) experiences a significantly reduced reaction to the dairy in this yogurt than she does with ice cream, which can most likely be attributed to the bacterial cultures that aid in digestion. More information on these cultures is located on the company's website.
In conclusion, we feel that Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar is a refreshing addition to Nanaimo North Town Centre, and if you can find a way to get yourself out there, you should try it at least once. Ha, as if you could resist going back for more...
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Review: President's Choice "Pumpkin Pie" Ice Cream
Sometimes we must make reconciliations in the name of progress. For example, my experience with Loblaws (the company that owns Superstore and Extra Foods) has not necessarily been positive, and I am hesitant to give them my money. However, even I have to admit that President's Choice products, their house brand, are usually pretty freakin' awesome, and that includes their ice cream. So I put my prejudice aside, and J and I went to Superstore to see if there was anything worth reviewing. We were certainly not disappointed.
Though we will have to return to sample some other President's Choice flavours, but we decided to start off with Pumpkin Pie ice cream, which is billed as "A seasonal favourite in ice cream form: luscious pumpkin pie filling with spiced graham cracker pieces – just like a pumpkin pie." Thanksgiving is (kind of) just around the corner, after all. Starbucks is rolling out the Pumpkin Spice lattes and everything! And heck, even if it wasn't, is there really a bad time for pumpkin pie? I mean, really?
Given our last reviewing experience, we were feeling a bit cynical about what might be in the ingredients of such a concoction. However, we were pleased to discover that nearly everything listed sounded like....well, food. Something you can read and go "Oh yea, I know what that is, and I would certainly let it within ten feet of my digestive system." When the ingredients of the "pumpkin pie base" of the ice cream portion read "brown sugar, pumpkin purée, water, modified corn starch, modified milk ingredients, natural colour, caramel colour, salt, cinnamon," this is certainly a strong start for this contender. Because honestly, it could be a heck of a lot worse.
This picture, we feel, is not entirely accurate in its portrayal of what colour this ice cream actually is. This sort of looks like a light caramel, whereas when we took off the lid and protective seal, the initial reaction was "Eeee, really?" It was orange. Which is fine, pumpkins are orange. Pumpkin pie is orange. But this was just a very odd-looking shade of orange, like almost peach-crayon, and for a moment I felt like maybe I needed to double-check the ingredients list. This picture also doesn't really give a good idea of how many spiced graham cracker pieces there were. Because there were a lot. I mean look!
But how does it taste, you ask? How can we put this into words...
It was absolutely freakin' amazing. Man, this stuff is what that Breyers Vanilla Baked Apple wants to be when it grows up. Everything Breyers did wrong when trying to emulate pie flavour, PC has done right.
The main star of the show in this ice cream is definitely the spiced graham cracker component. These guys are a great bite size (see below for scale), and are the main conveyers of spice. Both J and I were reminded strongly of speculaas cookies, as they were sweet but not too sweet and carried some very tasty spice flavours. They were also surprisingly crunchy, rather than having absorbed a ton of liquid from the ice cream.
As for the ice cream part, it was very creamy with just the right amount of sugar. However, it didn't really taste like pumpkin. Don't get me wrong, it was still totally awesome, but not distinctly pumpkin-y. Pumpkin is kind of a bland fruit (vegetable?) so I guess we can give them a pass on that. Although the ingredients for the pumpkin pie base that formed the overall flavour for the ice cream included things like cinnamon, we can't really say we tasted any spice in the actual ice cream. Which was fine, as we think balancing the spicy graham crackers with the cool, light flavour of the ice cream worked really well. However, if you come into this expecting the ice cream part to taste exactly like pumpkin pie filling, you will be disappointed.
OK fine, so this ice cream isn't perfect. And as far as actually tasting like pumpkin pie, it may not be spot on. But it is still totally, utterly, ridiculously delicious.
Recommend to a friend? Totally, utterly yes
Repurchase? J: Yes B: Absolutely
Though we will have to return to sample some other President's Choice flavours, but we decided to start off with Pumpkin Pie ice cream, which is billed as "A seasonal favourite in ice cream form: luscious pumpkin pie filling with spiced graham cracker pieces – just like a pumpkin pie." Thanksgiving is (kind of) just around the corner, after all. Starbucks is rolling out the Pumpkin Spice lattes and everything! And heck, even if it wasn't, is there really a bad time for pumpkin pie? I mean, really?
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| The lid, for your viewing pleasure |
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| And the pilgrims gave thanks for the bountiful graham cracker harvest... |
It was absolutely freakin' amazing. Man, this stuff is what that Breyers Vanilla Baked Apple wants to be when it grows up. Everything Breyers did wrong when trying to emulate pie flavour, PC has done right.
The main star of the show in this ice cream is definitely the spiced graham cracker component. These guys are a great bite size (see below for scale), and are the main conveyers of spice. Both J and I were reminded strongly of speculaas cookies, as they were sweet but not too sweet and carried some very tasty spice flavours. They were also surprisingly crunchy, rather than having absorbed a ton of liquid from the ice cream.
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| Graham cracker piece VS penny |
OK fine, so this ice cream isn't perfect. And as far as actually tasting like pumpkin pie, it may not be spot on. But it is still totally, utterly, ridiculously delicious.
Recommend to a friend? Totally, utterly yes
Repurchase? J: Yes B: Absolutely
Friday, September 16, 2011
Have any requests?
Ever seen a flavour at the supermarket that looked enticing but you were too afraid to try? Don't want to spend your hard-earned cash on something that might end up tasting like monkey butt?
Post your requests for flavours for us to review in the comments! (don't forget to include the brand) If we can find it in any of the supermarkets in the area, we'll try it (even if it sounds like something that shouldn't have made it past product testing) and let you know whether it's something worth purchasing.
- J & B
Post your requests for flavours for us to review in the comments! (don't forget to include the brand) If we can find it in any of the supermarkets in the area, we'll try it (even if it sounds like something that shouldn't have made it past product testing) and let you know whether it's something worth purchasing.
- J & B
Review: Breyers "Smooth & Dreamy Vanilla Baked Apple"
Today's review is for Breyers "Smooth & Dreamy Vanilla Baked Apple," just one of the flavours in their line of light ice creams that claim to be "1/2 the fat of regular ice cream" due to the use of some fancy-pants cream press system (whatever that means). Not sure if I buy the pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo, but the nutrition information shows that this ice cream is indeed lower in fat than regular ice cream: in fact, while our previously reviewed Island Farm Black Forest Cake ice cream has 15% of your daily recommended fat intake per 1/2 cup serving, Vanilla Baked Apple has only 5%, so 1/3 the fat of this particular regular ice cream. Not bad!
Also of note is that it is actually labelled as "ice cream", which means it has the ingredients to qualify for such a label. This is important because more than once I have been careless in my reading of the package and have ended up buying "frozen dessert" products which, compared to ice cream, can be just plain nasty and full of plant oils.
My last experience with Breyers was rather unpleasant (it was one of those "frozen dessert" scenarios that we ended up washing down the sink) so I would normally be hesitant to try another one of their products. However, since the label clearly says "ice cream" and because vanilla baked apple sounds kind of awesome, we decided to give it a go. Let's open 'er up and take a look at what we're working with.
Holy freezer catastrophe, batman! Yes, this is what it looked like when we opened it! Ack! Either the consistency of the swirl in the ice cream wasn't substantial enough to hold up to being frozen, or somewhere along the line this thing got thawed and refrozen. Or something else that would compromise it. I remember working for a grocery store that will remain unnamed where pallets of ice cream were left outside the freezer for up to an hour at a time, and you have to think that this sort of thing might affect the product.
But not to be put out, we decided to try it anyway, even though it looked ugly as heck. There are some nice vanilla bean specks in the ice cream portion, and the baked apple swirl looks well proportioned so as not to be either overpowering or underwhelming, so despite the freezer damage, once scooped it looked promising.
By now, J and I have both sampled this ice cream more than once in our quest to finish off the carton and make room in the freezer for future purchases, and I think I can safely say that we still don't really know what to think of this flavour. I guess we can start with the positives.
Even though this is a "light" ice cream, it doesn't appear to have any artificial or synthetic sugars, like Splenda or aspartame. While these can be great for diabetics, I find they leave a really nasty aftertaste that I just can't ignore. It also has a really nice texture for not being full fat. Sometimes low fat ice creams will be extremely hard or almost granulated, and this was definitely neither of these things.
But the taste... There is something weird about it, and we just can't figure out whether it's coming from the vanilla ice cream or the baked apple swirl. You know how I mentioned artificial sugars and the weird aftertaste? Well even though this thing doesn't have those notorious offenders, it kind of tastes like it does. There is something chemically-tasting in there that just doesn't sit well. It's not like it tastes bad but it's not great either.
The vanilla ice cream part is pretty standard (is the chemically taste coming from here?) and as stated before, the texture doesn't scream diet product, which is a good thing. The baked apple swirl (or is this the offending party?) is a bit caramel-y but you can also taste some tartness, presumably from the dried apple flakes cited in the ingredients. Seriously, if it wasn't explicitly in the ingredients, I would've assumed there were no actual apples in this product, as they are more like bits of apple dust than fruit. We shared some with my parents this afternoon, and while my father said he thought the flavour was overpowered by cinnamon, the rest of us couldn't actually taste any cinnamon at all. Weird. Both my parents thought the flavour was pretty awful, and we both decided that the more we ate, the less we liked the taste.
What really hurts this ice cream, in our opinion, was the lack of texture. While the texture of the actual ice cream part was nice and creamy, the fact that the swirl was, if anything, slightly gritty in texture was pretty disappointing. It would have been a huge improvement if there had been any discernible apple pieces or chunks in there, like an apple strudel filling or something similar. But no, instead we get drippy caramel-like substance and apple dust. Fabulous.
So what's the final verdict?
Recommend to a friend? What we would actually recommend is to get a nice apple pie and top it with a low fat (or if you're not concerned about calories, full fat) vanilla ice cream scoop. As far as imitations go, this one just doesn't cut it.
Repurchase? J: Maybe one more time if it was in better condition to re-evaluate it. B: No thanks, I'll pass.
Also of note is that it is actually labelled as "ice cream", which means it has the ingredients to qualify for such a label. This is important because more than once I have been careless in my reading of the package and have ended up buying "frozen dessert" products which, compared to ice cream, can be just plain nasty and full of plant oils.
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| I know when I dream, I dream of Breyers |
But not to be put out, we decided to try it anyway, even though it looked ugly as heck. There are some nice vanilla bean specks in the ice cream portion, and the baked apple swirl looks well proportioned so as not to be either overpowering or underwhelming, so despite the freezer damage, once scooped it looked promising.
Even though this is a "light" ice cream, it doesn't appear to have any artificial or synthetic sugars, like Splenda or aspartame. While these can be great for diabetics, I find they leave a really nasty aftertaste that I just can't ignore. It also has a really nice texture for not being full fat. Sometimes low fat ice creams will be extremely hard or almost granulated, and this was definitely neither of these things.
But the taste... There is something weird about it, and we just can't figure out whether it's coming from the vanilla ice cream or the baked apple swirl. You know how I mentioned artificial sugars and the weird aftertaste? Well even though this thing doesn't have those notorious offenders, it kind of tastes like it does. There is something chemically-tasting in there that just doesn't sit well. It's not like it tastes bad but it's not great either.
The vanilla ice cream part is pretty standard (is the chemically taste coming from here?) and as stated before, the texture doesn't scream diet product, which is a good thing. The baked apple swirl (or is this the offending party?) is a bit caramel-y but you can also taste some tartness, presumably from the dried apple flakes cited in the ingredients. Seriously, if it wasn't explicitly in the ingredients, I would've assumed there were no actual apples in this product, as they are more like bits of apple dust than fruit. We shared some with my parents this afternoon, and while my father said he thought the flavour was overpowered by cinnamon, the rest of us couldn't actually taste any cinnamon at all. Weird. Both my parents thought the flavour was pretty awful, and we both decided that the more we ate, the less we liked the taste.
What really hurts this ice cream, in our opinion, was the lack of texture. While the texture of the actual ice cream part was nice and creamy, the fact that the swirl was, if anything, slightly gritty in texture was pretty disappointing. It would have been a huge improvement if there had been any discernible apple pieces or chunks in there, like an apple strudel filling or something similar. But no, instead we get drippy caramel-like substance and apple dust. Fabulous.
So what's the final verdict?
Recommend to a friend? What we would actually recommend is to get a nice apple pie and top it with a low fat (or if you're not concerned about calories, full fat) vanilla ice cream scoop. As far as imitations go, this one just doesn't cut it.
Repurchase? J: Maybe one more time if it was in better condition to re-evaluate it. B: No thanks, I'll pass.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Review - DQ Blizzard of the Month: Ooey Gooey Caramel Brownie
With September well underway and us having yet to review the Dairy Queen Blizzard of the Month, when B took a left leaving the university this afternoon I knew what was on the radar. I ordered first, and as I stumbled with my request; "I'd like an Ooey Gooey Caramel Brownie Blizzard please, the little regular size one, I mean, a small one, that's the one I consider regular," B gave my ordering technique a grade of FAIL. Sure enough, our regular table was unoccupied, and soon we were looking into two cups of "gooey Caramel, real fudge brownie pieces and choco chunks blended with creamy vanilla soft serve." Let me break it down for you.
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| Awful iPod picture quality ahoy! |
Dairy Queen's "creamy soft serve" (which I believe is probably a combination of iced milk and edible oil product), served as a vector for what on first inspection seemed to be only chocolate shards and brownie chunks. I consulted the class list for the Blizzard of the Month again, and noted that perhaps someone was skipping. Visibly, the caramel was not in attendance. As I crunched into my first spoonful however, I was pleased to enjoy the texture of the breaking chocolate shards as well as the caramel-infused vanilla soft serve. No one was skipping after all - the caramel was simply hiding amongst his peers.
I would be lying if I didn't mention that this was actually our second offense with this particular Blizzard, having sampled it earlier in the month before deciding to create our ice cream blog. The first time, we recall being rather disappointed with the lack of caramel. Today we were happy to discover satisfactory caramel levels. Optimum caramel levels might be achieved through less blending of the Blizzard, but we understand that this would result in the creation of other flaws. The brownie pieces were flavourful, chewy, and fudge-like, sometimes surrounded by a pocket of caramel. I have the feeling that this constitutes the Ooey Gooey referred to in the Blizzard's name. The chocolate shards, although they were probably on the synthetic end of the chocolate spectrum, were very satisfying in texture and taste: they gave the Blizzard a delightful crunch to compliment the sugary rich brownie pieces. Perhaps a little sweet for some palates, Dairy Queen's Ooey Gooey Caramel Brownie delivers just what it offers. We drove home in a sugary haze.
Recomend to a Friend? Aaaw Yeeah
Repurchase: J + B - already did
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Qualicum Beach: 24+ Soft Serve Flavours!
With our afternoon class cancelled, we had time to drive one of our classmates home, and on the way we stopped for ice cream at the concession stand at Qualicum Beach (right along the old Vancouver Island highway).
What's so special about getting ice cream here? They have over 30 flavours! Big deal, you say? Over 30 flavours of soft serve. Don't know about you, but that's something we haven't seen before. The system they use allows them to add flavoured syrup to plain soft serve and dispense it to the cone as a unique-flavoured creation. Check out some of the flavours they offer (click image to enlarge):
There were four of us there and we each ordered a different kind: kahlua, praline, root beer, and watermelon. All the flavours were quite tasty, and the root beer one especially tasted like a nice root beer float. This is definitely a spot that was worth the drive and the fact that you can enjoy your ice cream while sitting right next to the beach only sweetens the deal. If you're in Qualicum Beach, or even just driving through, definitely plan to make a pit stop here!
What's so special about getting ice cream here? They have over 30 flavours! Big deal, you say? Over 30 flavours of soft serve. Don't know about you, but that's something we haven't seen before. The system they use allows them to add flavoured syrup to plain soft serve and dispense it to the cone as a unique-flavoured creation. Check out some of the flavours they offer (click image to enlarge):
There were four of us there and we each ordered a different kind: kahlua, praline, root beer, and watermelon. All the flavours were quite tasty, and the root beer one especially tasted like a nice root beer float. This is definitely a spot that was worth the drive and the fact that you can enjoy your ice cream while sitting right next to the beach only sweetens the deal. If you're in Qualicum Beach, or even just driving through, definitely plan to make a pit stop here!
Watermelon soft serve - awesome!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Review: Island Farms "Country Cream: Black Forest Cake"
J was at Thrifty Foods the other day and managed to snag a container of Island Farms' Country Cream Black Forest Cake ice cream (one of the other "Country Cream" flavours is Peanut Brittle, which we have been trying to find without much success!). Since we both enjoy black forest cake in its non-ice cream form, this sounded like it might be worth a try.
Island Farms describes this creation as "Rich chocolate ice cream swirled with chewy brownie bits, black cherries, and cherry ribbon, all swirled with French vanilla ice cream." Sounds good enough: the chocolate cake and cherries should be well represented, with the vanilla ice cream standing in for the standard whipped cream. Let's take a look at what was inside.
Hmm. Definitely lots of chocolate ice cream, and you can see some evidence of cherry pieces (which were a nice, dark, natural colour, rather than the radioactive red colour of the maraschino cherries you'd normally find in a real black forest cake). The vanilla ice cream swirl is small (and it didn't get any more substantial further down), but we understand that chocolate is the main player here. Alrighty.
Wait. Wait, wait wait. Wasn't there supposed to be a cherry ribbon? It's clearly there in the picture on the carton, lookin' all oozy and junk. But no matter how far down into the carton we got, no ribbon ever emerged. Just look for yourself!
So what does this sucker taste like? Well, the answer is mostly like chocolate ice cream with cherry "accents" and aftertaste. Rather than a conversation between chocolate and cherry, it's more like chocolate composed an epic poem and cherry wrote a text message. Maybe that missing cherry ribbon was too thoroughly mixed in and got completely drowned by the chocolate, and all we can taste are its feeble cries for help.
The brownie pieces, our reminder that this is black forest cake, and not just chocolate-cherry, are reasonably distributed throughout the ice cream, and they have a nice chewy texture and fudgey taste. We were impressed by the cherries. As stated before, they are black cherries, not maraschino cherries, and while they taste a bit like their bright red counterparts, they are definitely not the candied variety. They were nice and juicy and we felt like we were eating real fruit, something that cannot always be said about what you'd find in a black forest cake. The only problem is that there weren't enough of them. We found more brownie pieces than cherries, and since the cherry ribbon was already AWOL, it would have been nice to have a stronger cherry component to this ice cream.
What really confused us in this flavour was the vanilla ice cream swirl. Clearly it was there to represent the whipped cream you'd find on the real cake, but because it was small in proportion to the chocolate ice cream, it got completely lost. All we could taste was chocolate, with the vanilla not really adding anything of note. It probably would not have hurt to have done a 50/50 proportion of vanilla and chocolate: this way, the vanilla has more of a point, and we still are getting the chocolate cake element through the chocolate brownie pieces. Alternatively, some variance in texture might have made the vanilla component stand out more, like maybe substituting the vanilla ice cream with marshmallow creme or something similar. We're not sure if it would work, but as it stands, the vanilla swirl seems kind of pointless.
Overall, we thought this was a good ice cream, and a nice tribute to black forest cake. The texture is creamy - which is to be expected from Island Farms ice cream - and the flavour was nice.
Recommend to a friend? Yes, if they like chocolate-cherry or black forest cake
Repurchase? J: Yes - B: Maybe, if it was on sale
Wait. Wait, wait wait. Wasn't there supposed to be a cherry ribbon? It's clearly there in the picture on the carton, lookin' all oozy and junk. But no matter how far down into the carton we got, no ribbon ever emerged. Just look for yourself!
So what does this sucker taste like? Well, the answer is mostly like chocolate ice cream with cherry "accents" and aftertaste. Rather than a conversation between chocolate and cherry, it's more like chocolate composed an epic poem and cherry wrote a text message. Maybe that missing cherry ribbon was too thoroughly mixed in and got completely drowned by the chocolate, and all we can taste are its feeble cries for help.
The brownie pieces, our reminder that this is black forest cake, and not just chocolate-cherry, are reasonably distributed throughout the ice cream, and they have a nice chewy texture and fudgey taste. We were impressed by the cherries. As stated before, they are black cherries, not maraschino cherries, and while they taste a bit like their bright red counterparts, they are definitely not the candied variety. They were nice and juicy and we felt like we were eating real fruit, something that cannot always be said about what you'd find in a black forest cake. The only problem is that there weren't enough of them. We found more brownie pieces than cherries, and since the cherry ribbon was already AWOL, it would have been nice to have a stronger cherry component to this ice cream.
What really confused us in this flavour was the vanilla ice cream swirl. Clearly it was there to represent the whipped cream you'd find on the real cake, but because it was small in proportion to the chocolate ice cream, it got completely lost. All we could taste was chocolate, with the vanilla not really adding anything of note. It probably would not have hurt to have done a 50/50 proportion of vanilla and chocolate: this way, the vanilla has more of a point, and we still are getting the chocolate cake element through the chocolate brownie pieces. Alternatively, some variance in texture might have made the vanilla component stand out more, like maybe substituting the vanilla ice cream with marshmallow creme or something similar. We're not sure if it would work, but as it stands, the vanilla swirl seems kind of pointless.
Overall, we thought this was a good ice cream, and a nice tribute to black forest cake. The texture is creamy - which is to be expected from Island Farms ice cream - and the flavour was nice.
Recommend to a friend? Yes, if they like chocolate-cherry or black forest cake
Repurchase? J: Yes - B: Maybe, if it was on sale
We're live!
Hello interwebs! We, J & B, are excited to start sharing our thoughts on ice cream with you!
Why did we start this blog? We're both university students and good friends who both REALLY love ice cream and other frozen treats (even though B is lactose intolerant). There are a lot of really neat ice cream and food review blogs out there - we particularly like On Second Scoop - but the vast majority of them are American, and while all of those tasty treats look delicious, we simply can't buy them here! However, there are a lot of great brands and flavours available here that are not being covered in non-Canadian blogs!
So we are here to add a new voice to the online community of ice cream lovers... and this gives us a really good excuse to eat more ice cream in the name of research!
Happy scooping,
J & B
Why did we start this blog? We're both university students and good friends who both REALLY love ice cream and other frozen treats (even though B is lactose intolerant). There are a lot of really neat ice cream and food review blogs out there - we particularly like On Second Scoop - but the vast majority of them are American, and while all of those tasty treats look delicious, we simply can't buy them here! However, there are a lot of great brands and flavours available here that are not being covered in non-Canadian blogs!
So we are here to add a new voice to the online community of ice cream lovers... and this gives us a really good excuse to eat more ice cream in the name of research!
Happy scooping,
J & B
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