After I browsed the August rotational list on Blue Bell's website, one flavor in particular lept off the page. Having just celebrated a birthday a few weeks back, it was as though Blue Bell had rolled this selection out just for me. Despite being in a half gallon container, I had to pick up Blue Bell's Birthday Cake as a gift to myself. Any description including cake pieces and a birthday cake base should have little problem winning me over. The small display window in the lid, clearly showing chocolate, vanilla and rainbow sprinkles, made it hard to wait until I got home to peek inside.
Boasting the description of, "Vanilla ice cream with pieces of chocolate cake, a chocolate icing swirl, and bright multi-colored sprinkles," now this sounds like something Blue Bell made just for me. As a kid, I always had chocolate cake with chocolate icing at my birthday parties. Why have white sheet cake when you can celebrate with chocolate instead?
Add some rainbow sprinkles, chocolate icing swirl along with Blue Bell's famous homemade vanilla ice cream and I'm beginning to think two quarts of this may not be enough. Prying off the top to this tub revealed one of the most stupendous looking first layers I've seen. I'm well aware of how amazing Blue Bell's vanilla (especially their homemade variety) can be and this is no exception.
When you're blessed to have a base as amazing as this, it's so easy to create exceptional flavors by tossing in some solid mix-ins. Let's start with the buku of rainbow sprinkles. They bring out the kid in all of us, as well as adding tremendous texture and amplifying the aesthetics. What the slew of sprinkles miss taste-wise is made up for by the succulent chocolate icing swirl. Not quite as thick as some of the chocolate swirls in pints of super-premium ice cream, this swirl is still gooey and rich, contrasting perfectly with the sprinkles and vanilla base.
The best was certainly saved for last. As I've explored some of Blue Bell's offerings I've learned that, unlike their pie pieces, all their cake and cookie mix-ins are incredible. Frequent and flavorful, these chocolate cake chunks send this creation over the top. The rich, chewy texture and chocolate overload provided by this marvelous mix-in send this one sailing right up the charts.
Following the classic recipe of a quality base, a sweet swirl, colossal chunks of cake and a little crunch, Blue Bell blows other birthday cake ice creams out of the water. If I'm looking for a selection to celebrate with, this will be the one. I should have no problem making this half gallon disappear.
Where I Found It: Ingles Market
Grade: B
