As much as I love ice cream, there is nothing my sweet tooth craves more than a good birthday cake. Or better yet, a slice of birthday cake with a dollop of ice cream. So this week's Saturday Blue Bell feast just had to feature their Birthday Cake flavor, especially since the label promises the presence of pieces of chocolate cake, my favorite birthday cake flavor!
Removing the lid, I was greeted by a mostly pleasant sight: Blue Bell's creamy vanilla base sprinkled with colored candies and interspersed with dollops of a rich chocolate. However initial spoon probing revealed the latter to be chocolate topping, not the desired pieces of cake, a possible cause for concern.
However, I didn't have to dig long before the mostly-vanilla surface gave way to a smorgasbord of chocolate swirl and those eagerly anticipated cake pieces. Thick and richly textured, the tasty chocolate swirl, billed as an icing on the label, is actually much more like the fudge ribbon found in flavors like Happy Tracks. Plus, the cake "pieces" are not tiny flakes or bits but substantial chunks! These chocolate cake chunks are moist, chewy, and generously distributed throughout the container. And importantly, rather than overwhelming the vanilla base, this ice cream manages to hit that taste sweet spot wherein the chocolate swirl and cake blends with the vanilla flavor in a complementary fashion. True, the colored candies are mostly ornamental, not adding much to the taste, but they serve this aesthetic purpose well, giving the concoction the look of a festive birthday celebration. The overall effect is that when you eat a spoonful that has a cake chunk, and there are lots of those, it really looks, feels and tastes like you are eating a scoop of birthday cake and ice cream.
Blue Bell's Birthday Cake ice cream is indeed a treat for anyone who wants to experience the joy of eating the classic birthday cake and ice cream combo without having to wait for the next family birthday to buy a cake. Not surprisingly, I couldn't stop eating it, polishing off the half-gallon in one sitting.
Where Steve Found It: Winn Dixie
Steve's Grade: A
