REVIEW: The Fresh Market Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread

When I make the trip to The Fresh Market, it's typically to track down a flavor from Graeter's, Jeni's or Three Twins, but recently I've begun to take notice of the pints above. It turns out that The Fresh Market has started marketing their own brand of gelato with a handful of standard flavors, and even limited-editions, one of which being Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread. Previous to this point, the only gelato I've covered has come in the form of Talenti, but they've set a high standard, so we'll see how The Fresh Market's new line holds up to the competition. Considering the facts that aesthetics matter in ice cream, I approve of the exterior design on these simple, straight-forward cartons. Bold, contrasting font couples with a bright polka-dotted brim to easily display what the consumer can expect to encounter inside.

The short and sweet summary on the backside of the carton promises a custom blend of bits of gingerbread cookies and spices and to get it while you can because this Limited Edition flavor won't last forever! Not only will this be my first experience with The Fresh Market's brand of gelato, this will also be my first time tasting a gingerbread base. Even Gingerbread House from Blue Bell chose a cinnamon ice cream to act as the foundation of their flavor. After removing the vividly decorated lid, the coffee-colored first layer looks uncomplicated. The 210 calories per serving this contains is typical of the selections available from Talenti.

As I scoop some out of the pint, The Fresh Market's gelato seems to have a slightly thicker consistency than that of Talenti's. But after my first bite, this shares the same velvety feel that differentiates well-made gelato from ice cream. Although the feel is the first thing I notice, the taste is equally as impressive. The front end of the flavor comes from the heavy usage of ginger, eventually fading away into a nice blend of sugar and holiday-spices. With an appropriate balance of sweetness and gingerbread spices, this just seems to get better as I go. Seeing as how The Fresh Market makes quality and freshness a priority in other aspects of their stores, it comes as no surprise that their gelato exudes attributes associated with using only the freshest of ingredients.

To my chagrin, it took eating nearly an entire serving before I began to run into these remnants of real gingerbread. I had already settled for the fact that this was a base-only offering, with no mix-ins to be found, but if this flavor had featured huge hunks of the authentic gingerbread picture above, this would have had a strong argument to break into the top tier. These streaks added a noticeable textural difference, adding a chewy quality to each bite that happened to contain a bit. Although Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread could have been better with bigger pieces of gingerbread, this has intrigued me enough to not ignore The Fresh Market options, despite sharing the same shelf with heavy hitters such as Graeter's and Jeni's.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: B

REVIEW: The Fresh Market Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice Gelato (Limited Edition)

While picking up a few things in The Fresh Market earlier this week, I noticed a new gelato flavor sitting in the freezer. Last year I’d enjoyed their Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread limited edition, which had been pretty solid, so I decided to give their in-house Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice a try this season. This fall inspired flavor comes in at just 170 calories per serving, but also lacks any mix-ins to inflate the calorie count.

Aesthetically, the pale orange ice cream shows off the flecks of seasonal spices inside and its soft, pliable texture makes it easy to transfer into a bowl. The pumpkin flavoring is bold, well balanced, and even though it includes plenty of spice, never becomes overpowering. Especially when taking calories into account, this is definitely worth picking up at least once. Try adding a handful of crushed graham crackers if you start to get bored.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: B

REVIEW: The Fresh Market Pumpkin Pie

We've been on the hunt for Talenti's Pumpkin Pie for weeks and after we were tipped off that a pint had been spotted at The Fresh Market near our headquarters we headed that way. Quickly scanning the freezer section, we were disappointed to find an empty row above the limited edition tag where our sought after gelato had once been stacked. Ironically enough though, we walked out with a product boasting the same name. The Fresh Market had made their own version of one of our favorite themes for ice cream. Their version of Pumpkin Pie is comprised of pumpkin ice cream, spices & pie crust pieces.

Plenty of pumpkin pie ice creams have offered a pumpkin base with pie crust, but most are bland and fall short of living up to a real slice. The first layer of The Fresh Market's attempt looked promising with plenty of pie crust pieces pushing through the top. Our first bite contained just the pumpkin base, but the spices were what sat this foundation apart from others. While most pumpkin ice creams we've encountered are only mildly flavored, The Fresh Market shoves as much cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice as they can to really ramp up the intensity. As far as taste is concerned, this is one of the better bases we've seen.

The consistency of their Pumpkin Pie flavor, especially given that it contains only 160 calories per serving, is better than we anticipated as well. In addition, the rather short ingredient list suggests that this limited edition flavor isn't flooded with preservatives and stabilizers either. The plentiful amount of pie crust pieces make their way into nearly every bite and effectively completes the pumpkin pie theme. The sweet flavor and crunchy texture pairs perfectly with the heavily spiced ice cream. While we didn't find what we came for, we still walked out with ice cream worthy of our coveted grade A.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: A

REVIEW: The Fresh Market Apple Pie Ice Cream

Whenever I’m across town near The Fresh Market, I always stop in to see if they have any interesting flavors from the likes of Steve’s, Graeter’s or Jeni’s. After scanning over their selection of pints for a few minutes, I was ready to walk out empty handed. Over the past year, I’d talked myself into trying some of the prepackaged gelatos from The Fresh Market and remembering how they had been above average, I moved on to see what some of the larger containers had to offer. Passing over the gelato, it was their Apple Pie ice cream that caught my attention this time. Apple pie themed flavors always seem to sit well with me and the description of vanilla ice cream with chunks of apple, cinnamon swirls & pie crust pieces sounded particularly enticing.

The $4.99 plus tax that I charged to my card secured me 12 servings of premium ice cream that would set me back a measly 160 calories each. After returning home and lifting off the lid, the first layer looked promising. Littered within the off-white, vanilla ice cream, exposed pieces of pie crust and concentrated splotches of cinnamon swirl had me reminiscing on apple pie ice cream experiences of the past before I dug in. The Fresh Market’s vanilla has a consistency that’s in line with other premium, generic ice creams, which is still dense enough to be considered premium ice cream, while still lacking the high butterfat content to stick around for an extended period of time. Even though I tried to fill my spoon with just the base, the cinnamon-sugar flavoring from the pie crust and swirls had infiltrated the vanilla (in a good way).

Perhaps the most important part of a pie-themed flavor are the pie crust pieces and these rank among the best I’ve had. These various sized chunks not only provide a crunchy texture, but also brings some authenticity to the whole apple pie experience. While the description had me worried about oversized slivers of frozen apples, The Fresh Market keeps restricts their size to avoid an icy consistency. It wasn't until I landed a bite featuring a sizable cluster of pie crust and a large concentration of cinnamon swirl that I realized the full potential of this flavor. The potent, cinnamon sugar stripes combined with the pie crust and vanilla to create one of the better apple pie ice cream interpretations I’ve ever had. So if you’ve tried all the interesting options from the top tier brands at The Fresh Market, keep your eye open for their own brand of gelatos and ice creams. They’ve proven to be pretty dependable.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: B

REVIEW: The Fresh Market Biscotti with Italian Fig Gelato

The Fresh Market is usually where I head when I’m looking for my next Jeni’s, Graeter’s or Three Twins fix, however recently their own generic line of gelatos had peaked my interest. Unique flavors like Tiramisu & Mascarpone and Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread were simple and effective, but lacked the mystery associated with their Biscotti with Italian Fig. Seeing as this isn’t a combination of tastes you commonly see in a frozen dessert, I had little idea of what to expect. The Fresh Market writes on the back of the carton, “we’ve captured a true Italian tradition with this gelato recipe. A rich, creamy biscotti-flavored base melded with swirls of sweet Italian fig – simply perfect.” Biscotti (or twice baked cookies) and fig may sound like an odd duo, but as I’d soon find out, would make a pleasant pair inside a pint.

After removing the polka-dotted lid, I was a bit surprised at the bright yellow shade of the gelato; something I hadn’t expected from the biscotti base. The 200 calories per serving is right in line with the other options from The Fresh Market and pretty standard as far as gelatos are concerned. My first bite is free of the fig swirl and brings flavors I’ve never before experienced in frozen form. Although I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint biscotti in a blind taste test, the overly sweet base is smooth and has a thick consistency that’s slow to melt. The gelato provides just enough flavor and texture to keep me interested, despite only being accompanied by a small swirl.

These petite, purple stripes effectively enhance the biscotti base and add an influx of fig flavoring. The dark swirl also incorporates some of the seeds, which gives the finish of each bite an interesting texture. Although I probably wouldn’t repeat this purchase, it was worth the price to taste a mixture of ingredients you’ll be hard pressed to find elsewhere. This wasn’t quite on the level of gelatos from Talenti or Haagen Dazs, but was still enjoyable. Hopefully The Fresh Market will continue to try out different, creative combinations in their future flavors.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: C

REVIEW: The Fresh Market Tiramisu & Mascarpone

Over the holidays I was able to try a new brand for the blog, The Fresh Market's Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread gelato. This time, I passed on the Jeni's and Graeter's selections staring back at from the freezer and picked up a pint of their own Tiramisu & Mascarpone. Sporting the same whimsical design as it's gingerbread predecessor, the description on the back of this one makes this one sound just as enticing. The Fresh Market describes this flavor as a traditional Italian recipe of velvety gelato that has just the right balance of creamy mascarpone and coffee flavoring. Ben & Jerry's was able to recreate the classic dessert effectively with their Target exclusive, Volun-Tiramisu, so hopefully this gelato version won't be a let down.

At 190 calories per serving, this base-only gelato is a bit more calorie dense than I was expecting, but still lower than their Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread. Volun-Tiramisu was able to effectively balance the two main flavor profiles inside the classic dessert, coffee and mascarpone, and this gelato promises the same thing. Ben & Jerry's version had a little help in the form of cocoa dusted coffee rum lady finger pieces, so this lighter interpretation has a lot of work to do if it plans on surpassing the only other tiramisu-themed pints I've tried. Popping off the polka-dotted lid reveals a first layer that looks surprisingly similar to that of Sweet & Spiced Gingerbread, only slightly lighter in color.

The velvety gelato peels back with ease as my spoon scrapes across the initial layer. Even while collecting on my spoon, I can tell the consistency is unique, which teeters between ice cream and gelato. The Fresh Market's version lacks the looks and density of Talenti's products, making it hard to believe both are gelato. Tiramisu & Mascarpone isn't too heavy, nor too light, lingering around just long enough before melting. The coffee taste of the tiramisu greets my taste buds as soon as I take my first bite. While Volun-Tiramisu was well balanced, it's hard to pick up on the slight hints of mascarpone inside this unless you're looking.

Fortunately for The Fresh Market, due to my infatuation with coffee flavored ice cream, I'm not disappointed by the disproportional ratios. Because of the lack of mix-ins, this base-only gelato is incredibly easy to eat. Unfortunately for The Fresh Market, Ben & Jerry's addition of lady finger pieces proved to be the deciding factor, catapulting Volun-Tiramisu quite a bit higher than Tiramisu & Mascarpone. I plan on heading back soon for the biscotti and fig flavor, but probably won't be picking this up again. But if you're a fan of the dessert, I'd give it a go.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: C