Late last week, Front Porch announced that they would be adding four new flavors to their Southern-inspired lineup. After just a few days, I ran across all of the new recent releases and wasted no time in scooping them up. Even though Happily Pineapply Upside Down Cake, My-O-My Peanut Butter Pie and Wildberry Cheesecake all seemed sensational, I couldn’t resist the temptation of County Fair Fried Apple Pie. The majority of the apple-based ice creams to pass through the blog, such as Hubig’s Apple Pie from New Orleans Ice Cream Company and Publix Premium’s Deep Dish Apple Pie, have been among my favorites and after reading Front Porch's description of their variation; this should continue the tradition. They've even put a Southern twist on the concept by modeling their flavor after the individual-sized, fried pockets of apple pie you'd find at the fair rather than the deep-dish versions baked in an oven. They've described their take as a spiced apple ice cream with apple swirl and cinnamon sugar shortbread pieces.
After taking off the top, the first layer is an off-white color and shows off some of the cinnamon shortbread pieces underneath the surface. County Fair Fried Apple Pie contains 160 calories per serving, which gives the base a substantial consistency without feeling overly dense like a super-premium. Front Porch has infused this ice cream with strong notes of cinnamon and sugar that provides the ideal canvas for the other ingredients. The apple swirl is far smaller than the ones you’d find in a more premium product and, although it doesn’t add much in the terms of texture, adds some more spiced apple flavoring to the mix.
Much like with the apple swirl, Front Porch leaves plenty of room for improvement with their cinnamon shortbread pieces. Considering all of their flavors feature mix-ins that are small in stature, I shouldn’t have been expecting big, hunky pieces of pie crust; but it was hard not to. The shortbread squares included in this particular pint added a slightly crunchiness to some bites, which provided some much needed contrast against the creamy base. Although there may not have been much going on in terms of texture, the combination of flavors in County Fair Fried Apple Pie is still enough to warrant an above average rating.
Where I Found It: Ingles Markets
Grade: B
To push this flavor over the edge, I then added a nice slice of Apple Creme Cake to accompany the Front Porch ice cream.
