REVIEW: Steve's BKLYN Blackout

Like many other small-operation, craft ice cream makers, Steve’s Ice Cream is proud of where they’ve set up shop. Some of their flavors such as NOLA Coffee & Donuts even include ingredients from local Brooklyn businesses like Pies ‘N’ Thighs, Blue Bottle Coffee and Salvatore BKLYN. One of their more popular pints even bears the name of their city and sources its mix-ins from a nearby bakery. BKLYN Blackout takes Steve’s milk chocolate ice cream, swirls it with chocolate stout cake pieces from Ovenly Bakery and finishes the whole thing with dark chocolate pudding.

Ovenly Bakery (Image courtesy of ScoBoco, found on FlickR)

According to their website, “Ovenly is a creative kitchen that explores culinary traditions with an unexpected twist. We thoughtfully meld salty and sweet with a touch of spice. Our main goal is to provide you with joy through flavor. We believe cooking (and eating!) should be an adventure, and we are committed to crafting recipes that are complex, innovative, and fun. Ovenly makes everything from breakfast pastries and desserts to bar snacks. Our ingredients are natural and sustainable, without artificial flavorings or preservatives.” The fact that Steve’s is reaching out to their own community to find fresh-baked mix-ins to throw in their ice cream makes their creations even more extraordinary.

This carton of chocolate ice cream, cake and pudding comes in at 280 calories per serving, which seems more than reasonable considering how densely packed the pint is. As soon as I lift off the lid, I’m left looking at a first layer featuring a large concentration of dark chocolate pudding and even a cake piece poking through the top. The whole milk, cream, organic sugar and organic cocoa powder make Steve’s milk chocolate base the ideal richness. It’s thick, substantial and provides the perfect canvas to show off the pudding and cake to come. As you can see from the pictures, they haven’t skimped on the amount of the mix-ins they've included inside. The chocolate pudding is not only a deeper shade of brown than the ice cream itself, but also has a much different consistency. The near liquid texture provides a slightly bitter taste due to its dark nature and effectively contrasts the milk chocolate of the ice cream.

Although the ice cream and dark chocolate pudding are a great combination of flavors, I was most looking forward to the pieces of chocolate stout cake chunks from Ovenly. BKLYN Blackout has enough cake pieces that I ended up with one in nearly every bite. The squares are almost black in color, dense in consistency, chewy in texture and because of the stout beer inside, has a uniquely flavored finish when compared to other ice creams featuring chocolate cake. Considering a slice at their actual store will set you back $6.00 ($65.00 for an entire cake), this pint practically pays for itself. If you’re a chocoholic, and even if you aren’t, you should head over to the Find Us section of Steve’s site and see where you can score some for yourself.

Where I Found It: Steve's Ice Cream Online Store
Grade: A