A few months back, Breyer’s sent me some samples from their new toppings line. Since they couldn’t get their frozen dairy desserts right, I guess they figured they might as well offer some more ingredients to try and cover up their “ice cream”. While there were also sauces and fruit toppings, I decided to check out the Chocolate and Rainbow Sprinkles first. These small pieces of sugar aren’t something normally found in store-bought ice cream, but used to be a common addition to many scoop shop cups and cones I created as a kid. Even though they don’t pack much of a taste or texture, every single fan of ice cream has had their fair share of these small cylindrical confectioneries over the years. Breyers has this to say about them, “Our chocolate and rainbow sprinkles are the key to topping off a great sundae. Since they’re made without high-fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, you can enjoy the fun without the guilt.” Although I blame the media for the public’s hatred towards high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, Breyers continues its tradition of focusing on what their products don’t include rather than what they do.
Although I was also given a coupon for a free carton of Breyers ice cream, I decided to give my taste buds a break and try out these two types of sprinkles on some real ice cream. Graeter’s Vanilla to be exact. There isn’t much that you could add to this French pot ice cream that would detract from the deliciousness, but I was still holding on to the hope that these sprinkles might actually make it better. I scooped out bit of the ice cream into two bowls and sprinkled the chocolate sprinkles over one and the rainbow ones over the other. Graeter’s Vanilla had already earned an A in my book, but these sprinkles certainly helped out aesthetically; especially the multicolored versions.
There’s only so much you can expect from sprinkles, but these seemed to fit all the criteria of the ones I used to enjoy in my younger days. Both kinds add crunch, some additional sugar and slightly compliment the super-premium ice cream however, neither the chocolate or rainbow versions provide enough taste to make them distinguishable from one another. I’ve used both bottles of sprinkles sparingly over the past few weeks, but I can’t say I would have ever purchased these if they hadn’t been sent for free. The nostalgic factor is about the only thing these have going for them.
