I usually make it a priority to try any of the limited edition, purple pints Haagen Dazs releases throughout the year, but as of late, I’ve been making a point to try and find some of the unappreciated flavors in their standard lineup. White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle was strong enough to receive an A, while their Chocolate Peanut Butter was right on the verge. Keeping that in mind, I decided to test out a flavor that had come recommended a handful of times. Whenever the topic of Rocky Road ice creams had arisen, readers had been quick to suggest I seek out the super-premium version from Haagen Dazs. They describe their version as velvety swirls of marshmallow, roasted almonds and our legendary chocolate ice cream come together in this playful ice cream delight. I use to consider Haagen Dazs one of those companies that erred on the side of caution when it came to the amount of mix-ins that put in their pints, but they’ve been able to change my mind recently and would continue to do so with Rocky Road.
With the top removed and the plastic seal peeled off, the first layer of this 290 calorie per serving ice cream looks rather tame aside from the small streak of marshmallow that was able to breach the surface. The performance of most variations of rocky road ice creams rely heavily on the marshmallow component and Haagen Dazs must have known that because soon after scooping out my first few spoonfuls, I came across the most concentrated marshmallow swirl I’ve seen. The chocolate base from Haagen Dazs is sweet and subtle enough that it doesn’t drown out the other components with richness. Unlike some chocolate ice creams from the competition, this base can hold its own; all while being able to showcase other the ingredients involved.
As I worked my down through this carton, the marshmallow swirl only seemed to grow larger. The semi-liquid swirl was sticky, thick and worked perfectly with the chocolate ice cream. Along with the top notch texture, Haagen Dazs incorporated the ideal amount of sweet, marshmallow taste. When combined with the big hunks of roasted almonds, this quickly jumped towards the top of the list when we’re talking rocky road themed ice creams. The crunch and nutty flavoring didn’t quite demand attention like the marshmallow swirl was able to, but rounded out this flavor nicely. While Rocky Road wasn’t quite on the same level as some of their pints I’ve given an A rating to, if you’re a fan of this concept, this seems to be about as good as it gets.
Where I Found It: Walmart
Grade: B
