I finally decided to stop into Walgreens to try Haagen Dazs' Pralines and Cream and a large variety of Delish ice cream caught my eye. Having never heard of the brand before, I was quite intrigued by a few of the offerings. The cream of the crop looked to be the S’mores Swirl, which was described as “marshmallow and chocolate ice cream swirled with dark chocolate chunks and a graham swirl.” Now I’ve never encountered a graham swirl I didn’t like. And if the marshmallow flavor was even half as good as that found in a true s’more I was in for a treat. At 260 calories a serving, I was hoping this unknown brand was comparable to that of its super premium counterparts.
I was put off by the thin layer of ice on top of the pint. There was no seal, which isn’t a necessity, but because the pint wasn’t packed to the brim it allowed for space for ice to gather. Undeterred, I went straight for the chocolate base. The ice had no impact on the consistency of ice cream whatsoever so it was quickly moot point. The chocolate flavor screamed of milk chocolate. It reminds me of that found in Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter World, which is one of my favorite bases. To be honest, this is one of the better chocolate bases I have ever had. It’s sweet, creamy, but not overpowering. The marshmallow base on the other hand was something entirely different. It has a fluffier, smoother consistency than the chocolate. It’s almost as if it was composed of 25% straight marshmallow fluff and 75% ice cream. The flavor was slightly artificial, but wow was it ever amazing. In terms of unique base flavors this definitely cracks the elite list. It’s very sweet, maybe even too sweet for some people but it’s perfectly balanced by the chocolate half. For me just a spoonful of the two bases was already enough to make this pint respectable.
The dark chocolate chips were everywhere and added that perfect crunch that is needed in such a creamy concoction. The pieces are slightly larger in size than those found in a lot of other brands and the dark chocolate aspect is definitely the correct choice in this setting. The graham swirl had been screaming at me since the beginning and I couldn’t hold back any longer.
This graham swirl is beyond remarkable. It’s like they took honey graham crackers and a heaping handful of brown sugar and mashed them together. The flavor is intense and the consistency is that of an unbaked, sugar-laded graham cracker crust. I was total unprepared for the flavor bombardment, but just a tiny bit of this swirl combined with the other components created the best recreation of s’mores flavor I have had to date. I was sure nothing could hold this back from being a perfect A. Unfortunately, the graham swirl was slightly lacking for what I would expect to find in a super premium ice cream. It was prominent at the top and the bottom, but as you can see there was very little throughout the middle half of the pint. I’m a recovering mix-in junkie, okay not recovering, so I will admit my bias. Regardless, this is a great pint and worth a try for anyone who wants a flashback to making s’mores around the camp fire.
Where Derek Found It: Walgreens
Derek's Grade: B
