READER REVIEW: Elliot's Review of Greenfield Decadent Chocolate Sorbet, Vanilla Honey Crumble and Sticky Pecan

This composite review summarizes my thoughts on a few flavors already covered on ICI. My expertly packed shipment from Greenfield Ice Cream Company (est. 2011) arrived frozen solid, awash with a wide variety of flavors. The flavors we reached for first have already been covered on this site. We wanted to weigh in, too.

The Decadent Chocolate Sorbet is something special. The depth of flavor is excellent. I'd love to see them try some other non-traditional sorbets, like a peanut butter sorbet.

Greenfield Decadent Chocolate Sorbet

For their ice creams, Greenfield steeps the ingredients in their custard base. This results in a deep, full-flavored taste without exception for both flavors : Vanilla Honey Crumble & Sticky Pecan. Inclusions and variegates are also nicely flavored, and balance well with the ice cream with regard to flavor. However, achieving an excellent balance of flavor and texture is extremely challenging, especially without stabilizers or thickeners.

Greenfield Vanilla Honey Crumble

The Vanilla Honey Crumble melted down into a puddle almost immediately. The moisture penetrated the crumble, creating a slightly soggy texture. While the vanilla flavor was lovely, pronounced and accentuated by the sweetness of the honey and sugar, the ice cream itself was flat.

Greenfield Sticky Pecan

The Sticky Pecan flavor was also nicely seasoned. The pecans themselves were very sweet; nicely sugared and spiced. The ice cream here was noticeably higher overrun; a casualty of batch mixing. I'd take a bite and the ice cream would disappear on my tongue like cotton candy, revealing the air mixed into the base in the batch freezing process.

Greenfield Sticky Pecan

From Greenfield : "We cook our custard from scratch and hand churn to keep the quality the highest possible as you would make it in your own kitchen. We then hand number each pint in batches which are no bigger than 3 gallons." While that sounds like a plus, the downside is that consistency is better achieved on a larger scale. Batch freezers are great for producing ice cream quickly for a dinner party or in a restaurant setting, but they beat up the ice cream and force a lot of air into it creating an inconsistent and higher overrun product. Producing a consistently balanced product using a batch freezer to make small batches is extremely challenging. To compete successfully with heavyweight artisan producers means firing on all cylinders and consistently producing a complete product that is balanced in terms of flavor and texture.

Where Elliot Found Them: GreenfieldIceCream.com
Elliot's Grade: B for all

READER REVIEW: Bob's Review of Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Buns is labeled as "caramel ice cream with cinnamon bun dough and a cinnamon streusel swirl." Now when you read this the only thing you may think about is the overall aspect of walking into a bakery and picking up a fresh cinnamon bun that is layered with frosting and melting in your mouth. I have ran into this pint before, but after seeing people go for it, I had to actually call my local manager at my grocery store because they were not stocking it. Luckily, they made a small order and got a couple pints in to stock one shelf instead of putting another flavor on that shelf instead due to overall sales.

Upon cracking the lid you can see there is not much surprise. Just a nice looking caramel ice cream and no sign of a swirl or chunks of the cinnamon bun dough. But that would soon change after digging in. The base is very good and probably one of Ben & Jerry's superior flavors that they should utilize in more bases. It has a very, very rich cinnamon flavoring with a nice, small caramel aftertaste (base) because of the overall mixture of swirl that is present in the pint. Overall, it is lightly spiced, but has a nice thick and dense flavoring that is very pleasing and is enjoyed from the first bite to the last, especially as you dig deeper into the pint.

Now as you get into the first few bites, you really start to see the overall swirl and the globs of the dough that was stated in the pint description. Just think about taking cinnamon roll dough and putting them into small little globs and eating them. It's like being a kid and eating the cookie dough out of the wrapper before baking the cookies. Same case here with the dough. It's so rich and full of cinnamon flavoring. The overall swirl is very strong and gives you a very sweet cinnamon flavoring that is not on the light side and really enhances the overall flavoring of the pint. It is literally like you took cinnamon sugar out of a spice bottle and dumped it into this pint and swirled it around the caramel ice cream.

The nice thing is that the cinnamon bun dough is not very hard, it's on the softer side as most of Ben & Jerry's mix-ins can become harder (think their peanut butter cups or other bigger mix-ins like the balls in the Chocolate Peppermint Crunch). The overall swirl and cinnamon bun globs make this pint a keeper and an A score. If they were to add another mix-in with this pint it would easily be a top tier pint, but this should be damn near close to everyone's top 10 who have tried the Ben & Jerry's line because of its strong flavoring and reminds those of cinnamon buns if you ever grabbed one from a bakery. The overall texture and taste of the pint is very good from top to bottom and always worthy of a rescoop when in the cinnamon bun mood.

Where Bob Found It: Wegmans
Bob's Grade: A

READER REVIEW: Derek's Review of Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns

One of my favorite family traditions is waking up on Christmas morning and having a fresh cinnamon bun straight out of the oven just before opening presents. My top food cravings have and likely will always be ice cream and cinnamon buns. Needless to say, the first time I saw Ben and Jerry’s made something called Cinnamon Buns I drove around like a madman to find it. This creation is simply described as Caramel ice cream with cinnamon bun dough & a cinnamon streusel swirl. At least with respect to self-proclaimed ice cream fanatics this is not only a top flavor by Ben and Jerry’s, but a top creation across the spectrum of super premium ice cream.

Upon removing the lid a faint smell of cinnamon is detectable in the light cream colored base. Showing great restraint, I’m able to avoid the noticeable swirl and cinnamon bun dough and try just the caramel ice cream. The base by itself is a masterpiece and unlike anything else I’ve ever had. It has a less dense nature than that typical of Ben and Jerry’s, which compliments the fluffy nature that one would associate with a fresh cinnamon bun. The caramel base is sweet but not overdone. Just the aroma of cinnamon and various spices are actually able to enhance the foundation just by being present which is not something I have experienced often.

Scraping off the surface layer of delicious base, the true nature of the pint begins to show itself. Hordes of cinnamon bun dough and massive swirls are seemingly unavoidable. After great debate, I decide to go for the swirl first. The cinnamon streusel swirl has the consistency of thick dulce de leche. The molasses- like syrup kicks my taste buds into overdrive. Classifying this as sweet or rich doesn’t begin to accurately describe the flavor profile. When combined with the caramel ice cream the design goal of a cinnamon bun is already achieved. This is possibly the only ice cream I have ever had in which I would be 100% satisfied without a mix-in that added a “firm” mouth feel. Luckily for me, and really anyone who enjoys ice cream, they decided to add in cinnamon bun dough. These nickel-sized dough balls are simply just that, chunks of pure cinnamon bun dough. There really isn’t much more to say. The texture is unlike that of the typical soft and slightly chewy chocolate chip cookie dough one would typically find. Instead these hunks of dough are partially frozen and noticeably more firm than I expected. While this may not sound like a good thing to some, I have to stress it is! Not only does it enhance the pint by adding a much different textural element but it captures cookie dough in the cold, firm state in which I think it is enjoyed best.

This pint only intensifies the deeper you dig. The swirls become larger and the cinnamon bun dough pieces become more abundant without ever drowning out the magnificent caramel base. Combining all 3 aspects in one spoonful captures the essence of a cinnamon bun even better than some bakeries are able to. My favorite part of Ben and Jerry’s is always the very bottom of the pint where mix-ins often take up 50% of the real estate. In Cinnamon Buns that number may actually be about 70% with whole spoonfuls of straight streusel swirl and bun dough. This is one that once you try will create a permanent spot for itself in your freezer.

Where Derek Found It: Giant Food
Derek's Grade: A

NEWS: Cinnabon's New Peanut Butter Cup Chillatta

One of our readers recently stumbled upon Cinnabon's new Peanut Butter Cup Chillatta. Although they're known for their oversized cinnamon buns, this sounds like another reason to check out a Cinnabon location.

REVIEW: Edy's Cinnamon Bun Fun (Limited Edition)

After trying the Slow Churned version of Edy’s new limited edition Luscious Red Velvet Cake a few weeks back, we continued our exploration of their new Bakery Treats lineup. Opting for the Grand version this time, Cinnamon Bun Fun! seemed promising despite the lack of actual mix-ins. Made up of vanilla ice cream with a rich cinnamon bun swirl, this would be only the second flavor we’ve seen that takes its inspiration from a cinnamon bun.

I’ve never been blown away by any of the mix-ins contained in a carton of Edy’s, but I was enticed by the bit of cinnamon bun swirl that was poking through the first layer. To my surprise, the swirl only grew more impressive as I scooped some into a bowl. The thick, stiff ridges of cinnamon-sugar were so concentrated and so plentiful that every bite seemed to contain a bit.

The premium, 180 calorie per serving vanilla base, was just as expected, but even though there wasn’t any cinnamon built directly in, the surrounding swirl was enough to infiltrate its taste. The swirl also added some texture and a granulated feel to any bites containing a decent amount. While this couldn’t quite compete with the super-premium standard set forth by Ben & Jerry’s Cinnamon Buns, this is a nice alternative.

Where I Found It: Ingles Markets
Grade: B

READER REVIEW: Arjun's Review of Slow Churned Cinnamon Bun Fun!

The Informant reviewed Edy’s Cinnamon Bun Fun in the grand version. The following review is for the slow-churned version.

Next to the irresistible image of gobs of peanut butter and chocolate mixing together in an effervescent combination, cinnamon is the pinnacle of ice cream flavors. Edy’s Cinnamon Bun Fun (Limited Bakery Edition available from January to April) attempts to capture the cinnamon flavor in a 110 calorie per half cup concoction.

Edy’s is hardly a premium brand with high levels of butterfat, but the vanilla ice cream with a rich cinnamon bun swirl delivers on the ice cream and swirl levels. The swirl is essential to the flavor and exquisite – it is the best swirl I have had in an Edy’s flavor. In addition to nailing the cinnamon bun flavor in the swirl, Edy’s presents copious amounts of it throughout the container. If you like playing with your ice cream, you can isolate it by digging the ice cream around the center to create a tower of swirl, as I attempted to do.

There is no need to complain about a lack of mix-ins, as they would probably detract from the flavor, smell, and texture of the ice cream and swirl enhancement. As far as simple but delicious flavors go without pretentiousness, this is a winner. It is nothing like the gold standard for cinnamon ice creams – Ben & Jerry’s Cinnamon Buns – but if you desire a low-calorie offering, quantity and quality, and a flavorful ice cream, this is bakery creation for you. You might want to hit the frozen section as soon as possible, though. I was lucky enough to nab the final container on the shelf.

Where Arjun Found It: Giant Eagle
Arjun's Grade: B