REVIEW: New Orleans Ice Cream Co. White Chocolate Bread Pudding

The fine folks at New Orleans Ice Cream Company have secured their spot as a top-tier manufacturer time and time again. I've enjoyed their simple, base-only flavors like Creole Cream Cheese. I've enjoyed their succulent, swirl-infused flavors like Satsuma Dreamsicle. But the offerings that include one of their top-notch base flavors, a sweet swirl and large, gaudy mix-ins, like Café au Lait & Beignets, are a step above the rest. Taking a dessert made famous by the deep South, and New Orleans in particular, they've made bread pudding the focal point of this uniquely New Orleans ice cream flavor.

A dish typically made by soaking stale bread in a sweet, liquid mixture and then baked, the ice cream version comes in the form of a custard base, chunks of white chocolate bread pudding and swirl of bourbon sauce. The top layer rivaled the beauty found in my pint of Café au Lait & Beignets. Dark, alcohol-filled stripes of sweet, bourbon sauce swirl about a light-colored custard ice cream that holds bountiful bits of bread pudding. Judging on looks alone, the potential here is undeniable. Although this selection tips the scales at 270 calories per serving, this certainly looks to be worth the nutritional setback.

I abandoned my tried and true method of tasting just the base first, and instead, opted for a spoon full of both main ingredients for my first. Sampling the sweet custard base all by itself isn't an option considering the amount of bread pudding packed inside. My first bite more than meets my expectations. Sporting a thick, sweet custard base, this ice cream is one of New Orleans Ice Cream Company's denser options. To someone with an insatiable sweet tooth like myself, this sugary base is the perfect canvas to showcase a wide array of mix-ins.

Once I wrap my head around the creamy custard, the swirl makes it's way on to my spoon. Ben & Jerry's tends to go a bit overboard on their alcoholic-infused swirls, but New Orleans Ice Cream Company adds the perfect amount to their syrupy, Bourbon swirl. For some reason I expected the white chocolate to be incorporated directly into the bread pudding pieces, but instead I soon begin running into miniature chunks of white chocolate crammed into the custard ice cream. These perfectly sized bits melt down quickly, adding another textural element to the equation. New Orleans Ice Cream Company realized that standard milk chocolate wouldn't fit the bill here, but white chocolate compliments all the other ingredients effectively.

Employing the same tactic as they have in Red Velvet Cake and Lemon Doberge Cake, New Orleans Ice Cream Company incorporates larger, more robust pieces, as well as smaller pieces to ensure every bite has at least a little taste of bread pudding. Ballooning up to the size of gumballs, some chunks were bigger than expected. The porous nature of the stale bread allows the lovely flavors of the sugary, liquid mixture to completely infiltrate the inside. This results in a burst of sweet spices, custard and white chocolate in every bite containing a piece, which happens to be nearly every bite. Despite soaking up all these flavors, this unique mix-in avoids overdoing the sweetness.

Where I Found It: Ice Cream Source
Grade: A

READER REVIEW: Elliot's Review of Ted Drewes Vanilla Frozen Custard

If you ever visit St. Louis, MO, if you're lucky, your hosts will take you to Ted Drewes for a frozen custard treat. It’s a local landmark that dates back to 1929, and one of those places that locals swell up with pride about.

Frozen custard is made by adding additional egg yolks to ice cream to create a smoother texture and help the ice cream stay cold longer. This is part of custard’s roots as a carnival food. When Ted Drewes is served at the custard stand it is served at a temperature where it’s thick enough to turn upside down, but warm enough to begin melting around the edges, particularly on a humid summer night in St. Louis. It’s tendency to stay cold longer is most noticeable in the store bought cups available from local grocers. They seem to take forever to soften when you take them out of the freezer.

Ted Drewes is famous for frozen custard creations known as concretes. Concretes were created in 1959 out of the owner’s frustration with a young customer who’d order a malt and always ask upon receiving it, “Can’t you make it any thicker?” One day Ted Drewes, Jr. made it without any liquid, turned it upside down and said, “Is this thick enough for you, Steve?!” Concretes are the rich uncle of DQ blizzards, more delectable since they feature a richer, lower overrun custard base rather than soft serve. The name “concrete” was a play on the popular “cement shake” offered by ice cream parlors.

Ted Drewes custard is made with honey in addition to sugar, giving it a unique taste. The addition of honey was a formulation change that harkens back to rationing during WWII. I enjoy concretes featuring dry, crumbly mix ins like Oreo or Chips Ahoy cookies, which you see pictured here in homemade form. There are a wide variety of flavors and sundaes, many of which have a cult following. There is nothing quite like eating Ted Drewes on a summer night in StL outside the jam packed custard stand among throngs of Cardinals fans after a game.

Where Elliot Found It: Ted Drewes
Elliot's Grade: A

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Crème Brûlée

When I think Crème Brûlée, I think white tablecloths, tuxedo-clad waiters and table side service. But when I'm kicking back with a big bowl of Ben & Jerry's that's the last thing I want. Luckily Ben & Jerry's offers their Crème Brûlée ice cream without the fancy French restaurant feel.

Described as, "Sweet Custard Ice Cream with a Caramelized Sugar Swirl," this flavor appeared to be a strict translation of the actual French dish. Typically this dessert consists of a creamy custard filling, topped with hardened caramelized sugar in individual ramekins, sometimes prepared table-side with the assistance of a tiny torch. Having only had the dessert a few times in the past, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this in it's frozen form.

Ben & Jerry's was obviously convinced, but would I be convinced that the crème's a lot crème-ier and the brûlée's a lot cooler, too? Pulling off the lid, the initial layer shared a lot of the same coloring as the real deal.

I collected a copious chunk of the sweet custard ice cream on my spoon for my first bite. I was expecting a pretty sugary substance, but following my first bite I think I heard my dentist screaming in the distance. This was among the sweetest of any base ice creams I've had ever, not just from Ben & Jerry's. But surprisingly, it's not too sweet for me to continue. Almost as versatile as a vanilla, it intrigues me why Ben & Jerry's hasn't used this in any other of the flavors I've foraged through.

But this base just covers the sweet custard creaminess of the crème brûlée, not the torched topping. It only takes a few bites before I land a large collection of the caramelized sugar swirl.  If my dentist was screaming before, now he's just shaking his head in disbelief. This surge of saccharin intensifies the sweetness beyond what I thought previously possible. It retains the crunchy consistency of the actual topping of crème brûlée, quickly dissolving after a few chews. There wasn't a ton of this twirl of sugar, but less was certainly more in this case. Any more and my teeth may have rotted on site.

Maybe I have an insatiable sweet-tooth, but I didn't find this overbearing despite the influx of sugar soaked ingredients. It teetered on the brink, but never drove me to put it back into the depths of my freezer. In fact, I found myself fiending for more when I was finished, however, if you're cavity prone or aren't into super-sweet treats, I'd steer clear of this one.

Where I Found It: Whole Foods Market
Grade: B

READER REVIEW: Arjun's Review of Edy's Slow Churned French Vanilla

There is a range of vanilla flavors incorporated into different ice creams, all with distinct tastes and smells, even to the untrained ice cream crusher. An eater should expect that flavor to be encapsulated into the container and Edy’s Slow Churned French Vanilla delivers on that promise. The French Vanilla flavor is distinct throughout the container in both aroma and in taste.

There are two potential issues to be concerned about that could be pitfalls in a flavor such as this one: quick melting of the ice cream and gumminess. The slow- churned process does not lead to the inclusion of a high butterfat content as is traditional in ice cream. Certain Edy’s offerings have given me trouble on this point (Pumpkin Patch poignantly comes to mind), but this particular container fared well in that regard. There was no soupy residue or decrease in enjoyment. The ice cream held up well for sustained eating with delicious spoonfuls. Gumminess was not apparent, either. Gumminess is a major turnoff and an indicator of an overly artificial and unattractive concoction. With those two concerns dissipated, the flavor was enjoyable.

Just because ice cream selections throughout all brands are adjective and mix- in laden with attractive options that demand impulse buys, do not sleep on the “simple” flavors. It certainly is not a triumph of peanut butter, chocolate, pick your favorite toppings combined, but it is an unpretentious and overall satisfactory offering. At 100 calories per half cup serving, quantity might also be a consideration in making this selection. It is also ripe for your own mix-ins, but they are not necessary. I always keep an eye out for special limited editions and holiday creations, but the tried and true ones are sometimes can be worth the try.

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