READER REVIEW: Elliot's Review of New Orleans Ice Cream Co. Cafe Au Lait & Beignets

You have to hand it to the folks at New Orleans Ice Cream Company. Their vision to leverage the storied New Orleans food culture to produce creative and fun ice cream flavors is brilliant. Café au Lait & Beignets is the iconic French Quarter breakfast. Enjoying piping hot beignets covered with a mountain of powdered sugar alongside café au lait is part of the definitive New Orleans tourist experience. Café au Lait & Beignets (the ice cream) has garnered much attention from it's acclaim on this very website.

Creating an excellent coffee flavor was personally important to Adrian, one of the founders of NOICC, who has a background in the coffee industry with New Orleans Coffee Co. For the café au lait base, a chicory-coffee blend is cold brewed and married with scalded milk. Beignet dough pieces are spiced with cinnamon and liberally scattered throughout the base. Cinnamon is not traditionally found in beignets, here the spice is added to provide depth of flavor. The flavor is finished off with a powerful sugary swirl, adding tremendous sweetness, as powdered sugar does in the real thing.

For those who like sugar on their sugar, this saccharine, caffeinated pint delivers all the sweetness you need. The beignet pieces are more akin to "beignet dough" than beignets. The chewiness the beignet component provides is enjoyable, and while non-traditional, the cinnamon spice works well with the sugared coffee flavor and keeps things interesting. Coffee and donut themed ice cream is one that several companies have tried, and this one is at the top of the heap when it comes to that flavor profile.

New Orleans Ice Cream Company has been expanding distribution, and is becoming more widely available throughout the country. As more people try their ice cream, while some will be motivated to do so by their recollection of the great taste of the real thing, I wonder if the ice cream will inspire those who haven't made it to NOLA to head down south.

Where Elliot Found It: Straub's Market
Elliot's Grade: A

REVIEW: Blue Bunny Red Carpet Red Velvet Cake

The first time I tried Blue Bunny’s Red Carpet Red Velvet Cake was early in this blog’s existence. Since then, we’ve reviewed hundreds of ice cream and I have a better grasp on where things sit taste wise. My super-premium snobbery has waned over the past year and lately I’ve really enjoyed some of the lighter fares available. I’ve also learned that flavors are typically much better in carton form than in smaller pint sized portions.

With that said, I was ready to give this 150 calorie per serving combination of rich, red velvet cake flavored ice cream is elegantly paired with cream cheese frosting flavored ice cream and red velvet cake pieces. The premium ice creams are bold, flavorful and their easily identifiable as red velvet and cream cheese. The red velvet base really allows the chocolate involved to come through.

The small pillows of red velvet cake pieces are pretty consistent throughout the whole carton and come into play at least every other bite. These are even a deeper, darker red than the maroon ice cream surrounding them. While the result isn’t quite as impressive as some of the super-premium renditions, for the calories, it’s another solid option from Blue Bunny.

Where I Found It: Ingles Markets
Grade: B

REVIEW: Mayfield Birthday Cake

In an attempt to branch out to some other brands, I reviewed a carton of Mayfield's Snickerdoodle a few weeks back. Recently I ran across some pint-sized portions available at a super-low price, so I decided to sample a flavor that I wouldn't normally purchase if it were in a larger container. My first experience had been pleasant enough to convince me to try their version of Birthday Cake ice cream, sugar cookie flavored ice cream with a big blue icing swirl and colored butter cream flecks. The only other sugar cookie base ice cream I've had the pleasure of experiencing acted as the foundation inside Christmas Cookies from Blue Bell, so hopefully Mayfield's version can have close to the same effect.

The fact that Birthday Cake only contains 150 calories per serving could be reason for concern, especially considering the weightlessness of the pint despite being full inside. Judging by look and calorie count, this seems to be of similar quality to that of Blue Bunny's Birthday Party. Yet again, the lack of actual birthday cake pieces which Blue Bell and Turkey Hill managed to include, would have been worth the influx in calories. With the top removed, the first layer is manilla-tinted, with hints of the thick blue icing swirl and multicolored butter cream flecks showing through to the top. Unfortunately, as I began to gather some of the beige base onto my spoon, I found the sugar cookie flavored ice cream had an unusual crumbly texture, usually consistent with low-quality ice cream.

The overly-sweetened base tended to have an artificial flavoring that had a bit of a cake batter taste, but finishes with a taste closer to it's intentions of sugar cookies. Although I was satisfied with the consistency found in Snickerdoodle, the base used in Birthday Cake just wasn't as smooth as I was hoping. Mayfield attempted to make up for this fact by adding a large amount of the icing and sprinkles. Very similar to the swirl and flecks used in Blue Bunny's Birthday Party, the butter cream sprinkles add a bit of texture, along with a burst of additional sugar. But the best, and sweetest part of this pint, comes in the form of the thick, bright blue icing careening throughout this container. The taste is identical to authentic icing you'd find on a birthday cake, but fails to impersonate the actual texture. The end result can't quite manage to overcome it's brother from Blue Bunny, or any other birthday cake flavor for that matter.

Where I Found It: Ingles Markets
Grade: F

REVIEW: Private Selection Carrot Cake (Seasonal Offering Limited Edition)

Seasonal selections are always welcomed on this blog, and after trying Southern Recipe Banana Cream Pie a few months back, coupled with my infatuation with carrot cake, the decision to try Private Selection's latest limited edition was an easy one. Nearly all of their offerings revolving around cake, such as German Chocolate Cake and Southern Red Velvet Cake, were able to secure high scores using the simple concept of taking a capable premium base ice cream and combining it with a succulent swirl and real cake pieces. Only sticking around Kroger's freezers for a few months, their newest Carrot Cake flavor takes a decadent carrot cake ice cream with swirls of sweet cream cheese blended with pieces of carrot cake and pecans. I've missed out on the Ben & Jerry's Carrot Cake creation of the past and Blue Bunny's 24 Karat Carrot Cake wasn't quite up to my standards, so I'm looking to see how Private Selection's entry stacks up.

The 210 calories per serving comes as a bit of a surprise seeing as how this isn't inside a pint-sized portion, but Private Selection always manages to pack in the denseness despite being in a bigger container. Pulling back the lid revealed a pastel orange base riddled with pieces of pecan, while effectively hiding the chunks of cake and swirls of cream cheese beneath. Transferring the ice cream from the carton to a bowl allowed me to feel the balance of the dense, yet fluffy ice cream that makes up this base, something that all of Private Selection's flavors seem to have. After taking my first bite, my first impression comes from the sweet spiciness inside. Almost similar to the spices that comprise a pumpkin-inspired flavor, the original taste is finally replaced by the familiar taste of carrot cake on the back end.

Much like they were used in Pumpkin Pecan Spice from Blue Bell, Private Selection has also used the nut to include inside their carrot cake base. The influx of pecans add a crunchy texture, that breaks down into a soft, chewy feel, all the while releasing a complimentary flavor to the spiced ice cream. As is the case with nearly every cake-inspired selection, the actual hunks of carrot cake would be the most important factor of this flavor. The pieces included in this carton were some of the most impressive I've found. These managed to remain soft and chewy, avoiding the soggy feel you'd expect after sitting inside ice cream. The taste of authentic carrot cake added to the artificially flavored base and bits of pecan create an incredible combination.

The finishing touch of this flavor comes from the swirls of cream cheese frosting that makes its way through the other ingredients. Although not overly thick, the sweet taste of icing adds the perfect parting gift to this phenomenal flavor. Because of the large amount of ingredients involved, there weren't many bites that didn't have nearly every component involved. Private Selection's Carrot Cake ended up being the best flavor I've found from them to date, slightly ahead of Southern Red Velvet Cake. I would advise tracking down a carton before the holidays are gone.

Where I Found It: Kroger
Grade: A

REVIEW: Blue Bell Gingerbread House (Holiday Favorite Limited Edition)

While most companies have barely rolled out their Fall and Thanksgiving flavors, Blue Bell has wasted no time getting straight into the Christmas Spirit. After reading the description of this gold-rimmed beauty above, it seems like I've saved the last of Blue Bell's holiday favorite's flavors for last. Having previously reviewed Christmas Cookies, Pumpkin Pecan Spice and Peppermint, this half gallon of Gingerbread House combines cinnamon ice cream with gingerbread pieces, festive sprinkles, miniature marshmallows and a vanilla icing swirl together to create this succulent sounding selection. Besides the festive sprinkles that are also found in their Christmas Cookies flavor, this will be my first experience with nearly all of the components included inside this gingerbread based ice cream.

210 calories per serving seems like a small price to pay for the plethora of goodies packed inside this carton. After lifting off the lid, I'm left looking at a first layer that looks nearly identical to that of Christmas Cookies, perhaps only a slightly darker shade of beige as a result of the cinnamon base. This is one of the rare occurrences where a flavor shows it's entire hand from the beginning. The cinnamon ice cream is riddled with red and green sprinkles, loaded with small white pillows of marshmallows and not so effectively hidden hunks of real gingerbread. Much like their other seasonal selections, this is right in line with the consistency of previous Blue Bell flavors I've had.

As I begin to fill my bowl to the brim, my excitement waxes, while my patience wanes. I throw the scoop aside and grab a spoon to secure some of the cinnamon base. The thick and flavorful foundation is overly sweet, but incorporates just enough cinnamon spice to balance out the sugar. Seeing as how the base is so bombarded with other ingredients, it's really hard to taste only the cinnamon. The red and green sprinkles make their way into nearly every bite, adding a slight crunch that gives way to the subtle flavor of the Christmas colored candies, all while enhancing the aesthetics. The visible vanilla icing swirl adds even more texture and is certainly reminiscent of the piped icing lining gingerbread houses during the holidays.

Marshmallows are usually incorporated into ice cream in the form of a swirl, but after having a few of these, I'm willing to jump ship to the authentic mallow cylinders found in this container. Adding the unique, squishy texture that only marshmallows possess, these fluffy mix-ins set the stage for the highlight of the carton. As you can see from the pictures, every serving is loaded with a ton of gingerbread. These pieces bring back memories of the soft, chewy cookies found in Christmas Cookies. The unmistakable flavor of gingerbread is the perfect addition to all the sugar and cinnamon.

Don't expect to find stale, month old gingerbread house leftovers inside this one. These pieces taste fresh out of the oven, even retaining their pliability despite sitting in a half gallon of frozen ice cream. Although these pieces are larger than any of the other mix-ins and there's a decent amount of spice incorporated, the gingerbread only adds to the sweetness. My insatiable sweet tooth was highly impressed. So much so that Gingerbread House shot ahead of Dessert Trio in the Blue Bell rankings.

Where I Found It: Publix Super Markets
Grade: A

READER REVIEW: Kenneth's Review of Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake

Here's a review from our friend over at The Retail Judge examining a flavor that I personally feel gets too much criticism and one I always enjoy, Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake.

Flavor-wise, there isn't much to distinguish red velvet from other, similar desserts. Rather, the famous cake seems to attract more attention thanks to its color scheme (white offset by dark red). Either way, it remains a strong inspiration for use in other treats, including candy and ice cream. Ben & Jerry's take on such an implementation was one of my very first forays into their selection, so a revisit seemed reasonable.

Although red velvet cake tends to have a somewhat dark look, Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake has a pale tone, overall. Pink is what comes to mind, more than anything. It's clear from the outset that there's plenty of cake pieces scattered throughout. Since this is a touted "Red Velvet Cake Batter" base, the immediately indulgent sweetness is both fitting and rewarding.

The consistency is dense and relatively filling, as far as sweet treats go. Though the cream cheese swirl blends seamlessly with the ice cream, it becomes easier to spot thanks to a more melted appearance. It brings a slight change in texture, reinforced by a reasonable amount of cake pieces. As you might expect, these provide more of that straightforward cake flavor, combined with a density not too far off from a lighter, less hefty brownie. This is more than likely a result of the surrounding ice cream.

Working my way through the pint lets me become acquainted to the initially, arguably overblown sweetness. Since we are dealing with cake batter ice cream and cream cheese, there's a good chance some will draw the line before finishing a single serving. But my taste buds are able to adjust, leading to a nice balance of flavor and texture. For as sweet as this stuff is, I do wish there was more of a cream cheese swirl, since it truly accentuates the experience of getting it, the ice cream and some cake pieces all together. Judging the ice cream for what it is, however, I find little to fault it with. It's tasty, indulgent and sure to keep you smiling down to the last scoop.

Where Kenneth Found It: Walgreens

Kenneth's Grade: B

READER REVIEW: Elliot's Review of Oberweis Birthday Cake

We were excited to find a couple flavors of Oberweis we'd been eager to try, including Birthday Cake, on sale last week at a local grocery. Living with a cake and icing connoisseur, I accepted the fact that I was second in line to try this flavor and eagerly awaited our resident expert's opinion.

Oberweis is a regional brand based out of the Chicago area that has been around for 99 years. Oberweis describes their ice cream as "produced with fresh milk and cream delivered from the family-owned dairy farms that produce exclusively for Oberweis Dairy. Oberweis Ice Cream is Made with a minimum of 18% Butterfat making it a much richer product than many of the so-called super premium national brands". Some purveyors tout artisan techniques, all "natural" ingredients, even fair trade practices. Well, Oberweis is proud to say that if their base had any more fat it would churn into butter. Our base has more fat than the others. For a lover of rich, high butterfat ice cream like me this is just my speed.

This regional powerhouse cranks out at least a dozen flavors in unassuming black containers with limited description or fanfare. They are available at grocery stores and their dairy stores, which are well worth a visit for the milkshakes, sundaes and chocolate milk.

Our resident expert was initially disappointed that this was not the icing you'd find in a fine French bakery (dare to dream), and more like the icing you'd spell a kid's name with on a birthday cake. In some sense, they nailed it! We agreed that it captures the essence of birthday cake and ice cream, and does so with a much richer base than what you'll get at junior's birthday party.

You can see the tapestry of colors in the photos. The texture, however they concoct it, is as perfect as it looks. They are no stranger to using gums and additives that would give artisan producers and natural food fanatics an aneurysm.

A key to enjoying this to its full potential is to have the patience to let it temper fully so that the flavors emerge. That is very challenging once you set eyes on this visually stunning concoction. This is one of the best versions of this theme we've encountered. Light ice cream aside sheet cake doesn't stand a chance against this.

Where Elliot Found It: Straub's Market
Elliot's Grade: B

REVIEW: Turkey Hill Party Cake

After trying some of Turkey Hill's limited edition Pumpkin Pie, as well as being tipped off by a fellow blogger, I decided to give their Party Cake a taste. Birthday cake flavors seem to be pretty standard these days and many companies churn up some impressive creations. Blue Bunny used blue icing and bright sprinkles. Blue Bell utilized chocolate cake and chocolate icing. Ben & Jerry's kept it simple with a yellow cake batter base and a swirl of chocolate frosting. Turkey hill has decided to create their version by swirling buttercream frosting and multicolored cake pieces with their vanilla flavored ice cream.

I feel any birthday-inspired offering should incorporate cake, preferably large chunks of the stuff. Judging from the description and pictures on the carton, Turkey Hill shares those same beliefs. They've decided to steer towards the more traditional by trying to capture the taste of white sheet cake and colorful icing. They do so by adding tons of these multicolored cake pieces that look strikingly similar to the sugar cookies chunks used in Blue Bell's Krazy Kookie Dough. With the top removed, the blue frosting swirl and abundant hunks of cake easily show through the bright white ice cream.

Party Cake comes in at only 160 calories per serving and this is evident when my spoon comes in contact with the ice cream. The vanilla base gives way easily to my spoon and scooping multiple servings into a bowl is done with little effort. Ice cream this soft usually indicates a company catering to health-conscious consumers, but the overall taste is anything but. Much like Blue Bell, Turkey Hill is able to produce lower calorie ice cream without the dreaded gummy texture.

The soft, pliable base moves about with ease, but still takes a while to break down on your tongue, releasing a burst of sugar along the way. I'm not sure if this is just Turkey Hill's standard vanilla, but it seems sweeter than most. The baby blue buttercream frosting has so fully infiltrated the albino base that it's nearly impossible to get a bite without any. This adds even more sweetness, along with a soft, gooey texture. But the highlight of this flavor are certainly the chunks of multi-colored cake.

Turkey Hill has crammed copious amounts of these yellow, pink and green bites of sheet cake in the places where the frosting seems to miss. No matter the color, these airy pillows of cake break down with little effort. Enjoyable as they were, I still prefer Blue Bell's chocolate version, although any bite containing all three components provided a pretty impressive birthday cake ice cream experience. I never thought I'd say this, but the addition of sprinkles for a texture could have easily enhanced Party Cake. I'm still waiting on a birthday offering that manages to fill in the spaces others have seemed to overlook.

Where I Found It: Kroger
Grade: C

READER REVIEW: Steve's Review of Blue Bell Christmas Cookies

When it comes to the holidays I'm old school, which in my book means that Christmas season doesn't start until Black Friday after Thanksgiving. But Blue Bell must think otherwise, because passing by my local Walmart freezer today I noticed their "Christmas Cookies" flavor staring back at me. Being a lover of Christmas and cookies, I just had to try this!

Blue Bell describes "Christmas Cookies", part of their Holiday Favorites lineup, as a sugar cookie flavored ice cream with chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar cookies with red candy cane shaped sprinkles and a green icing swirl. Peeling back the lid, I noticed the presence of just about all of these elements, especially the green icing swirl and the red candy sprinkles. Digging in, my spoon quickly encountered resistance as it collided with unknown cookie pieces and the feast was on!

A half-hour and an empty container later, I concluded that Christmas Cookies is a wonderful ice cream. The base itself is both a bit creamier than Blue Bell's vanilla and sweeter too, much like a good sugar cookie. The green icing is not a mint flavor, but more like a rich and creamy birthday cake icing, similar to the kind my mom would squeeze out of a tube onto her cookies, while the red candy sprinkles combine with the green icing to provide a cheerful Christmas-like aesthetic. Best of all, the three mix-ins are each delicious and are generously distributed throughout the container. I would say the snickerdoodle and sugar cookie mixes are more plentiful than the chocolate chip, but all three are in abundance, and we are not talking little pieces but rather nice size chunks of each! Also, this ice cream has great synergy. As good as the ingredients sound separately, they gel together even better. Once the ice cream starts to melt a little, the creamy base, swirling icing, and cookie chunks melt into one bodacious mass of ice cream flavor, and because you get three different types of cookies, different combinations of these chunks produce different flavors, so the taste-buds are continuously stimulated in different but always delicious ways.

I'm grateful that Blue Bell thinks the Christmas season starts in late October, because that means we get this great flavor now rather than later. I advise all ice cream lovers to get this while it lasts!

Where Steve Found It: Walmart

Steve's Grade: A

And here's my review of the exact same flavor they release in the Summer, which they call Christmas Cookies in July:

READER REVIEW: Steve's Review of Blue Bell Birthday Cake

As much as I love ice cream, there is nothing my sweet tooth craves more than a good birthday cake. Or better yet, a slice of birthday cake with a dollop of ice cream. So this week's Saturday Blue Bell feast just had to feature their Birthday Cake flavor, especially since the label promises the presence of pieces of chocolate cake, my favorite birthday cake flavor!

Removing the lid, I was greeted by a mostly pleasant sight: Blue Bell's creamy vanilla base sprinkled with colored candies and interspersed with dollops of a rich chocolate. However initial spoon probing revealed the latter to be chocolate topping, not the desired pieces of cake, a possible cause for concern.

However, I didn't have to dig long before the mostly-vanilla surface gave way to a smorgasbord of chocolate swirl and those eagerly anticipated cake pieces. Thick and richly textured, the tasty chocolate swirl, billed as an icing on the label, is actually much more like the fudge ribbon found in flavors like Happy Tracks. Plus, the cake "pieces" are not tiny flakes or bits but substantial chunks! These chocolate cake chunks are moist, chewy, and generously distributed throughout the container. And importantly, rather than overwhelming the vanilla base, this ice cream manages to hit that taste sweet spot wherein the chocolate swirl and cake blends with the vanilla flavor in a complementary fashion. True, the colored candies are mostly ornamental, not adding much to the taste, but they serve this aesthetic purpose well, giving the concoction the look of a festive birthday celebration. The overall effect is that when you eat a spoonful that has a cake chunk, and there are lots of those, it really looks, feels and tastes like you are eating a scoop of birthday cake and ice cream.

Blue Bell's Birthday Cake ice cream is indeed a treat for anyone who wants to experience the joy of eating the classic birthday cake and ice cream combo without having to wait for the next family birthday to buy a cake. Not surprisingly, I couldn't stop eating it, polishing off the half-gallon in one sitting.

Where Steve Found It: Winn Dixie
Steve's Grade: A