READER REVIEW: Elliot's Review of Phin & Phebes Banana Whama

Check out Elliot's latest review of Phin & Phebes Banana Whama with a little insider info from one of the founders of this Brooklyn based company!

Growing up on the Mason Dixon line, I was not quite southern enough to have access to true southern banana pudding. All I can do is try to make up for lost time. The ice cream gods conspired against me this fall as Phin & Phebes became unavailable locally, forcing my hand to order some online via Fresh Direct. I hope this disturbance in the force is resolved in the coming months as local grocers sort out what they’ll carry next spring.

Phin & Phebes is one of just a handful of nationally available brands who choose to do things the hard way. They don’t include gums, thickeners or stabilizers in their ice cream, even “natural ones” like tapioca starch and syrup. It is cheaper and easier to craft a base and duct tape it together with binding agents and thickeners than with just milk, cream and eggs, especially one that stays together on its own, has a decent shelf life and can be produced on a large scale. One of the Phin & Phebes pints I’d found to be habit forming is their Banana Whama flavor. They’ve added a pleasing pudding flavor to a banana base dotted with vanilla wafer pieces. The texture of the 14-15% butterfat base is velvety, not icy or watered down as is the problem with many ice creams featuring fruit. The crumbly wafers remain well textured throughout the pint.

I was able to get a bit of the backstory from Crista of Phin and Phebes on how this flavor came to be : “I grew up in the South and one of my favorite places to eat was this place called Woody's BBQ. Every time we ordered from there I would order like a quart of banana pudding and gobble it up. It was the perfect balance of whipped cream, vanilla wafers and bananas. It was the real homemade deal. I moved away from the South when I was 18, and didn't realize how much I missed banana pudding until I rediscovered it at Magnolia's and Sweet Sugar Sunshine in NYC. They were able to make banana pudding that actually tasted like the stuff I would eat in the South. When making this flavor my obsession for Banana Pudding was reborn and I was literally buying a quart each week for myself to consume. When we starting making ice cream in our home kitchen for fun and playing around with a bunch of different concepts I would make banana pudding myself from scratch, using butter, cream and corn starch. I’d use the homemade banana pudding and pour it into our sweet cream ice cream base. The flavor was awesome and we would sell through it like crazy at markets and fairs, but what we realized when launching our pint business is this not a shelf stable product and that it gets icy over time. So I then set out to reformulate the recipe to what you see today. Jess and I both agree that it is even better than the original concept we made in the past.”

There you have it! A star is born. I love this pint and this brand, and am eager to see what other flavors will be born in Brooklyn.

Where Elliot Found It: Foody Direct
Elliot's Grade: A

REVIEW: Front Porch Nana's Banana Pudding

After recently confessing my nostalgic love affair with banana pudding during my review of Blue Bell's Banana Pudding, I was hoping Nana's version from Front Porch would be even better. Although I've never referred to my grandmother as Nana, it's widely known that if your grandmother is cooking it, whatever that may be, it's bound to be delicious.

Glancing over the description, I'm a bit concerned with the lack of a whipped cream component. As a highlight in Blue Bell's version, whipped cream plays a vital part in what makes the flavors in banana pudding so comforting. Hopefully Front Porch realizes the disadvantage they've put themselves at by leaving out such a key ingredient.

Holding off the urge to make presumptions, I skim through the unabridged description and tear off the top. The look and smell of this ice cream quickly put my mind at ease. The familiar aroma of banana pudding subsided my desire for the addition of whipped cream. The soft, pliable banana ice cream passively collected on my spoon. After examining my first bite, this is the most accurate rendition of actual banana pudding you're going to find.

Front Porch should lose the banana ice cream tagline and name this base simply, banana pudding. Possessing the slightly artificial banana taste, just like actual banana pudding, I couldn't shovel this stuff in fast enough. Light, airy and overly smooth, even the consistency rivaled real pudding. With only one mix-in on hand, Front Porch amplifies the amount of vanilla wafers inside.

Although they could have been bigger, these vanilla wafers helped tremendously with taste and texture. Coupled with the bold banana base, the somewhat soggy, but still slightly-crunchy wafers give this an authentic feel. A step above a standard Nilla Wafer, these carried the same crunch, but were much chewier after the fact.

What I previously thought would struggle without the whipped cream component, did just fine. After all, the more real estate for this banana base, the better. At only 170 calories per serving, and much easier than whipping up an entire platter of pudding, this pint-sized offering will continue to find it's way into my freezer.

Where I Found It: Ingles Markets
Grade: B

REVIEW: Front Porch Charleston Sea Salt Caramel

After first exploring the Front Porch brand back in late 2012, we haven't had access to many new flavors until we made our way to Harris Teeter. There is where we found their Charleston Sea Salt Caramel: caramel ice cream with caramel swirl, vanilla wafers and sea salt. The illustration on the front and the "now with MORE cream & sweets" sticker this seemed like a sure thing. Once the lid was removed things looked even more promising.

The sweet, smooth caramel ice cream coated every taste bud initially, but had a salty bite as things started melting down. While this base alone was reason for praise, the thick stripes of caramel and large chunks of vanilla wafers added enough taste and texture to elevate Front Porch's creation towards the upper level of our rankings. We look forward to more creative flavors like this one from a local Carolina based company.

Where I Found It: Harris Teeter
Grade: A

REVIEW: Steve's Southern Banana Pudding

Earlier this week, my mother called me inquiring about what I’d like for my birthday. Keep in mind I’ll be turning 26 years old and have refused presents for nearly 10 years now. Somehow, I was able to keep her at bay, change the subject and end the phone call without giving her any outlandish gift ideas. Her mother’s intuition must have kicked in soon afterward she hung the phone up though because later that evening I was surprised by a knock at the door. She had driven over an hour, from her house to mine, to hand-deliver a large helping of one of my favorite desserts: banana pudding. It just so happened that The Fresh Market near my house had just started carrying Steve’s Ice Cream products and it just so happened that I had picked up a pint of their Southern Banana Pudding earlier that day with the intentions of enjoying the whole thing on my actual birthday (August 10th). Now Steve’s had some serious competition in the form of my own mother’s homemade banana pudding to live up to.

Steve’s version of this southern staple comes in at 280 calories per serving and combines their own banana ice cream swirled with Pies ‘N’ Thighs banana pudding and a vanilla wafer crust crumble. The clear container fully displays the lightly colored ice cream, pale yellow splotches of banana pudding and plenty of those wafer pieces. While it may not be quite as gaudy or visually appealing as a pint of my mother’s actual banana pudding, that’d be an unfair comparison. I let the carton sit out for a few minutes and scoop out some of the banana base to serve as my first taste. The rich, super-premium banana ice cream is among the best I’ve ever had and acts as the perfect foundation for a banana pudding themed flavor.

The smaller bits of the vanilla wafer crust crumble provide some crunch to each bite as they share each spoon with the sweet, banana ice cream. Even though there are plenty of tiny wafer pieces in each spoonful, they grow to be much larger further down. The bigger pieces of crust adds some real texturem along with the genuine flavors of actual vanilla wafers. Although it may vary from pint to pint, mine was absolutely loaded from top to bottom with this crumble. To finish off their Southern Banana Pudding ice cream, Steve’s once again looks to the expertise of the Brooklyn-based Pies ‘N’ Thighs.

As I worked my way towards the bottom of this carton, I encountered plenty of the darker yellow splotches of actual banana pudding. Not only is the consistency completely different from the ice cream itself, but it also introduces another element of authenticity. My only complaint was that, until the pudding fully melted down, there were a few bites full of an icy texture; but only initially. Once the pudding had thawed a bit, a bite landing all three key components easily reached the requirements giving this flavor an A. I’ve had quite a few considerations for best banana pudding ice creams ever, but this one may be the new front-runner.

Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: A

And just for good measure, here's some more banana pudding eye candy:

READER REVIEW: Dominique's Review of Steve's Southern Banana Pudding

The base has a unique banana flavor, just like an old-fashioned banana cream pie. It’s what cheap imitations, like Runts banana candies, are always trying to capture but can’t. What impressed me the most is that you can actually see little brown banana threads throughout the ice cream, just like in banana bread – visual proof this is the best banana ice cream out there (unless you want something that tastes like biting into the fruit, which this does not).

The mix-ins couldn’t complement the ice cream better. Nilla wafers are thought of as a bland cookie for good reason, but these wafer pieces – baked by Pies-N-Thighs – are flavorful. Part of what makes them so good is the real, rich vanilla flavor, which gives the two versions of banana something to play off of. But the really genius thing about these are the fact that it’s a wafer crust, not wafer cookie pieces. They’re moist and tender, not soggy. They start off as dense but break apart into crumbs when crushed between teeth, a pretty neat trick, if you ask me.

The pudding swirl functions exactly as it’s supposed to, adding a second layer of fruit flavor. While the base is rather light and super creamy, the pudding is rich and dense with banana flavor much in the same way as is a good banana bread. The flavor profile ends up like a simple sandwich: banana cream on top, vanilla wafer in the middle, banana pudding on the bottom. And the sum is definitely more than the parts.

One bad thing in a sea of creamy goodness: My pint was not well-mixed enough. The bottom had way too much of the wafer crust, which means I was really missing out when I ate the first half! By the end the ratio wasn’t working as well for me at all, but the flavors were still just as insanely delicious.

This is one of the best ice creams I've ever had, particularly of the pre-packaged variety, and it's far and away the best Steve's flavor I've tried so far.

Where Dominique Found It: Associated Supermarket (Brooklyn, NY)

Dominique's Grade: A

REVIEW: Blue Bell Banana Pudding

Being from the South, I'm familiar with family style dinners. Any given Sunday you could find us feasting around a big table on those southern staples such as fried chicken, buttery biscuits and collard greens. Plates would be passed around, and around, until everyone had accumulated a massive mountain of savory grub amidst their plates. Soon afterwards, with bellies full and clothing buttons on the cusp of bursting, out came the desserts. Cobblers, crumbles and cakes made their way around the table. But I knew better. I knew not to fill that last pocket of stomach space with any of that warm, baked baloney. I had experience. I knew what frosty fare awaited me in the fridge. Then somebody would make that first move. They grabbed the handle, flung open the door and unveiled that transparent serving bowl. The lavish layers of blonde pudding, white whipped cream and vast amounts of vanilla wafers peer back at me through the glass. I'd spoon myself a hefty helping and proceed on my way to banana pudding pleasure.

Blue Bell has made it easy for those of us that don’t have access to the real thing by rolling out their Banana Pudding ice cream. This pint of premium banana ice cream perfectly blended together with whipped topping and vanilla wafers manages to come in at a more than reasonable 170 calories per serving, which means nearly anyone can fit a few servings into their diet. After removing the gold-rimmed lid, the first layer shows all the ingredients, especially the swirling banana ice cream and whipped topping sitting on the surface. The banana base was sweet, just heavy enough to remain relevant and would serve as a great foundation to build upon.

The amount of whipped topping stuffed inside is nearly the same as the base itself and is able to texturally contrast the ice cream with its light and fluffy feel. The final components, the vanilla wafer chunks, are the highlight of this pint just as they are in the real dish. These bits of broken cookie start out with some crunch, but break down and combine with the banana base and whipped cream topping to provide a pretty good impersonation of actual banana pudding. A bite containing all three ingredients is about as good as I could have hoped for, but I’d love to see what a super-premium ice cream company could roll out using the same ingredients.

Where I Found It: Ingles Markets
Grade: B

REVIEW: Phin & Phebes Banana Whama

Recently while browsing the aisles of a local organic food supermarket called Earth Fare, I stumbled upon a school of new selections sitting behind the freezer glass. Nestled in between the assortment of flavors from Jeni’s and Graeter’s, a small number of seemingly hand-designed pints sat peering back. After leaning in for a closer look, I started reading some of the creations currently available from the Brooklyn-born Phin & Phebes Ice Cream. Although it sat surrounded by enticing flavors like Coconut Key Lime, Ginger Cookie Snap, Vanilla Cinnamon and Vietnamese Iced Coffee, my hand instinctively reached for Banana Whama. Banana Pudding based ice creams are among my favorite, but because I’m so fond of them, I’m also overly critical. From fast food to super-premiums, I’ve had them all; but the simple description of banana pudding ice cream with vanilla wafers left me running towards the checkout lanes.

This small-scale operation cranks out five flavors of super-premium, 14% butterfat ice cream; a percentage that shows in the nutrition facts. Banana Whama will set you back 240 calories per serving, but a sacrifice I’m willing to make for the sweet succulence of banana pudding. After taking my first bite of the banana pudding base, I'm taken back by the simplicity of their ice cream and the spot-on taste it achieves. Phin & Phebes have added the ideal dose of pudding flavor to the let you know you aren’t strictly dealing with bananas. Their ice cream manages to retain a fluffy consistency despite its super-premium status; a trait you a rarely see when dealing with ice cream this dense.

The handmade feel surrounding Banana Whama is exemplified even more with the nature of how they’ve incorporated the vanilla wafers. These roughly broken pieces are left near-whole on occasion and really ramp up the authenticity. The big hunks of soft, chewy cookie are thicker than your standard wafer and some of the best I've ever had. Even without a whipped cream component, this has still managed to become my new go-to when I'm looking for a banana-pudding fix. Phin & Phebes are officially in my good graces and I look forward to further exploring their flavors.

Where I Found It: Earth Fare
Grade: A

REVIEW: Zaxby's Banana Pudding Milkshake (Limited Edition)

After posting my first fast food review last week, I’ve had my eyes peeled for another limited edition product to pick up. Then Wayne Brady appeared on my television screen. Zaxby’s latest commercial showcases their banana pudding milkshake: a creamy banana pudding flavored milkshake, hand-blended and topped with real whipped cream and sweet vanilla wafer pieces. A banana pudding based dessert is about the only thing that would be able to pull me away from the chicken strips, seasoned crinkle fries and Zax sauce I’d normally order. Blue Bell and Front Porch have previously tried the same concept in their ice cream, but I’m interested to see if the fast food industry can attempt to keep up with store bought creations.

After paying my $2.99 plus tax and waiting about 5 minutes, I was handed a tall plastic cup that only provided a partial view of the banana pudding based milkshake inside. With the top plastic lid removed, I could get a better look at the real whipped cream and sweet vanilla wafer pieces that had just been placed on top. The whipped cream layer stood about an inch thick, much like it would in the actual dessert, and had been sprinkled with vanilla wafers that had been pulverized into a fine powder consistency. Although a few pieces had managed to barely sneak through the blender, this didn’t include any whole wafers. For my first taste I plunged my spoon through all three layers of ingredients and brought back a concentrated bite.

Unlike many milkshakes you’ll find at other fast food chains, Zaxby’s doesn’t go overboard with the concrete consistency. This banana pudding milkshake was easily sucked through a straw and because it lacks any large mix-ins, flowed up smooth and steady. The actual milkshake produces a more complex flavoring than I had expected. Zaxby’s has built on the taste of a simple banana base by incorporating a strong pudding flavor as well. This fluffy shake’s soft-serve feel means that everything envelops your taste buds at once; without the wait time of frozen solid ice creams. The velvety texture is soon built upon when the whipped cream and wafers come into play. By adding the whipped cream, it gives some portions a light, aerated feel; while the crushed cookies provide the little bit of crunch to give Zaxby’s Banana Pudding Milkshake an authentic impersonation. I’d still rather have a pint of banana pudding ice cream or, better yet, a bowl of the real stuff.

Where I Found It: Zaxby's
Grade: C

REVIEW: Publix Premium Southern Banana Pudding (Limited Edition)

At one time, banana flavored ice cream used to be completely irrelevant for me. For years I ignored options like Ben & Jerry's famous Chunky Monkey and others simply because of the banana base they were using. But lately my taste buds have taken a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction and now I can't seem to get enough of banana-themed ice creams. Publix Premium has been pushing out a slew of new, limited-edition selections lately and Southern Banana Pudding is one of their most recent releases. Described as smooth banana ice cream with swirls of vanilla cream and bits of buttery cookies, this will have some serious competition from Blue Bell and Front Porch's versions. At 170 calories per serving, this is in line with it's competitors, but still low for many of the small-batch flavors from Publix. After removing the lid, the pale yellow base is only slightly broken up with bits of buttery cookies and streaks of white vanilla cream. As I transfer the ice cream from the carton to a bowl, the consistency is fluffier than I was expecting, but remains substantial enough to retain it's frozen state for a while after being removed from the freezer.

After taking my first bite, the banana base seems a bit mild, but is intensified by the streaks of vanilla cream careening about. Adding a small textural difference as well, the flavors of the banana and vanilla cream mesh together tremendously, all the while creating that familiar taste of banana pudding. The real disappointment with this flavor comes in the form of the bits of buttery cookies that have been smashed beyond recognition. While both Blue Bell and Front Porch's versions had huge hunks of vanilla wafers, the cookie component of Publix Premium's flavor lacked the handmade feel of the others. Some of the larger pieces were able to attribute to a taste of authentic banana pudding, but the tiny fragments did little for the overall performance. Although this wasn't bad by any means, and I'll be trying some of the other limited edition flavors from Publix, this still sits at the bottom of the banana pudding totem pole.

Where I Found It: Publix
Grade: C