April 05, 2006
Free Cone Day!
This year's Ben & Jerry Free Cone Day is April 25, 2006 from noon to 8 p.m. Head to a Scoop Shop near you and share the love.
This seems like as good a time as any to post a Flav-o-Review. Last week, I went to Shaw's to buy ice cream. As luck would have it, B&J's was on sale ($2 each!) and they had a great selection in stock. So, I picked up an assortment of flavors, including a few old favorites (NYSFC, Cherry Garcia) and a few of the newer ones (Black & Tan, In a Crunch, Magic Brownies, Turtle Soup, and Neapolitan Dynamite).
- Black & Tan: Cream stout ice cream swirled with chocolate ice cream. Chris and I both really liked this flavor. It's quite tasty, and not overly sweet. It's a smooth ice cream, though, and I tend to go in for chunky flavors. (That's just me.)
- In a Crunch: Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Peanuts & a Crispy Fudge Swirl. Although I'm a big fan of peanut butter, I found In a Crunch to be too sweet. I like the combination of salty peanut butter and sweet (preferably dark) chocolate ice cream. Kimball's makes a pretty good chocolate/ peanut butter ice cream, but the p.b. distribution is too variable.
- Turtle Soup: Vanilla ice cream with fudge & caramel cashews & a caramel swirl. Chris liked this, even though he's not particularly fond of caramel. Anything with cashews usually rates with him. I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say.
- Magic Brownies: Vanilla Ice Cream with Swirls of Raspberry & Brownies. We've actually had this flavor before, but I'm mentioning it again because I like it.
- Neapolitan Dynamite: Cherry Garcia® and Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice creams, side by side. I saved the best for last. It has the brownie/ fruity goodness of Magic Brownies, but it's even better because it has a chocolate ice cream base. I don't really think that taking 2 existing flavors and jamming them into the same carton really counts as a "new" flavor, but it's a good combo.
I'm in the midst of trying to recreate a chocolate ice cream I made a few years ago. All I remember about it was I went way overboard on the cream and the finished product was ridiculously rich, chocolatey and had a slight buttery taste. I'll keep you posted.
Posted by: Jay at April 5, 2006 08:49 PMUpdate! Lacking the ability to get back to sleep after waking at 4am, I decided to finish making the ice cream. First, the base had almost solidified in the fridge overnight; a very good sign. My ice cream maker was groaning after 15 minutes when I stopped it, emptied (as best I could) the contents into a bowl and stuck it in the freezer. Due to short churning time and cold base, some ice cream had totally solidified in the ice cream maker so I got a taste of the final product. What's the emoticon for drooling? :)~~~ I'll post the recipe on my blog.
Posted by: Jay at April 6, 2006 08:11 AMI have to admit, I'm a little concerned that it practically "sets up" in the fridge. I have a mental image of something that's the consistency of fudge before you ever pour it into the ice cream maker. But Chris is psyched to try making it, so we'll let you know the results.
Posted by: rv at April 6, 2006 03:06 PM