The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

Every time I try a new Sweet Me Creamery flavor I'm more impressed. Sweet Cream Espresso Mocha is Vanilla ice cream kissed with espresso and swirled with caramel and fudgy brownies. It's a bit funny that this flavor is called Sweet Cream  Espresso Mocha, and yet it has a vanilla base. I tend to think of a base as being either a pure sweet cream or flavored. No middle ground. Yet the base of Sweet Cream Espresso Mocha manages to straddle the line between a sweet cream and a vanilla base without creating something that's just a sad, weakly vanilla-flavored base. The base was buttery with a hint of vanilla flavor to warm things up even more.  The espresso flavor is part of the base rather than a separate element. It was incredibly dark and rich which served to bring out the sweetness of the base. The brownies were large and incredibly dense and chewy. Greyston Bakery brownies are the gold standard for ice cream mix-ins. These came very, very close in texture, and ...

Now that I making my way through all of the new for 2017 flavors, I need to take a quick break and get the last of the destination series before they possibly go away! Yes, I know this flavor is so  2016, but I promise I'll be back to new stuff in the next review. This flavor takes us to New Orleans, featuring chicory coffee. It is described as Collaborating with the small batch artisans at CC Made, we swirl sweet cream and coffee ice cream with thick ribbons of chicory coffee caramel for an experience rich with New Orleans flavor.  Swirl magic! Okay wow, I enjoyed this. Coffee and caramel should always go together. The chicory adds a bit of nuttiness or woodiness or something to the coffee. The flavor of the coffee ice cream was rather light, and paired with the sweet cream served as a wonderful backdrop for the chicory coffee caramel. There was as much coffee ice cream as sweet cream. I liked that they did a sweet cream as opposed to vanilla or something, becau...

If Lizzy and I ever opened an ice cream shop, we would be well-covered in terms of flavor variety.  Lizzy is a fan of the 'kid' flavors packed with mix-ins and chocolate ridiculousness, and I am a fan of the weirdest possible flavor combinations you can put into ice creams. We would definitely categorize Jeni's Goat Cheese with Red Cherries as a 'Madeline flavor.' While goat cheese and cherries isn't necessarily a weird flavor combination, it's certainly not often seen in ice cream form.  The pint has Mackenzie Creamery goat cheese and roasted, sweet-tart, bright-red cherries. Mouthwatering and rich, it's like a scoopable cherry cheesecake. Confession. Jeni's became popular just before the current ice cream boom (I think we're in an ice cream boom right now, come at me) and I didn't get it. There were only two flavors available at my grocery store, and I thought the one I tried, Darkest Chocolate, was dry and weird and way too expe...

Whew, I've been reviewing a lot of Talenti flavors recently! I discovered that Kowalski's, a pretty hoity-toity grocery store, carries a bunch of Talenti flavors that my grocery store doesn't have.  Raspberries and Cream is the last of three pints I bought there. Talenti says: We did it! We made tart and creamy happen at the same time by blending our sweet cream gelato with fresh raspberries, vanilla, balsamic vinaigrette and a delicious raspberry swirl. I have a ~complicated~ history with milk.  Growing up, we always had skim milk, and my parents made my sister and I drink a glass of milk every night with dinner.  I hated it. I hated drinking that stupid glass of skim milk.  Looking back, this was probably 50% because I didn't like the taste of milk and 50% because I was stubborn about everything and didn't want to do something just because my parents wanted me to. Today I like milk a little better. I actually prefer whole milk, and will someti...

I really like that Haagen-Dazs has decided to parter with smaller companies for their Artisan Collection and their new Destination Series line.  It's put a lot of small, awesome, dessert-oriented companies on my radar.  I recently picked up Sweet Cream Coffee Caramel, described as Collaborating with the small batch artisans at CC Made , we swirl sweet cream and coffee ice cream with thick ribbons of chicory coffee caramel for an experience rich with New Orleans flavor. Before I talk about the ice cream, I just want to say that CC Made have some really interesting looking caramel sauces including a rosemary infused caramel sauce and a bay leaf infused caramel sauce.  I can think of so many ideas for this in both sweet and savory dishes. So, how was the ice cream? I think it was really designed to be the perfect backdrop and let the chicory coffee caramel swirl stand out, but my pint didn't have very much caramel!  There was a giant glob at the very top of...

I REALLY do not eat enough Haagen-Dazs gelato company.  I tend to write them off because, well, I think of them as an ice cream company and not a gelato company.  Every time I try a new Haagen-Dazs gelato I kick myself for not eating it more often. The latest flavor I have for you, dearest reader, is Cappuccino.  This is described on the Haagen-Dazs website as Bold and complex, our cappuccino gelato beautifully blends cappuccino and sweet cream gelato. The addition of sweet cream gelato is nothing short of inspired.  Wowzer.  This is what coffee ice cream/gelato has been missing it's whole life, and I love coffee ice cream! The first bite of gelato is a wallop coffee and sweet, sweet cream.  The sweet cream gelato is intensely sweet, but delicate enough that it's not overwhelmingly sugary.  The cappuccino/coffee gelato is rich and smooth giving some much needed body to the flavor. I'm sure either Lizzy or I have described 'kid coffee'...

Butter Pecan, what a classic flavor!  I tried to do some research on the history of this flavor, and couldn't find too much information other than the fact that it is considered an American classic.  I imagine it is also southern cuisine influenced. I rarely seek out butter pecan ice cream.  When it's done well it is very very good, but when it's not done well it's kind of boring.  Despite that, I decided to pick up a pint of Haagen-Dazs Butter Pecan. From their website this is An American classic, revisited with our passion for singular flavor.  We blend spoonful after spoonful of buttery roasted pecans with pure, sweet cream to create a delight like no other. Luckily Haagen-Dazs did Butter Pecan very very well.  The sweet cream base was light and delicate.  It was super sweet, but not cloying or sickly.  I think a less dense texture helped in this regard. The pecans ranged in size anywhere from a whole pecan to tiny little chunks...

After thoroughly enjoying Edy's Salted Caramel Pretzel Frozen Custard, I thought I would give this relatively new line a third shot. So far I have had one bad experience, with the Chocolate Malt flavor, and one good one. This flavor can serve as the tie breaker! I want to start by telling you there is no description of this flavor anywhere on the container. However, on the Edy's website, the description reads A rich and creamy blend of sweet cream frozen custard with plenty of chocolate cookie pieces and peanut butter swirls in every bite . When I first ate this flavor, I assumed the base was vanilla. It is odd that vanilla is considered our default neutral base, when vanilla is a flavored ice cream, as opposed to sweet cream. As I was eating this flavor, there was something different about it compared to what I was expecting it to taste like. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on. When I looked on the Edy's website for the description, and found thi...

So far, I have only had one experience with Edy's relatively new Frozen Custard line and this experience was incredibly negative. However, plenty of ice cream bloggers out there, including Madeline, who disliked the Chocolate Malt custard flavor have enjoyed other offerings from this Edy's line. I felt like this flavor was extra promising because of the salty sweet potentiality and its uniqueness! More ice cream companies should be making flavors with pretzels in them. The description of this flavor on the Edy's website reads A perfect combination of sweet cream frozen custard, chocolaty covered pretzel pieces and a generous swirl of salted caramel.  I'm sure at this point you all know I am so totally over it with salted caramel flavors. And you would probably not expect a flavor from Edy's  of all companies would get me to change my mind on this. Well, I loved this frozen custard. The main reason? The salted caramel wasn't the only salty componen...

I am currently in a Haagen Dazs cycle and I see no way out of it. However, there are worse cycles to be stuck in. Almost every time I buy Haagen Dazs at HyVee, at the register I am given a $1.00 off two pints of Haagen-Dazs coupon. When I purchased the Artisan Collection Ginger Molasses Cookie, I was given a coupon. With said coupon I purchased Artisan Collection Applewood Smoked Caramel Almond and Tiramisu Gelato. When I purchased those ice creams, I was given another coupon! Ahhh it won't end! This flavor is a collaboration with Praline Patisserie. Patisserie is the word for a shop where French pastries and cakes are sold. However, Praline Patisserie , in San Diego, does not exactly make pastries and cakes. They make tasty looking sauces, like their Applewood Smoked Caramel Sauce, for example. They also have Lavender Caramel Sauce, Espresso Caramel Sauce, Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce and a bunch of others. I want to go to there. This flavor is described as Swirls of smo...

It must be unofficial coffee ice cream month here at Big Muddy. Not long ago I reviewed Ben and Jerry's Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz and Madeline not long ago reviewed  Ciao Bella Caffe Macchiatto . Though I have to say I was not intending to buy lots of coffee ice cream when I bought this. I really just bought it because the art on the pint really stuck out to me in the store. I really love the black packaging of Haagen-Dazs gelato. And I thought the little coffee cup on it was really cute! If B&J's Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz is a New Yorker downing an espresso while racing to the subway, this cappuccino gelato is an Italian relaxing in a cafe, leisurely enjoying a cappuccino (at least in flavor). I'll give the long description printed on this pint, because I think it does a very good job of capturing this ice cream: "Meet Haagen-Dazs ice cream's Italian cousin, gelato. Bold and complex, Haagen-Dazs Cappuccino gelato beautifully blends cappuccino an...

I know I am a little late on the uptake that only now I am reviewing one of Ben and Jerry's scoop shop exclusive SNL flavors. However, you've gotta cut me some slack seeing as I now live, like, two and a half hours away from a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop. Many people fairly say the the golden age of Saturday Night Live is looong gone. However, anyone would acknowledge that Kristen Wiig is one of the few gems of the late 2000s early 2010s SNL. Her characters are fabulous. Although Target Lady is my favorite Kristen Wiig character (because I think only Target Lady matches my deep passion for that heavenly place), you gotta love a good Gilly skit! Here!! Watch one!! https://screen.yahoo.com/gilly-science-fair-000000981.html When I first heard about the SNL flavors, I was really expecting a muffin counterpart to the Schweddy Balls flavor that lasted just a few blissful weeks before our good friends B & J realized having a ball flavored ice cream, despite being delicious,...

For a long time I have been intrigued, but slightly off-put by Haagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream.  Many times I have seen this in the freezer, come close to buying it and then backing out at the last minute.  I don't really know why I have been so apprehensive to try this flavor.  I have had other coconut ice cream before and absolutely loved it.  I'm also in to adventurous ice cream flavors and pineapple coconut is not actually that adventurous.  I think my aversion may have stemmed from how weird pineapple and coconut look with the red/yellow color scheme of the Haagen-Dazs cartons. The yellow of the pineapple looks SO GROSS with the background yellow! Whatever the reason I had been avoiding this flavor, I'm so so so glad I finally picked it up.  This is much creamier than the typical Haagen-Dazs flavor.  It was light and fluffy perfection.  Haagen-Dazs describes this as Pure, sweetened cream, tropical pineapple and the distincti...