Let start at the beginning. They are redoing the flooring in our new office space and the A/C sucked up all the fumes and dumped them into our part of the building. I decided to take a long lunch to clear my head. Oh my way back I ran into Walgreen's, rather than going for a tasty strawberry coolatta (small's are only a $1.99 now, woohoo!). Anyway, I checked out the flavors and picked out the interesting Caramel Overload for $2.29. It's billed as a caramel ice cream with chocolate chips and a caramel swirl, but like I said, calling them chips would be wrong. Tasty looking flakes would be better.I got back to work (which now stinks of a second coat of varnish) and opened up the container. It wasn't full, in fact, it looked like it had shrunk. No matter, I'm starved. I dug in and found the ice cream to be very gritty. It's not that it tasted awful, and for a second I even debated if it was on purpose, but then i realized all the ice crystals buried deep in the ice cream (instead of on the outside). The flavors combine for a pleasant and mild flavor, but maybe the freezer burn has affected the taste. Is the swirl always this pleasant, or has the flavor been diluted by ice crystals? Such a waste of a potentially perfect pint. I really like how the chocolate flakes add flavor (and good looks) without adding crunch.
I'm going to have to rescoop a fresh container of this stuff because I think it could be really good ...and preferably do it in the fresh air.
Update: I decided to ditch the ice cream before I was tempted to try and finish it. I did notice something as it melted though. Instead of chips, or even flakes, let's go with chocolate shavings. Not the thin curly type, but thick rough looking shavings.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size 1/2 cup (66g) Servings Per Container 4 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 150 | from Fat 60 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 7g | 11% |
| - Sat Fat 5g | 24% |
| - Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 25mg | 8% |
| Sodium 70mg | 3% |
| Total Carbohydrate 20g | 7% |
| - Dietary Fiber 0g | 0% |
| - Sugars 18g | |
| Protein 2g | |
| Vitamin A 4% | Vitamin C 0% |
| Calcium 6% | Iron 0% |
Yeah well freezer burn isn't an ice cream problem. If you have ice crystals on the outsides thats one thing but on the inside thats a different story. Walgreen's Ice Cream is always awesome where i am so most likely its just a holding temperature problem at that walgreen's
ReplyDeleteI've read your comment several times trying to craft an appropriate response, I'm not sure I have it, but here goes.
ReplyDeletefreezer burn may not be the best term, but I think most readers get the idea that it was some kind of freezer related problem that messed with this ice cream. The freezer might be bad, but it came from a Walgreens that was built within the last year, so the freezer should still be in tip top shape.
I just had the same experience with a pint of the cake batter lavor. It looked like it had shrunk and it was just very ice like consistancy wise.
ReplyDelete