Kroger Delux Fried Ice Cream

I bought this ice cream the same day that I bought the Klondike Bars. That day I didn't really have a plan as to what ice cream I wanted to buy at the grocery store; I wanted something to jump out and inspire me. The last Kroger frozen dairy product I had, I wasn't that impressed with. But when I saw the flavor, Fried Ice Cream, I was immediately intrigued. Anyone who has gotten fried ice cream at a Mexican or Asian restaurant knows that eating fried ice cream is an experience. It is always a little different at each restaurant, a different coating, different flavor, etc. I don't necessarily associate fried ice cream with with one particular thing, and I was excited to see how Kroger interpreted this ice cream experience into a flavor.

There was no description on the box, but from the ingredients I could tell the base of the ice cream was cinnamon, there were cinnamon shortbread pieces and a honey caramel swirl. I was really hoping for some Special K/cornflake chunks, because that is what I associate fried ice cream with aka that is how the shitty Mexican restaurant in Fenton makes it. Despite the lack of corn flakes, I was still pretty excited about this Kroger flavor. Their interpretation of fried ice cream seemed decent.

The execution? Not so much. First, I thought the cinnamon was a bit overwhelming. I know that fried ice cream is often topped with cinnamon, but this seemed like just cinnamon ice cream. The honey caramel swirls was basically non existent, so I didn't seem to get any flavor variety. The worst part of the ice cream was the shortbread chunks. They were big, which got me excited, but after trying them I wished they were smaller, because I did not like them. I prefer softer shortbread, but I know that not all shortbread is soft. This, however, was not only hard, it was overly crunchy and dry. Definitely not enjoyable. I almost wanted to dunk the chunks in milk, but I realized they were essentially SURROUNDED by milk and that should not be necessary. The texture of the ice cream, on the other hand, was pretty good. Very airy and soft and it had lots of pull to it.

This is a pic of one of the sad, dry shortbread pieces.

Did this ice cream remind me of eating fried ice cream? Nope. Nope nope. My hopes were definitely shattered. I guess I am just learning I shouldn't get my hopes up for a store brand ice cream. Which is sad, because I really want to believe the store brands can succeed!! Overall, Kroger should call this flavor a Cinnamon flavor and just get rid of the honey caramel swirl that didn't exist anyway. It wouldn't be a great ice cream, but at least it would be an honest one.