The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

Out of the three new dairy TRIO flavors (yes, there are non-dairy TRIOS this year!) I was most excited about the Lemon Raspberry White Chocolate flavor. The other flavors sound good, but less adventurous. Lemon Raspberry White Chocolate is white chocolate and raspberry sauce, lemon and raspberry ice cream.  Grammatically, the description makes it sounds like this flavor has white chocolate sauce, but in reality it has crunchy white chocolate layers. Tsk tsk. This reminded me so much of a lemon layer cake with raspberry filling. The lemon ice cream had a very light and sweet flavor like ... well ... lemon cake, and the white chocolate gave a touch of richness reminiscent of a buttercream frosting. I was initially disappointed with this flavor because I was hoping for much bolder flavors, but it's growing on me as more time passes. Like a lemon layer cake with raspberry filling, this wouldn't be a dessert I'd purchase or try to make from scratch, but I'd definitely...

The new Magnum pints are so far the only new-for-2018 to reach me so far in the frozen north. Lizzy reviewed  Milk Chocolate Hazelnut  so I picked up two different flavors: White Chocolate Vanilla and Dark Chocolate Raspberry. Before I review the ice creams, I have to get something off my chest. Magnum tries SO hard to be this 'swanky' and 'sexy' and 'classy' ice cream brand and then they call their new pints TUBS! Yes, tubs! Possibly the least swanky, sexy, classy word in existence. What were they thinking?! "Let me just sit down with my TUB of Magnum." White Chocolate Vanilla is  Velvety vanilla ice cream and thick white chocolate shards encased in a crackling white chocolate shell.  Dark Chocolate Raspberry is  Raspberry ice cream with thick dark chocolate shards, all surrounded by a cracking layer of dark chocolate. Made with 65% cacao dark chocolate, it's luxury in every bite. Who wants to eat SHARDS?! Again with the off-putting...

Today I've got a double review of some Kemp's limited edition flavors. Kemp's is a dairy company based in Minnesota and recently released a line-up of four Minnesota-inspired ice creams.  Sadly, I went to the store a few days ago and didn't see them, but you may still be able to find them. I bought 2 out of the 4 flavors in mid-October which must have been pretty close to the end of their run at my local Cub Foods. I picked up the two fruity flavors: Cherry and Spoon and You Betcha Berry. Cherry and Spoon is  vanilla ice cream, cherries and brownie bites with swirls of chocolaty fudge.  So you might be wondering, 'What the heck is the deal with the name Cherry and Spoon?'  Spoonbridge and Cherry  is a sculpture at the Walker Garden that has somehow become  the  Minneapolis image on all Minneapolis promotional material (like the arch is for St. Louis, or the Golden Gate Bridge is for San Francisco). I don't really get it, though. It's jus...

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...

On our last Sunday in Utah, a group of us did another hike/ice cream combo.  I mean .... best combo ever or best combo ever?  Let me set the scene for you.  5:45pm. A group of five hungry and tired mathematicians determined to get ice cream.  Many things in Utah, particularly small town Utah, are closed on Sundays.  Everything in Midway is closed.  Granny's Drive In in neighboring Heber City is open until 6pm.  Hit the gas.  We made it with a few minutes to spare and weren't even the last in line! As far as ice cream goes, Granny's does exclusively shakes and malts, and they have SO many delicious-sounding options.  I couldn't decide, so I asked the employee taking orders about her favorite flavor.  With absolutely zero hesitation, she enthusiastically exclaimed, "Raspberry!" I couldn't not get a raspberry shake after that. I got a size small because I had ice cream I had to eat later that night (I bought way too much ice cream way ...

No you are not experiencing deja vu! But yes I did post about FoMu quite recently. I stopped at the Cambridge FoMu pop up shop a few weeks ago when passing through Boston to my second research location of the summer. Luckily, I passed through Boston again on my way home! The pop up shop is also located next door to a super tasty vegetarian fast/casual restaurant with a couple locations in Boston. I obviously was stopping their for dinner, and decided to grab some FoMu for the walk back! The first flavor that caught my eye was called Magic Bar. It is described as Coconut ice cream, shaved coconut, dark chocolate pieces, pecans, crumbled oats. I was pretty excited by the prospect of basically a coconut squared flavor, so decided to try the Magic Bar. I decided to mix it up a bit with my second flavor and get something fruity, since I hadn't tried a fruity offering from FoMu yet. I went with Almond Raspberry Crumble described as Raspberry ice cream, crunch almond granola . ...

Now that primary season is just about over, I've finally made my way over to the Hamburg Inn. For those of you that don't live in Iowa or don't follow the presidential primaries super closely, Hamburg Inn is an old diner in Iowa City mostly famous for being a frequent stop for presidential candidate visits. Often presidential candidates will order a famous pie shake from Hamburg. I went this past Monday to try this concoction! The pie shakes are made by blending an entire slice of pie (or cake, they have some cake flavors, like red velvet, which I want to try) with milk and soft serve ice cream. There are a lot of different flavors of pie to chose from and I was struggling to make my decision. I was intrigued by the bumbleberry, seeing as I had no idea what it actually was. The friend I was out with said she really liked it, so I went for it. After I ordered it, I asked our waitress what it bumbleberry actually was and she told me it is raspberry, rhubarb, and apple!!! Wh...

The post you've all been waiting for! You've probably been wondering what ice cream I ate the day before the Boston Marathon. Brett and I decided to go back to Picco, which we visited last time I was in Boston, because it was so good! When we went and met up with my friends Lizzie and Naomi, Picco was super crowded, as was just about every restaurant in the Boston area. So we order our ice cream from the counter to-go and walked around Boston Commons with it! There were lots of tasty flavors being offered that day, and most of them ones that I didn't try last time. I've been in a coconut mood lately (mostly eating coconut curries and other coconut desserts) so I went with the coconut chip. Also spring means time for awesome fruity flavors, so I decided on raspberry chip! So pretty! The base of coconut chip was strongly coconut flavored and quite sweet! As Brett described Picco's ice cream, "their flavors are what they say they are!" Picco's f...

Once again, I'm totally behind. Madeline does such a good job at bringing you all the new flavors as they come out. But I'm always off in ice cream la la land (this time around ice cream la la land was reviewing the NOLA shipment) and it takes me a while to review new flavors. So for those of you that aren't already bored by Ben & Jerry's Cake My Day, read on. This limited batch flavor is described as Vanilla Cake Batter Ice Cream with Vanilla Cake Pieces, Buttercream Frosting & Raspberry Swirl, Now, like Madeline, I'm not the biggest fan of cake. Obviously my favorite dessert is ice cream, and after that it would have to be cookies, brownies, pie, cupcakes, then cake. Not that I would say no to a free piece of cake, but it is so easy for cake to be bad. Like bad cookies are still good, but bad cake is bad. However, lots of people were saying great things about this flavor, so I was stoked to try it. I'll start with the base. Vanilla c...

Magnum is entering the new ice cream for the new year fray with their new Double Raspberry bars.  These bars are Raspberry ice cream dipped in a chocolatey coating, raspberry sauce with other natural flavors, and milk chocolate. I didn't love Double Peanut Butter, Magnum's 2015 new flavor, so I was a little hesitant to pick up Double Raspberry, but decided to do it when I saw they were on sale.  I'm glad I did, as I feel like Magnum is back on track with the Double Raspberry bars after an off year in 2015. These reminded me a bit of the divine Haagen-Dazs Pomegranate Dark Chocolate Bars (which at one point were limited edition, but now look like they are part of the main line) with the tart berry flavor against the rich chocolate. The raspberry ice cream gave off a mild, but present raspberry and cream vibe, and was the perfect ice cream bar texture.  It was airy enough that I could bite through it, as opposed to very dense ice cream where it is dif...

Raspberry Cheesecake was the second of two new-in-2015 Talenti flavors I found (for the first time!) recently.  I really disliked Chocolate Cookie Dough, but thankfully, Raspberry Cheesecake was much better.  This flavor is Cheesecake: heavy.  Cheesecake gelato: not heavy.  There's some science in there somewhere, but all we know is, when we blend real pieces of raspberry cheesecake and sweet raspberry vinaigrette, we never want to eat our desserts on a plate again. First impression:  Wow, the base really tastes like cheese, but a mild cheese, so not offensively cheesy. Mmmm Cheese. We need more cheese in our desserts.  As this gelato began to melt, it even smelled cheesy.  This was a great cheesecake base, one of the best I've ever tasted.  The mix-ins weren't overly bold, so the base was the starring element of this flavor. The raspberry swirl was also quite good, but it was not thick enough or prevalent enough to thoroughly enjoy. ...

Dearest readers, I feel a little bit bad about posting this review.  McConnell's Summer Fruit Cobbler is an absolutely divine flavor that, unfortunately, was only available from May 31 to September 31 so you may not be able to obtain this flavor at the moment.  Straub's must have a pint or two left in stock.  Hopefully this will become available again next summer so you can try this absolutely lovely ice cream. While this flavor is listed on the McConnell's website, there is no flavor description, but it seemed to be sweet cream ice cream with chunks of peach, raspberry swirl, and cinnamon-y crumbles of cobbler crust.  Alliteration for the win! I wonder if there is a different picture on every lid of McConnell's? New ice cream collection? The first thing that struck me about this ice cream was how sweet it was.  To be specific, it was not exceedingly sugary or cloying.  Instead, it was like biting into a perfectly ripe and juicy peach or a ha...

Ice cream is best served in EXTRAVAGANZA form. And when you put me and Madeline in the same city for more than one day (which doesn't happen nearly enough and not just for ice cream reasons), there is bound to be an ice cream EXTRAVAGANZA!! This past weekend, Madeline came to visit me in Iowa City. I haven't lived here long, and I basically never go out, but I was at least more than capable of showcasing the best ice cream in Iowa City (and Iowa, in general).  Madeline was here for Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday through mid afternoon, so there are obviously three parts to this mega-post. Part 1: Yotopia Okay, yes, we should have called this a frozen dairy dessert EXTRAVAGANZA, but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite like Iowa Ice Cream EXTRAVAGANZA! (Lets play a game. How many times can I write EXTRAVAGANZA IN ALL CAPS before I alienate all of our Dearest Readers??) (Madeline's note: at leas 10,000 times.) But Yotopia is such a central fixture to Iowa Ci...