Once again, the folks at New Orleans Ice Cream Co. have taken it upon themselves to torture me with a whole new batch of flavors. As he always does, co-owner Adrian Simpson plied me with their latest, five pints of NOLA goodness, for free! Because of my diet, I only enjoyed small samples of each one, while John happily devoured the rest.
Just this past spring, New Orleans Ice Cream Co. released these five new flavors; Creole Cream Cheese & Blueberry, Cookies and Cream, Sweet Potato Pie, Bride’s Cake, and German Chocolate Cake. Though I’d like to get right to it and focus on my two favorites, I might as well say a few words about the rest.
The Cookies and Cream and Bride’s Cake tasted pretty much exactly as you’d expect. They weren’t bad, they just didn’t blow my mind. Although it would require a side-by-side taste test to be absolutely sure, both flavors could hardly be differentiated from other maker’s versions I’ve had from the grocery store.
The German Chocolate Cake was something yet again. I need to preface my ruling by saying I am a big fan of German Chocolate Cake. In fact, it was my father’s birthday-cake-of-choice, and when my mother didn’t purchase one from the baker, I would frequently make it . . . both from the box and scratch. New Orleans Ice Cream Co.’s version is described as “a decadent dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake pieces and a caramel swirl laced with sweet coconut, then finished with a scattering of walnut pieces.” It was basically their Chocolate City base flavor with cake and walnuts. What disappointed me was the minute amount of coconut. To me, German Chocolate Cake just isn’t right without a decent dose of coconut flavor swimming throughout, and the ice cream version just wasn’t hitting it. I think if they included some shredded coconut, it would kick up that coconutty flavor, as well as the desired mouth feel.
Now for the good part . . . my favorites! Coming in 2nd place is the Sweet Potato Pie. The base is a thick, creamy vanilla ice cream strewn with cooked sweet potatoes, French pastry crust and marshmallows. It tasted just like a sweet potato pie with a dollop of ice cream on top. Maybe next Thanksgiving you could serve this on top of your home made sweet potato pie! Would that be overkill? I don’t think so.
The rousing winner in this cool quintet was unequivocally the Creole Cream Cheese & Blueberry. I’m already a huge fan of New Orleans Ice Cream Co.’s Creole Cream Cheese flavor, so rich and creamy and tangy, with fresh blueberries added to the mix, it only got better. When you have a hankering for local flavors, even if you aren’t local, this one’s easily your best market buy!
