The 4 Seasons of Ice Cream: Your favorite ice cream thread

sounds like a home-style variant of a brioche

niiice

The problem with vanilla ice cream is you must read the label to be sure you're getting actual vanilla ice cream. With a lot of brands it's just 'vanilla flavored'. I l like the French vanilla myself.

You should patent this recipe toute de suite!

Oh Soz, I would throw caution to the wind if I wwere to go to Jeni's.

The parts of the menu which tugged at my heart were:




Dark Chocolate
Mouth-filling, palate-gripping, intense chocolate flavor with a fudge-like texture. Pleasingly dry finish.

Wildberry Lavender
Complex. Intense lavender with hints of exotic spices and lots of brambly berry flavors.

SORBET:

Riesling Poached Pear
A surprisingly rich sorbet; pure pear flavor with unique pear texture; sweet Riesling notes shine on the finish.


YOGURT:

Lemon Yogurt
Pure tart lemon, true tangy yogurt, perfectly balanced and not too sweet. Jeni's favorite!

And then the seasonal...

SORBET:

Peach Lambic
Unbelievably sweet Ohio peach flavor elevated by effervescent lambic. Clean, refreshing finish.

Plum Cassis Lambic
Like biting into a ripe plum. Overtones of sweet and sharp black currants. Sparkling.

YOGURT:

Mango Lassi
Intense mango flavor with musky undertones; curiously rich and savory with cream and yogurt on the finish.

Diabetes, schmiabetes, when I say these are to die for, I'm thinking of dying with a smile on my face and very sticky fingers.

And, having lived in New England for thirty years, I agree that ice cream is an all-year treat.

Wildberry Lavender and Pear Riesling are two of sozlet's favorites (have been since she was very little, which always amused the people who work there) (including Jeni, who we ran into at Whole Foods the other day and who said "Hi [sozlet]" and stopped to chat for a while! She makes good ice cream but those kinds of customer relationships are a big part of her success I think, she's a sweetheart and evidently has a very good memory!)

The only other one I've tried is the Mango Lassi, which is absolutely positively omigosh amazing.

I saw recently that La Michoacana has now many new outlets - think I read that on a2k. For good or ill, I've no idea.

I suppose Jeni's could do that. I guess I'm for having one or at the most two iconic places, with complete control, but I'm not so sure I'm right.

There are a bunch of Jeni's stores in the area now, which is part of why it was impressive that she remembered us, since she's not in stores much at all anymore. (She does more behind-the-scenes and publicity stuff now than actually serving ice cream.) There also is mail-order. And the ice cream is sold in regular stores too (like Whole Foods), not just dedicated Jeni's stores.

I do hope that the quality stays high as the expansion continues. Alton Brown/ Food Network just named it the "best exotic ice cream" in America*, so I bet they're gonna keep growing. But local, handmade and small batch are all parts of the Jeni's thing so maybe they just won't go beyond a certain size.

* http://www.foodnetwork.com/regional-international/americas-best-top-ten-sweets/pictures/page-5.html

That will be interesting to follow.

In a similar way, we knew the woman who created Cypress Grove (super cheese), only that she asked us our take re her place. She wasn't a client, but we liked her.

She just sold, with promises the buyer will keep the company steady and in place.

I hope that for Cypress Grove, and for Jeni's as it grows, and la Michoacana.

http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2011/ice-cream/

Walked by the Big Gay Ice Cream truck after work this Friday.

Got this unusual ice cream sundae.

Soft serve vanilla ice cream,
crushed cashews,
sea salt,
chocolate sauce,
Siracha hot sauce,
and pickles.

Tastes much better then it looks and sounds.

Yum. Are those bread 'n butter pickles?

<looks aghast>

Farquhar's Dairy Tiger Tail Ice Cream


that cone needs a wee bit more liquorice for my taste

Dill pickles if my memory serves me correctly.

This is the pregnant woman's ultimate cravings ... or so I deduced.

DJ? I assume that the illicit consumption in tiger tails would be illegal Canada? Are they orange or licorice flavored?

(((gagging at the idea of black licorice flavor in any form)))

Just stay away from the Rocky Road. You know it's going to taste like asphalt, right?

An ice cream sandwich from the Coolhaus ice cream truck here in NYC.

Double chocolate cookie with strawberry and candied jalapeno ice cream.

Ice cream?
In darkest winter?
Talk to me about stews, or soups ... or comfort foods, tsar. Any comfort food will do.
Any thoughts on mashed potatoes?

Jeni's keeps getting more accolades:

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/holidays/editorial-feature/top-five/top-5-ice-cream-parlours

Italy, New Zealand, Argentina, England and COLUMBUS, Ohio are home to the top five ice creams in the world! Woo!