Boxed Ice Cream

One thing I’ve discovered in grocery stores in Tunisia (where I’m staying right now) is that they truly love desserts that come out of boxes. There are full isles in the grocery stores dedicated to baking and dessert making that comes out of a box. While most of these desserts and baked goods are fairly similar to what you find in many countries, there is one thing that really stood out to me, boxed do it yourself ice cream.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen ice cream in a box before, and there’s no way I was gong to let it pass me by.

Have you ever had a boxed dessert that seemed to easy to be true? This can really happen for two reasons, either there is truly very few steps to follow in order to make your dessert, or it’s such a complicated dessert (often requiring specific machinery) that you can’t believe that it can be made out of a box. This chocolate ice cream is the rare occasion where it’s both of those. This ice cream requires no ice cream machine at all, and the only other ingredient needed is milk.

It’s also not that complicated to make, just mix in the powder with the milk for a few minutes. Honestly it’s so simple that it had me worried about what was going to come out.

After my few minutes of mixing I was ready to let my freezer do the rest of the work. The liquid in my container looked and felt a lot like some of the ice cream starters I’ve seen in the past, so that was positive. The thing that made me nervous was the fact that it wasn’t going to be stirred while, before or after freezing. The instructions did suggest letting your ice cream sit for a few minutes before serving, so maybe that’ll help?

The end product kind of resembled ice cream. It did have ice crystals throughout and also seemed to be darker on the bottom and lighter on the top. Other than that the everything seemed okay... ish. Honestly those two problems do make for unimpressive ice cream. The end result was a little softer than I expected, and tasted pretty good too. The ice crystals were the most annoying thing about this ice cream, but it wasn’t the worst. The two different layers tasted the same as far as I can tell, but the texture of the darker parts was a little gooier than the light stuff.

All in all it wasn’t the best ice cream I’ve ever had, but it was remarkable considering how little work I had to do to make it. I’m not sure I would suggest this as an all the time ice cream substitute, but as a science experiment it was kind of fun.

Baklava Ice Cream Inspires

 On a recent trip to the grocery store, I discovered an ice cream flavour that was totally new to me, baklava. Since I’m living in North Africa along the Mediterranean it’s not really a surprising flavour to find, but it is unique for sure. The ice cream itself is interesting, it combines pistachio ice cream with several ingredients found in baklava.

Most of the ingredients worked fairly well, in particular the syrup swirled throughout was great, as was the crunch base. The filo pieces mixed in and sprinkled on the top were okay, but also a little soggy. They also didn’t add much to the flavour. If I was to try and improve this ice cream I would say more filo dough, maybe a few layers of it between the ice cream. I’m also not a huge fan of pistachio ice cream, but in this context it was much improved.

This ice cream was a nice little treat, but it was also a source of inspiration. It inspired me to think about how many desserts one finds in the ice cream isle. I’m not talking about ice cream cakes, or any frozen cakes, I’m thinking specifically of ice cream flavour based on desserts. Off the top of my head I can’t think of too many of them. Honestly, I don’t know if I can think of one specifically, but I just feel like I’ve seen some before.

I’m very certain I’ve seen dessert themed ice cream at ice cream parlours. In particularly the fancy ice cream parlours that make their own ice cream. While I’m sure there have been a few, I’m surprised that dessert themed ice cream flavours are not more common. Probably the closest thing that comes to mind are ice creams that features bits of cookie in them. While it’s kind of dessert flavoured, I wouldn’t really call it themed. I’d like to be proven wrong on this, so if you know a good dessert themed ice cream that you can get at the grocery store, let me know.

Now it wouldn’t be fair for me to just complain about this without offering a few suggestions. So here are a few ideas I think might work really well:

Cheesecake – A creamy ice cream, creamier than most so it feels like cheesecake. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but if you could even get the tart flavour of cream cheese that would be great. Then, swirl in some strawberry syrup. Finally, a layer or two of graham cracker crumbs would give this a little texture and really keep it on theme.

Apple Pie – Now I feel like someone has made an ice cream with apple pie in it, but I’m thinking more about an apple pie ice cream. This would probably feel more like an ice cream cake, but I think the key would be to keep the crusts as layers instead of just pieces. You could have a nice cinnamon/vanilla ice cream with apple pie filling swirled throughout. Then you could have a layer of pie crust on the top and bottom. If the bottom is too complicated at least the top would be good. Frozen cooked pie crust is actually pretty good, so I think it would work really well.

Carrot Cake – This one might be a little divisive, but if done well I think it would work really well. Again, I’m not just talking about filling this ice cream with pieces of carrot cake either. I would say take a super creamy ice cream (maybe the same one you used for the cheesecake) and add some of the ingredients from carrot cake. The carrot cake spices would be key, cinnamon and cloves for sure. Also adding some walnuts, raisins and yes... shaved carrots. I don’t think you’d want to add carrot to the ice cream as that might be too much, but strings of shaved carrots might actually work.

I’m sure there are other desserts that might be tasty in ice cream form and I’m glad that I got to sample this fun baklava ice cream to get inspired. 

For The Love Of Swensen's

Have you ever had something that you were sure was a memory shared by just about everyone, only to find that you’re one of the few? I feel like Swensen’s ice cream is that for me. This isn’t a recent memory either, this is a deep rooted childhood memory. It’s also a memory of something that no longer exists, at least in the way I remember it. Taste and smells are said to be one of the most important ways of connecting people to memories, and everything about Swensen’s fits that bill for me.

When I was a little kid, my father used to take me and my sister to Swensen’s in the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. We would either get a large sundae and share it, or we would get several small sundaes and have our own. I feel like it was a very regular occurrence, and it was most certainly something that would happen on your birthday. I was young enough that I never really thought about where this business originated. In my head it was either a special place just for us or it could have been all over the world (like McDonald’s). I frankly didn’t care, but it was a place I figured would be around forever, but it wasn’t.

In my early teens the Eaton Centre went through some major renovations, and in these renovations Swensen’s was lost. There were no other locations that I knew of, so my assumption was that I would never have a Swensen’s Sundae again. At the time the internet didn’t exist, so there was no looking it up to find out if other locations existed. It was just gone, and while I was sad at first, I eventually stopped pinning for it and let it rest in the back of my mind as a fond memory. In some ways the memories got so faded that I wasn’t sure how real any of them were.

Time went on, the internet became a thing, but I never even imagined that this distant memory could have actually been more than just a single location that was gone, but still held memories. Then I moved overseas and I went to South East Asia, and I learned that Swensen’s still existed. Best of all, the decorations for the newly discovered locations where filled with nostalgic touches. These bits of nostalgia matched my memories perfectly. The first time I saw one of these restaurants (in Thailand I believe), I may have actually shed a tear.

I got some ice cream with Allison, she thought it was fine, I was immediately brought back to my childhood. Now that I lived in South East Asia (where most of their locations are), I was even able to enjoy a birthday or two at Swensen’s. People say that reliving memories as an adult can be dangerous because they never live up to what you remember. With Swensen’s that just isn’t the case. Sure I’m not with my sister or father, but being with Allison is pretty great, and the ice cream treats are exactly what I remember.

The good thing is that I don’t actually remember the quality of the ice cream or toppings. I don’t remember any one particular item on the menu that I loved. I just remember the old fashioned light fixtures, the classic ice cream bowls and spoons and just enjoying ice cream the way it was served it its heyday. I could say that everything I want is back, but that’s only kind of true.

While I’m still living in South East Asia now, it wont be forever. Our plans are to retire back in Canada, and that means my access to Swensen’s will be little to none. Sure I know it still exists, and I can double check that on the internet, but it’s not easily accessible on my birthday (it’ll take a good 15 hours to fly). So what I would love is what I always wanted. I want Swensen’s back in Canada, at the Eaton Centre, right where it belongs.

What Are The Most Common Ice Cream Toppings

I think the debate about what ice cream toppings are the best would run forever, with no winner ever announced. This is mostly because the best ice cream toppings are very subjective. The real question is what are the most common ice cream toppings, particularly when we're talking about store bought ice cream treats. While I haven't done any real research on this subject, my guess is chocolate and peanuts. Peanuts might be losing favour these days with so many people having allergies, but I still think chocolate and peanut with a vanilla ice cream is probably still very popular. The next question is why are these ingredients so popular. Is it because people really love them, or is it because it's simple and less expensive?

Check out my latest ice cream review featuring peanuts, chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

Not All Failed New Candy is a Failure

One thing about writing reviews for so many years is that I've learned that just because a candy doesn't do well, doesn't mean that I wish it never existed. I'll admit that there are a few candies out there that I wish I had never tasted, but there are also some candies that didn't work, but with a few tweaks could be a revolution in the candy world. My latest featured review, cheese ice cream, is just such a treat. I think cheese and sweet treats work well together, there are hundreds of baked treats filled with cheese. It also makes sense to have two dairy product merge together. So the idea of cheese ice cream isn't really that strange. While I didn't love this cool cheese treat, I love the idea of it.

Check out my lates cheesy review.

The Best Ice Cream?

 Here's a quick list of the top ranked ice cream treats that I've reviewed on candycritic.org.

Mixue, The Ice Cream Trend That I Didn’t Know Anything About

 My first experience with Mixue happened in Thailand. I was walking through a mall that I have visited many times when I noticed a new ice cream place. It appeared to be a soft serve ice cream shop, and I didn’t really give it much thought. Later that afternoon I walked by the shop again only to see a gigantic line forming outside the shop. This isn’t something new to Thailand as it’s a bit of a collection spot for trendy foods. I figured that that ice cream shop might just be the newest hip thing and eventually the lines would die down and maybe on a future visit I’ll give it a try. I’m not really the type of person to line up for soft serve ice cream, unless someone I trust tells me it’s worth the wait.

I few months later I was back in Thailand and once again I walked by this unassuming ice cream place and once again it had a huge line. It was a little peculiar as often the trendy places in Thailand die down in popularity fairly quickly, and in some cases they even shut down in a few months. This one however had some staying power. I once again didn’t get a cone, but I decided to keep an eye on this place.

A little while later I found myself in Singapore, and I happened to walk by an ice cream place, and once again it had a huge line. Upon closer inspection I realized that this was actually the same place that I saw in Thailand. Now I was seriously intrigued. After all it just looks like a run of the mill soft serve ice cream place, so why are people lined up for basic soft serve all over Asia? Could it be that there’s some kind of special treat they offer, or maybe the vanilla ice cream is that great?

When I past the first shop in Singapore, I didn’t have time to stop, but as luck would have it Allison and I came across another location and amazingly enough there wasn’t a huge line. It was just after supper and a soft serve ice cream would make for the perfect dessert. While there wasn’t a lineup, it was still a bit of a challenge to get a cone.

I’m not sure if this is the same at every Mixue location, but the stores in Singapore don’t take credit card. This is problematic for us since we were only visiting Singapore for a short time, and didn’t have much cash. We tried to go to the kiosks to pay and order only to learn that they only took certain forms of payment, none of them being credit card. In order to pay cash you had to walk up to the register. I didn’t even know what I wanted to order, so I used the self service screens to pick what I wanted and walked up to the register.

As it turns out, they offered a super cheap 1 Singapore dollar “World Famous” ice cream cone. Since it was world famous I figured that’s what I should probably get. I walked up to the counter and the person explained that if I was paying cash and only wanted an ice cream cone that I had to go to the walk up window outside the store. At this point the long lineup seemed very inviting. We made our way to the window outside the shop and by that time a short lineup had started to form, but we were already committed.

At the window there was one man frantically making ice cream cones and taking people’s dollar. My time came and fortunately I had a few people in front of me to show me what to do. I soon had a cone in my hand and I was super excited to see what all the fuss was about.

Turns out... the fuss was about nothing that great. I wouldn’t really call the ice cream bad, but I’ve had better. Give me a Canadian ice cream truck soft serve, or a cone from Joe’s in Wales any day over this. Sure the size was pretty good, and it looked cool, but flavour wise it was average. The cone was actually the highlight of the whole treat, it was a bit better than the store bought ones you get with most soft serve ice cream places.

That price was certainly worth it, but I’m not sure that this ice cream is worth the waiting time I’ve seen at some locations. I feel like the hype of this place and the nice mascot design is the real draw. I got my photos, ate my cone, and cooled off on a hot Singapore night, but I can’t say that I was overly impressed.

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Ice Cream Can Be Anything

Every time ice cream becomes trendy, it's because someone out there has decided to expand what flavour it can be. When I was a kid ice cream was just a coloured and flavoured cream that would occasionally have nuts or some kind of ripple in it. Then more flavours appeared, either because they were new to the world or just new to me. These updated flavours would be about putting new sweet and snack foods into the classic flavours. Today however it seems like ice cream is taking giant steps again, and the types of flavours are expanding even further. This ice cream treat may not have been totally successful, but it pushed an idea forward that could totally work, ice cream for breakfast.

Check out this cool review that inspired me a little.

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Gone... And Maybe Forgotten

 

As I've said here about a million times, I live in South East Asia. I live in a country that's having some hard times, and it's reflected in its airport. The airport is fairly modern, medium sized, with a fair amount of retail space. The thing is, the retail space is very empty. There are a few stores that are open, but I would guess that more than half are either closed or left abandon. Included in this empty collection are two abandon restaurants, a Burger King and Swensons.

It's not often that you're freely allowed to wander around abandon restaurants, particularly ones that are kept in such great condition. The other interesting thing about them is the fact that they're frozen in time, when they were shut down. Judging by the signs these restaurants closed down at or near the beginning of Covid. I say this because there are many signs imploring people to keep their distance. 

While the Swensons was fun to walk around, the Burger King was probably the most fascinating. The fascinating thing is that many of the offers advertised at this Burger King are no longer available. It's interesting to see all of this promotional material in perfect condition that's just been sitting for years. I will give the staff of both of these restaurants credit, they cleaned them up really well.

The other cool thing about these abandoned restaurants is the fact that no one was around to stop us from wandering behind the counters. We could unlock all the secrets that go into making awesome sundaes or flame broiled burgers. 

We could also take our time and enjoy some of the many details that might be difficult to see if the restaurants were busy.

It was a lot of fun exploring, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I'd probably rather have them open. As it stands this airport only has a couple of coffee shops open, so the food choices are very limited. I could have really gone for a big sundae before this flight.

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Visualize You or Someone You Love in This Shirt

Vincent the Vulture T-Shirt
by candycritic

 I've got t-shirts for every letter of the alphabet featuring beasts and the treats they love. If you know someone who's name starts with "V", this one will make the perfect gift.

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I'd Really Like This Shirt For Christmas

Ian the Inchworm T-Shirt
by candycritic

 I've got t-shirts for every letter of the alphabet featuring beasts and the treats they love. If you know someone who's name starts with "I", this one will make the perfect gift.

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Ice Scream For a T-shirt For Christmas

Ice Cream Dream
by candycritic

 Pick up this fun ice cream shirt for yourself, or anyone on your holiday list.

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Not All Ice Creams Are Created Equally

 I believe that some ice cream flavours might not work in regular contexts. Maybe this might work if you dipped your celery in it instead of just a spoon.

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The Ice Cream Business

 A fascinating look at what goes into making Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

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A Little Pride In Your Ice Cream

This treat brings up an interesting debate that's been around for a few years. Is it positive for large brands to make a Pride version of their treats? On one side of the coin it's great that inclusivity is being celebrated, but on the other side of the coin one wonders if this is being used as a marketing ploy. Celebrations and holidays have been used to sell items for a very long time, but it seems like there are certain holidays and celebrations that are off limits. I don't really have an opinion on this particular treat, other than the fact that it's a new design and flavour combination that I've never seen or tasted before. While I endorse inclusivity in all its forms, I don't have an opinion on how others choose to celebrate Pride.

While I avoid a great deal of the politic, you can read my review and find out how I felt about the ice cream treat.

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A Deep Dive Into Turkish Ice Cream

 One might argue that it's not technically ice cream, but there's a good argument to say it is too.

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This Is A Very Cool T-shirt

Vincent the Vulture T-Shirt
by candycritic

 I feel like watching a vulture eat ice cream would be very interesting, although I don't think I'd like to eat the same flavour of ice cream as a vulture would.

Check out all the Treats and Beasts stuff and maybe get yourself a copy of the book.

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Itty Bitty Inchworm

Ian the Inchworm T-Shirt
by candycritic

This cute little shirt celebrates how awesome inchworms and ice cream are.

Check out all my other Treats and Beasts merch.

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Kitty Cat Ice Cream?

I'm not sure why they made a connection with these amazing looking cat toys and ice cream, but I don't always understand marketing.

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Be Cool Fool!

I Scream!!!! T-Shirt
by candycritic

Chill out and check out this awesome ice cream t-shirt.

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