Oct 27
Rocky Road
Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of ice cream. I like it plenty, and I won’t hesitate to dig in, but it’s not something that goes through my mind when I’m craving something.
Lately though, I’ve been on a huge ice cream kick, and I believe I’ve settled on my flavor. Rocky Road does it for me.
As for pre-packaged, I’ve gone through a number of brands, and the one that really stands out for me is Haagen Dazs. Why? It’s all about the marshmallow cream. That’s right, no puffy little marshmallows here, they break out the big dogs! They use almonds, which is a huge plus in my book, but they definitely use too many. I’d like to see them be a little more consistent with the amount of marshmallow cream they use, and a little less overindulgent with the almonds.
Edy’s brings in a close second with their incredibly gooey marshmallows. They also use almonds, but I don’t feel like they overdo it. If I remember correctly, they use marshmallows that are a little larger than average, and almost as gooey as the cream. Mmm.
We have a Marble Slab here in town; you may have one under the name Coldstone, or maybe something entirely different. They mix your ice cream and ingredients freshly, right there in front of you. This is a whole new game.
I’m working on perfecting my personal Rocky Road. Their basic is chocolate ice cream, crushed pecans, marshmallows and chocolate chips. For certain–mine has to be in a waffle bowl. [For those not familiar, this is a waffle cone, only it’s shaped to fit inside a small bowl–they’re much easier to eat, as you can just squeeze your little plastic bowl and viola, it’s broken up and easier to mix in with your ice cream!] Last time the only adjustment I made was to lay off the nuts. That was so close to perfection! The only problem is that the chocolate chips are too sweet for the ice cream. They overpower it, and there are too many. I believe next time I’m going to substitute in the chocolate sprinkles. [This will probably be sometime today since I now have Rocky Road on the brain…] Sometime in the near future, I want to also try adding in just a touch of the shaved almonds they have. Part of me feels they’d be perfect proportion-wise, but at the same time, with them being so thin, I can see them being overpowered. Only one way to find out though!
I think it’s safe to say that whether I’m going with fresh, or something pre-mixed, it’s the chocolate ice cream/marshmallow combo that really gets me.
Something about a s’mores ice cream caught my eye while looking things up, as I’ve also considered using graham cracker crumbles in place of the nuts, but generally, graham cracker crumbles end up being stale. So far though, I haven’t been able to find this ice cream. If anyone knows anything about it, give me a heads up!
