Brace yourself: I’m about to introduce you to ice cream that will forever change the way you look at ice cream and prevent you from ever eating any other ice cream ever again. Ever. Sounds pretty serious, huh? Am I exaggerating? No. Being melodramatic? Ok, maybe a little. But I am dead serious when I say this is the BEST ice cream I have ever had. And I’ve tried many.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is the genius of Jeni Bauer. She is a huge advocate of the highest-quality, most fresh and extremely pure ingredients and it completely shows in her ice creams. I was trying to remember the other day how I had even heard of Jeni’s in the first place and then it came back to me–Askinosie! As in Askinosie Chocolate. He is based here in my hometown of Springfield, MO and of course I follow him on Facebook and Twitter and I remember not too long ago he was constantly posting about a collaboration he had done with Jeni’s and I eventually had had enough! I had to know what this ice cream was all about!
So, I hopped online and quickly was lost in the photos and descriptions of all her ice creams. I mean, seriously…Whiskey & Pecans, Brown Butter Almond Brittle…these just were not your run-of-the-mill cookies n’ cream and mint chocolate chip flavors. I went to put one in my cart and quickly discovered the minimum purchase was four pints and a total of $48! Eek! Yeah, couldn’t justify that. I was sad. Very sad. But life went on and then one afternoon it hit me–what if a store in my little ole town of Springfield, MO sold Jeni’s?! (can you say, “DUH”?) Sure enough I discovered two local grocers, Mama Jeans and Homegrown Foods, that carried Jeni’s and made my first official purchase of Roxbury Road! Think rocky road but with the best chocolate ice cream you’ve ever had, HOMEMADE marshmallows (which I’m a huge advocate of), roasted almonds in every bite and a hint of caramel. Absolutely, amazingly, delicious.
Jeremy and I agreed since it was pricey, we’d make our little pint last and savor every bite. Well, someone didn’t hold up their end of the deal..and it wan’t ME. So naturally I decided I needed to do a review on my blog and share the goodness with the world which of course meant buying more. Yay! I picked up Brambleberry Crisp and Salty Caramel. The Brambleberry Crisp has swirls of Brambleberry Jam which is made up of three different berries and delicious pieces of oat streusel. I think it might be my favorite so far.
The Salty Caramel is almost indescribable. Imagine the most amazing salted caramel you’ve ever had, in ice cream form. And I love reading the ingredients label and seeing things in my ice cream I actually recognize such as real cream, berries, sugar, etc and absolutely NOTHING artificial or cooked up in a lab. I honestly can’t do the ice cream justice describing it; you really have to taste it for yourself!
As for the price, at $9.99 for a pint from the store, sure it’s a little pricey but there is a reason–it’s WORTH it. Jeremy and I can go to our local custard joint, load our custard up with all kinds of toppings and easily spend $10 between the two of us. And we have nothing to show for it after about 10 minutes. With the Jeni’s? Yep, we’ve still got plenty in the freezer. Now if I can just keep Jeremy out of it….