Wildlife animals inspire delicious ice cream (or “Tastes gamey”)

Denali Flavors ice cream (sometimes called Denali Alaskan Classics) are the folks that claim to have originated Moose Tracks ice cream, the popular vanilla-based flavor with a hardened fudge chocolate ripple and chocolate peanut-butter cups. I confess that amongst antler-themed ice creams, I am more drawn to Denali’s Caramel Caribou, a triple threat of caramel. Like Moose Tracks, this flavor is licensed by other brands, so you may have seen it before.

The tragedy is that Bear Claw, Denali’s finest flavor and my favorite half-gallon flavor, is not as widely available as its forest-dwelling peers. Let the drooling begin: dark chocolate ice cream filled with choco-covered cashews and a caramel swirl.

While Bear Claw is not being copied nationwide (with bootleg variations on the name), I am delighted to report that cashews are becoming more commonplace in ice cream: Ben and Jerry’s Turtle Soup—a simple-sounding, yet incredible flavor—and other half-gallon flavors from grocery store brands.

I planned on including a link to Denali’s website, which used to feature a section where you could listen to a moose call—few things were more entertaining to me in the pre-YouTube-world—but, regrettably, the website has been updated to be more adult and functional. The good news is they have a flavor locator so you can find Bear Claw in your state, which I advise you do…now!


Note from 2012: Happily, Bear Claw is starting to get licensed out. Kroger-brand stores now offer Bear Claw in their store brand. It remains my favorite half-gallon flavor.