Milk Bar Ice Cream's Seasonal Selection

Oh, what a happy holiday it is when there's seasonal ice cream flavors at the store AND a new blog post! Milk Bar out of NYC has not only expanded its line since I first reviewed them--doubling in size or more--but they have two wintry delights that have blown into town, one better than the other:

Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cornflake - With the exception of chocolate mint ice creams, there has been a tendency in recent years for mint ice creams to be Altoid-level minty. Happily, this ice cream airs on the side of sugary peppermint, pleasantly complemented by bits of marshmallow fluff. (The marshmallow flavor is very faint, but is enough to make an impression.) The chocolate chunks are enough in number to be a part of at least every other bite, offering a nice kiss of chocolate to the mint. Unlike other Milk ice creams, the corn flake mix-in was not crunchy at all. Similarly, the advertised candy cane swirl was non-existent. A crunchless ice cream, but a good ice cream all the same.

Gingerbread House - "Do you like nutmeg?!?" This the question this ice cream asks again and again despite my cries of, "No!" The base, though advertised as gingerbread, is nutmeg all the way. This flavor cannot even be saved by the gingerbread cookie hunks within, nor the simple sprinkles throughout. Good mix-ins, terrible flavor imho. If you enjoy eggnog to get your nutmeg fix, though, you should give it a shot.

Jeni's - Three Winners and a Dud

The aforementioned "three winners."

When I first blogged about Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams in 2012, they were only in area of Columbus, Ohio (AKA the perfect halfway point when driving from Chicago to Virginia). Based on those visits, they made my list of Top 25 to Visit. Since then, they have slowly started taking over the country with pint in many grocery stores plus locations in eleven states, including several locations in Chicago. Jeni's is always innovating, so occasionally I find myself placing orders online to get the latest flavor since they don't always last long in scoop shops. Here is my review of four recent flavors:

Strawberry Pretzel Pie - From first bite I started asking myself, "Is this the best ice cream I have ever had?" While I think Toscanini's probably has an edge over Jeni's, this is undoubtedly the best I've ever gotten from a mass produced facility and the best to have ever graced the inside of my freezer. Sure the strawberry and pretzels are nice, but there is something magical in the base that made my tastebuds pause to savor. Made in collaboration with Dolly Parton to benefit her non-profit, you can feel good eating it as well. Get on Jeni's email list for the next time they manufacture this flavor because it sells out FAST.

Maple Soaked Pancakes - They could have just lazily made a maple ice cream with pancakes thrown in, but, no, they incorporated the buttery flavor necessary to make this a genuine breakfast experience. Promoted for National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, I only consumed the flavor at more conventional times because some slopes are too slippery to risk taking.

Sunshine - A flavor designed to raise awareness (and funds) towards children's mental health, I knew I wanted to support...and not just because it sounded delicious. A grey ice cream boasting of tasting "like sunshine on a cloudy day," it is a fruit ice cream with mouth-puckering punches of lemon, tangerine, and passion fruit. While not as over-the-top incredible as Jeni's buttermilk frozen yogurts--perhaps their best creations overall--this is still a must-try flavor.

Everything Bagel - Cream cheese ice cream is an excellent base for cheesecake ice cream. So imagine that. Now subtract enough sugar from the cream cheese base to make it more savory than sweet. Not add onion and garlic. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Thankfully, I only sampled the flavor, which was enough to send me running away at full speed. But some people must love it because this is not the first time they've had the flavor. So don't take my word for it; try it for yourself!

Ample Hills Creamery from Brooklyn, NY

Astoria location.

My last pre-pandemic trip was to New York City. Having been numerous other times, I decided to give that trip a focus: pizza (R.I.P. Domenico DeMarco, founder of Di Fara), bagels, and Ample Hills Creamery ice cream. From the factory in Red Hook to the shop at the south end of the High Line in Chelsea to a few blocks from Madison Square Garden before a Rangers game, Ample Hills had the flavors that kept me coming back. This past January when I was flying back to Chicago after the holidays with family, I used my four hour layover to take a quick bus trip from LaGuardia to the Astoria location.

Here are my favorite flavors I have tried so far:

Salted Crack'd Caramel: burnt caramel ice cream with chocolate covered buttery crackers

Every so often I have a flavor that awakens my tastebuds in a way that makes them seem somehow more alive than they have ever been. This is one of those flavors. Burnt caramel 4eva.

Egg-carton flight.

Snap, Mallow, Pop!: marshmallow ice cream with baked rice crispy clusters

When I think of marshmallows in ice cream I usually think of that cloyingly sweet fluff. Or I think of toasted marshmallows blended into the base. This flavor is neither, embracing the subtlety of the marshmallow found in Rice Krispies Treats. That, plus the puffed rice? Yum.

The Munchies: pretzel-infused ice cream with Ritz crackers, potato chips, pretzels and crushed M&M's

Crush the pretzels to dust and blend them into the base. Why, oh why, haven't I thought of this? Too often pretzels in ice cream soften into disappointment. Here you get the flavor and the texture of the mix-ins. Personally, I wanted more chocolate but still a must try flavor.

To make matters even more exciting, every location of Ample Hills Creamery features an original flavor specific to that particular location. I can't say I've tried them all (yet)--especially the Jersey City location or the one in Long Beach, CA--but trying their different flavors is definitely ice cream crawl material.

Carina's Cupcakery in Chicago

A little over a year ago, a theatre artist friend posted that one of his theatre artist friends had started a cupcake business out of her home kitchen. I investigated, saw that she delivered (which has been so necessary in pandemic-land), and dove in, sweet tooth first. Her business, Carina's Cupcakery, may primarily be cupcakes and cakes, but she does many other things, too; over time she has delivered cake pops, caramel corn, and macarons along with my cupcake orders. (These additional items haven't made it to her website's menu yet, but I can attest to their quality for when they do!) 

Carina's specialty is flavors of the Philippines, some flavors I'd first been introduced to by another Jennivee's Bakery and others I first had from Carina. Another menu often features monthly specialty flavors, which means there's often something new I haven't tried on the menu. I've tried the ones I am most excited about and decided it was time to blog about it.

Without further ado, here is my personal ranking from favorite to not-my-favorite-but-still-tasty:

• 

  From Carina's Cupcakery's
  Facebook page.

  Date Night (chocolate covered strawberry, seasonal)
• Ube Jammin' (ube)
• Philippine Sun (mango pineapple)
• Ginger Spice (cinnamon and spices, seasonal)
• Chocolate Cravings (quadruple chocolate)
• Lemonade Stand (raspberry lemonade, seasonal)
• Spill the Tea (chai spices, seasonal)
• Cupcake de Coco (brown sugar and coconut)
• CocoJoy (coconut almond chocolate)
• Cupcakes 'n Cream (Oreo)
• Big Buko (pandan and coconut)
• So Corny (corn and coconut)

If you're like me, you'll try them and soon want to make your way through the menu. It's dangerous, but worth it. So if you're in Chicago, give Carina's Cupcakery a try!