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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for ...

Given that this is summer, thought I would depart briefly from my restaurant reviews to talk ice cream.  The impetus for ice cream in the summer begins with the Good Humor ice cream truck.  Earlier this summer I was at my childhood home when "that sound" came up.  The jingle jangle of the ice cream truck.  All of us, mostly aged 50 and up, squealed and ran out to see a 1950s era ice cream truck coming up the street.  Along with neighbors and very few kids, we each got a treat.  I went for the classic strawberry shortcake ice cream bar (230 calories), something I always got as a child, usually for 50 cents.  Well, they aren't 50 cents anymore and don't taste anything like strawberries or even anything natural, but there is a small sense of pleasure at going back to your youth, however briefly.

This was followed by my determination to find the "best" of the various ice cream bars out there.  Magnum made a major splash with their overtly "obvious" commercials a few years back and other companies seem to be trying to match the success of Magnum.   I put up Magnum against Dove and Haagen Dazs.  In my humble opinion, here are the takes:


  1. Haagen Dazs -- a clear winner.  The chocolate tastes like it is pure, simple chocolate and melts on your tongue.  The ice cream is rich and has the consistency of pure cream.  280 calories.
  2. Magnum -- a strong second place.  The topping is everything promised -- a syrupy center between two chocolate shells.  Quite a nice twist.  The downside is the ice cream which tastes thin.  I think the idea is that the shell would distract from the center of the bar.  It kind of works.  250 calories.
  3. Dove -- sorry Dove.  A bar that has been around longer than Magnum or Haagen Dazs, this one just tastes like chemicals, from shell to ice cream center.  A distant third.  250 calories.

Of course, I am a card-carrying member of the Godiva frequent buyers program and they have a growing list of summertime treats, from parfaits to soft serve.  My favorite are the chocolixers.  While they are the perfect treat on a summer day the calorie load is tremendous, so take it easy.


Of course the real option, for vegans in particular, is to just make it yourself.  I picked up an ice cream maker a few years ago (an insulated metal bowl which is rotated by a machine with a center agitator).  It is the best of all worlds.  My standard is to mix 2 cups of heavy cream with 2 cups of fat free milk, scalding it with 1/4 a cup of sugar and a split vanilla bean from Trader Joe's, seeds scraped out and into the mixture (if you have never had a real vanilla bean, one that is soft and pliable instead of the hard, dried things at the grocery store, then treat yourself).  I throw in an egg or two if I want it custard-like and increase the sugar if I add in extracts (I'm into almond extract at the moment).  Vegans can do the same thing with coconut creme and/or almond milk. 

Whatever your flavor, enjoy the delights of summer!

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