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What's your favourite ice cream flavour?
Recently went to a Baskin Robbins, and I was surprised by how indecisive I was. I ended up going with a childhood favourite of mine (cotton candy), but it was far too sweet for me now. I'm curious, what are your favourite ice cream flavours? What interesting combinations have you tried? Any weird ice cream flavours you've tried before?
Dude. Vanilla. French vanilla with the eggs.
You know, I always thought that French vanilla was just a different variety of vanilla bean. I never knew it was made with egg yolks!
Yes, I learned something. Does that mean French Vanilla is actually sort of a Creme Anglais-lite flavour?
It's essentially a churned and frozen crème anglais. I have a French vanilla base I made yesterday chilling before churning and the recipe is essentially a scaled up crème anglais.
I'm also a vanilla guy, but more of a vanilla bean person. I like it to be super super strong vanilla.
Have you tried clotted cream vanilla ice cream? It’s intensely creamy, so good.
I haven't! I'll check that out one day.
I like a lot of flavors of ice cream, but there's something special about the simpleness of French vanilla. Maybe with some chocolate sauce if I'm feeling a little extra that day.
A good French vanilla ice cream and a ristretto is the perfect end to any meal.
I know Baskin Robbins is seen as "too mainstream" by many, but their mint chocolate chip remains my favorite flavor to this day. I'm sure nostalgia plays a big role in it as I've been no stranger to their iconic store smell since I was a kid, but I think the biggest reason that their flavor specifically remains a top favorite is because they shave their chocolate chips into tiny bits and pieces; then, those pieces are shotgun-blasted all throughout the ice cream. Not a big fan of the big chocolate chunks that are frugally distributed with other brands.
BR's mint chocolate chip is familiar, consistent, and delicious!
Mint chocolate chip is one of my three favorite flavors of ice cream. The other two are rocky road and praline caramel. Three different base flavors and they’re all amazing.
Eddy’s/Dryer’s French silk gets an honorable
Mention.
Just chiming in to say that I absolutely love Baskin Robbins mint chip. It's really one of the best mint chip ice creams out there. I just had some earlier today :)
When I lived in Saudi Arabia we'd get 1/3 of the tub they scoop it from, they'd cut the container for us to take home! I used to crush that in no time. I had a weird mix, mint chip and rainbow sherbet lol, both of those in my bowl. Baskin Robbin's mint chip is also at the top for me.
If you are at a BR in December, chase down Eggnog. It's a seasonal flavor only but it's divine. I've got family that buy it by the bucket full when it's in stock, for good reason.
Baskin Robbins is also sentimental for me! I got the bubblegum ice cream all through my childhood into young adulthood. At some point I stopped seeing it in the rotation and would try other things, and I’m glad I did. Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever eat bubblegum ice cream ever again.
I like vanilla bean across brands but especially love a toasted coconut ice cream from a little local mom and pop place that makes everything in house. I haven’t met many ice cream flavors I don’t like, but I definitely check to make sure it’s actual ice cream and not “frozen dairy dessert” in some seasonal flavor. We bought one of those without realizing it was a thing and found out no one much cares for that.
I like that extreme moose tracks stuff; chocolate ice cream with fudge, brownies, nuts, cheesecake, peanut butter, the works. Put the whole ice cream factory in the mix. New textures in every bite, that's what I really love.
Graeters Black Raspberry Chip or Mocha Chip if were talking brand. It is worth it. It's silken magic.
Oh, that's an interesting choice. I do crave it sometimes, but to be honest more often than not I'd rather have an ice cream with little additional toppings. Add too much and it feels like it starts to stray from the concept of an ice cream.
Completely fair assessment. It's practically a premade sundae and I relish every bit.
Vanilla is always a winner and Galileo is spot on with the frenching it up. But also, salted caramel. Sooooo good. Also easy to make your own and dump it on some French vanilla.
Good pistachio and hazelnut (separately, just couldn't decide between them) are unbeatable.
Was looking for pistachio. Much better when it isn't that nuclear green color though, natural pistachio, gelato especially, is pure nutty bliss.
If a place has pistachio and hazelnut or amaretto, I'm done for.
Damn I've never had hazelnut ice cream and now I feel like I'm missing out. Who makes the best?
I’d recommend finding a good local Gelateria and buying their hazelnut gelato. Be on the lookout for places that make their own gelato, those are usually the best.
Unfortunately I haven't had a store-bought brand that I'd call great, they tend to skimp on the amount of nuts they use. All the best I've had were from local gelato places, or ones I made myself using this recipe.
The gelateria in my city makes a dark black chocolate with chili gelato. They call it "Vulcano". It's fantastic.
Very difficult to get right, though. The spiciness needs to be dealt in perfectly.
That sounds so good. I've put New Mexico red Chile into a chocolate cake recipe and it rules.
Green. I mean Matcha Ice Cream. Green Tea is great in everything.
I came here to say this. And not the matcha ice cream that's made for the American market (which is too mild and sweet). You can only get the good stuff at a proper Asian supermarket (or neighborhood because when the Asian population is high enough the mainstream American stores start carrying good Asian brands too).
Stracciatella.
It has just the right amount of chocolate and is usually not overly sweet.
I also enjoy stracciatella yoghurt.
Anything involving chocolate with peanut butter, fudge, or caramel in a waffle bowl/cone. Mmm mmm mmm.
Cholcolate & PB in vanilla ice cream (e.g. Reses blizzard) always trumps a chocolate ice cream w/ PB IMO
Strawberry, 100%. But only if it’s good strawberry, with real pieces of strawberry.
I just mash cool strawberries with a bit of sugar. You can also use a blender and then freeze them. It's super good.
Pistachio is my favourite, but I am also a big lover of Rum & Raisin and Raspberry Ripple.
My local gelato place does a super-dark chocolate with cinnamon. It's rich enough that one scoop is plenty.
Ah, my favorite food subject!
I don't have a single favorite flavor, but I've always loved fruit-based ice creams. Nothing against chocolate or caramel - I do consume chocolate regularly, and there is a great chocolate and meringue ice cream provided by a local brand that I buy sometimes, but mainly fruit is where it's at. That said, I also want to highlight the same brand's "egg pastry" ice cream which is mainly egg yolk flavored.
My favorite fruit flavors are probably peach (which I can make myself) and raspberry (several sources, actually!) Blackberry is an old favorite I rarely get to eat, and a good strawberry made with (ultimately) good, real strawberries, no flavoring.
Another local brand makes a good hazelnut ice cream as well as excellent tangerine sorbet. Most citrus sorbet flavors are great.
A third local brand makes melon ice cream. Yummy!
A fourth local brand makes a passion fruit ice cream which I also buy regularly.
I find almost all international brand ice creams inferior but I do like some Baskin Robbins (not usually available around here).
It's a serious tie between dulce de leche and doce de ovos, both flavors which I suspect are more common in my neck of the woods than overseas! I don't even know what to call them in English. Milk sweet and egg sweet? Anyway they are absolutely delicious but I think some people would actually classify them as too sweet.
I'm in Canada and you can often get dulce de leche items (called that, without translation), but I don't think I've ever seen doce de ovos.
Unsurprising! It seems to be a very Portuguese thing as a flavor on its own.
So I was going to go with Vanilla because nine times out of ten I just love a plain vanilla
HOWEVER
There's a place called Cliff's Ice Cream here in Jersey and they make a flavor called "Holy Cannoli." THAT is the best ice cream I've ever had and is my favorite flavor.
If we're talking about universal flavors you can find from almost any brand, I'd have to pick Cookies and Cream. It has a vanilla base,, which I see a lot of us here appreciate the simplicity of, but it also has chocolate cookie pieces, which satisfies the chocolate lovers. A perfect blending of the two, in my opinion.
However, if we included regional ice cream brands, then I have once answer: Caramel Praline Turtle. It's a "caramel ice cream with caramel swirls, caramel turtles, and candy-coated pecan pieces", to quote the manufacturers website. It sounds like it would be too much caramel, but the contrasting types of caramels really emphasize the sweet/salty dichotomy without leaning too hard into one or the other. Well, I say salty, but it's nowhere near salted caramel levels of salty; more pecan saltiness than anything else. The manufacturer, Perry's, is only found in the northeastern US, but their flavors are all at least a solid 7/10 in quality. If you're in the region, I really recommend trying at least one or two of their specialty flavors.
My favorite ice cream is called The Munchies from Ample Hills Creamery. It's pretzel infused ice cream with mixed-in ritz crackers, mini pretzels, potato chips and M&Ms. It's an amazing combination.
If you can't find it near you, you can make it yourself:
https://www.wnyc.org/story/recipe-ample-hill-creamerys-munchies/
This was one of the first ice cream flavors I learned to make and it still is a favorite among my family. Totally worth the effort!
Birthday cake or cake batter are definitely one of my favorites
That's a tough one. I've always loved DQ Oreo Blizzard.
But lately I take my kid to Purdy's a lot (are they Canadian only? I don't even know) and they've got a really good pralines and cream with free nut toppings. Some of the best ice cream I've had.
Butter pecan is a classic that I always go back to
Blue Bell butter pecan is so good in a waffle cone..
I was gifted an ice cream maker for my birthday a few years ago and if you're a foodie at all I highly recommend it. They're not that pricey (can get a good one for <$100) and they let you try all sorts of great flavors. My favorites:
Lavender blueberry with a dark chocolate swirl
Ginger peach
Mango!
No idea why mango ice cream isn't a flavor with more exposure because it's SO GOOD.
My problem with mango ice cream is that it's good, but not as good as a good mango!
I mean, a good mango is amazing but that's why a frozen creamy version is so decadent!
If we're talking commercially available options, the Tillamook Malted Moo has got to be up there. I don't know how to describe it from a flavor perspective but it's like frozen nostalgia. It reminds me of old timey diners, sock hops and soda shops, and just going for treats with my dad and granddad. I'll happily pay $7 for 3/8ths of a gallon of the stuff.
Maybe a Canadian deep cut, but I'm going to break out of the box and say:
Tiger Tail
Orange and black liquorice flavoured, sounds horrible, I enjoy it, it's a weird flavour combo that's challenging and unique.
Oh my god, I found this at a local loblaws, and I decided to try it without actually reading what the flavor was. I was surprised when it was licorice! I usually hate licorice, but I found tiger tail surprisingly enjoyable. (I forced all my friends to try it too and they agree it's weirdly good)
Mud pie from Herrell's. Espresso ice cream with broken Oreo cookies and fudge swirled throughout. So delicious, but I can't eat too close to bedtime or I'll never sleep.
It's been a while since I've had it, but Friendly's "Butter Crunch".
Beyond that, I'm a basic Vanilla fella.
Rather fond of marionberry pie ice cream, but there are a lot of ice cream flavors I recently learned about - exotic banana varieties, exotic fruits - that I would love to try. I think a cherimoya flavored ice cream would be lovely.
What is the "pie" part of the ice cream? Does it have pie crust in it? I recently tried a similar sounding ice cream from a great shop in Portland, Oregon called Kate's Ice Cream. The flavor was marionberry cobbler. It had these chunks of oats in it that were, I guess, sorta "glued" together with honey that formed the "cobbler" portion. It was delicious!
Yeah; it's got bits of pie crust
For me, it’s cake batter/birthday cake.
Fig ice cream, (We call it Anjeer over here), especially with chunks of fig. Second is Sapodilla (aka Chikoo here).
I really like "brookie", which is cookie dough's chocolate cousin-- chocolate ice cream, cookie dough, and brownie bits.
The colbert flavor from ben&jerry is king. best ice cream ever. I love the texture and flavor mix all the chocolate and caramel and waffle cone mix to provide.
I'm with you. It's called Americone Dream.
Americone Dream is GOATed. I remember when they first released it (geeze it must have been over a decade ago easily) going to my grocery store every couple of days to see if they had it in stock yet.
moose tracks / turtle treasure is probably my favorite.
The caramel, nuts, chocolate, vanilla, etc is good.
For Baskin-Robbins specifically, Gold Medal Ribbon all the way.
Rocky Road, Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry and French Vanilla
1 scoop pistachio ice cream + 1 scoop dark chocolate ice cream = wombo combo
If you're up for making it yourself, I also love the Serious Eats fior de latte gelato, I genuinely think it's better than even the best vanilla ice cream despite being "plain". I make it with the best gold top milk I can get.
My favorite right now is banana chocolate chip from graters.
Häagen-Dazs Dulce de leche. But since that is hard to find around me a lot of the time, I go with vanilla. When I was a kid, my mom always got this bing cherry ice cream that I loved and want to try again, but I haven't been able to find it in years.
My overall favourite is probably Kawartha Dairy's chocolate chip cookie dough. It's a high quality ice cream with great fixings. I also love going to the Marble Slab Creamery and getting good vanilla ice cream with some chocolatey and/or wafery and/or skor-bitty fixings.
Mint Chocolate and sometimes Stracciatella. I turned down getting ice cream at Jeni's the other day since they didn't have mint chip!
I work at an ice cream shop, so I try pretty much every flavor that comes through the door. If you ever have the opportunity to try a flavor called hokey pokey, I highly recommend it. It is sponge candy mixed into vanilla ice cream, so you get a caramelly vanilla with crunchy chunks of candy and caramel streaks. I only every get a kid's size of it though since it is pretty much just sugar. A good quality mint chip is always good, as is chocolate peanut butter. I really like the chocolate peanut butter that Tillamook makes - great combination.
My go-to if available is chocolate chip. Not mint, just regular ole chocolate shavings in vanilla ice cream. It's been my favorite since I was a kid, but it is increasingly becoming more and more difficult to find.
If not that, a mix of dark chocolate and mocha. Bonus if there are brownie bites.
At home I get plain vanilla and add hot fudge.
Cookie dough was top of my list for a long time. The other night my SO brought home Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Sandwich flavored which is my new favorite. Lots of vanilla with specs of ice cream sandwich biscuit.
In terms of creative flavors, Blank Slate in Ann Arbor Michigan impressed me the most. They have a Fresh Basil that I still think about. They also had an excellent Balsamic Strawberry.
How has nobody mentioned banana ice cream? It's fantastic! It's also very easy to make at home: just blend and freeze some slightly-brown bananas.
Melon comes in a close second, but I've only had it once in Venice. Not a flavour I've ever seen again :(
Coffee + Heath Toffee, FTW. I'm such a pathetically privileged snob that I got angry when Ben and Jerry's stopped using branded Heath Bars in their ice cream.
When I lived in Florida, there was a local ice cream store that did fresh tropical fruit ice creams. Mango and sapote were amazing.
Seconding the home ice cream maker concept - spouse makes a base with fresh chevre goat cheese that's amazing for fruit flavors. Garden-fresh mint leaves turn into fabulous mint chocolate chip.
Bruster's Peanut Butter Buckeye's here!
But really anything with chocolate and peanut butter.
Mine is sadly consigned to memory by the vagaries of time and corporate-dictated recipe drift - Newport Creamery's chocolate peanut butter cup frozen yogurt. While its name lives on, it has lost the enormous (near full size!) peanut butter cups that made it the best. Along with some other changes to the recipe over the years, it's not quite the same. Though I will still willingly house a few scoops on a sugar cone!
I can't choose a favorite one, and I'm always keen on trying new flavors. I like Vanilla, Coffee, Lemon, Amarena. Van Leeuwen also has amazing flavors, nothing basic.
From Baskin Robbins specifically Vanilla Chip. Really like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough as well.
I'm finding myself enjoying sundae-like ice creams more than regular flavours like vanilla or chocolate. The one we currently have in the fridge is Southern Blackberry Cobbler by Blue Bell. I also enjoy ice creams with brownie or cheesecake chunks in them.
Coconut and tapioca. Vanilla. I'm pretty basic.
Spumoni. Cherry, pistachio, and chocolate. The best trio.
Anything Peanut Butter Cup. Moose Tracks, and Chocolate Moose Tracks especially come to mind. It's more of a genre than a specific flavor, but it's hands-down the best.
It's not made anymore, but Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia Froyo was actually my #1 even beating out my favorite peanut butter cup ice creams.
My favorite in general? Cookie dough.
My favorite standard "brand"? Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia cannot be beat.
My favorite "extra" brand? Total toss up between Jeni's Gooey Butter Cake or Trader Joe's Cookie Butter
My favorite when I'm at Coldstone or the like? Cake Batter with either peanut butter cups or cheesecake chunks.
Damn, maybe I need some ice cream.
I tried this ice cream in San Diego. It was peach and blue cheese. My favorite ever. Mint chocolate chip is right behind it.
I tried a blue cheese and walnut one at a local shop in Toronto. It was interesting. Good, but wouldn't order again because it's not necessarily what I want out of ice cream.