[New for 2011] Less than two weeks ago, our buds over at Blue Bunny contacted me about checking out some of their latest and greatest creations. I was ever so happy to accept, and so last Wednesday a container arrived filled with 2 containers of ice cream, a container of frozen yogurt, and two boxes of the new Champ! Mini swirl treats.
Ok, before we begin, what is rule #1 of any cone based treat? It's gotta be crunchy!
The first box is the "
Vanilla" flavor, which is a name that I'm not sure does justice to "swirls of creamy vanilla flavored reduced fat ice cream dipped in milk chocolate flavored coating all inside a CRUNCHY sugar cone". Ok, they don't capitalize CRUNCHY, but I'm holding them to it. There are ten in the box, each clocking in at 2.25 fluid ounces.
The other box is the "
Birthday Party" flavor, and this time the name says it all. We've got "swirls of birthday cake flavored reduced fat ice cream with a thick inner swirl of blue frosting dipped in white chocolate coating & colorful confetti sprinkles all inside a crunchy sugar cone". I don't even need to taste these to know that they are going to be huge with the kids. I mean, how much more fun can you stuff into a cone?
Not to be a stickler, but I hate when companies don't label the individual packages. Thankfully, Blue Bunny knows better because sooner or later one of these will land in the bottom of the freezer and now I don't have to guess what it is.
Awwwww, they're so cute! I love the simplicity of the vanilla but at the same time I can't ignore the fun factor of sprinkles. Just so you know: those sprinkles on the plate were at the bottom of the package, I just dumped them out for effect. I didn't have any trouble with sprinkles falling off as I ate the cone.
Just incase you needed a little more convincing, here's a nice closeup to help convince you this one is aimed at kids. Now we've had both of these now and this one is indeed the favorite of my daughter. It's sweet, but not crazy sweet, and it does indeed remind one of cake. Now she really dug the sprinkles, and overall I do to, but I don't love them like she does. There are a ton of them, and they are the soft kind, so you wind up with a very soft, gritty exterior. Keep in mind that these sprinkles aren't flavored, so it's not like a sweet, gritty coating. I'll admit it's fun, but I can't give it 100% approval.
There is indeed a blue frosting swirl in the middle, but I couldn't actually tell the difference between the swirl and all the other sweetness in this little cone. In fact, you can't really taste the white chocolate coating either. Sure you feel the texture difference, and it adds a fun crunch factor, but the whole thing tastes like sweet birthday cake. The flavor doesn't oscillate or pick up hints of anything else really.
If you ask me, the real star is the vanilla cone and his excellent chocolate coating (technically, he's also the healthier of the two new treats). If you are hungry, the vanilla hits it out of the park for me. It's clean, it's simple, and oh is it CRUNCHY! YAY for CRUNCHY!! I told you it's important and Blue Bunny hasn't messed around here. This isn't some groundbreaking combo here, what matters is that it's been very well executed.
I know I tend to pick on the size of treats sometimes, and I knew one wouldn't fill me, but there is something special about the size of this treat. It's just really easy to eat. It wasn't messy, and at the same time, every bite has a great coating to ice cream ratio. And then the cone, oh I can't go on enough about the cone, it's so wonderfully crunchy. I've had several of these already and they were all perfect, no soft spots to speak of.
Couldn't resist, here's one more shot of Birthyday Party. Notice how thick that cone is compared to the ice cream. That's not a fluke, that's someone planning ahead. (Soggy cone companies, I'm looking at you, get your act together).
In closing, I dig these new treats. No, one isn't enough to fill me, but it seems wrong to eat two, so do what I do. Have one, wait an hour or two, and then have another. Have the same kind, have the other kind, it doesn't matter, just enjoy, we certainly did.
Thanks again to Blue Bunny for the free treats.
Verdict? Well done
Buy Again? Definitely
Nutrition Facts (Vanilla)
Serving Size 1 cone (43g)
Servings per container 10
|
| Amount Per Serving |
| Calories 140 | from Fat 70 |
| % Daily Value* |
| Total Fat 8g | 12% |
| - Sat Fat 6g | 30% |
| - Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 10mg | 3% |
| Sodium 50mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrate 16g | 5% |
| - Dietary Fiber <1g | 2% |
| - Sugars 11g | |
| Protein 2g | |
|
| Vitamin A 2% | Vitamin C *% |
| Calcium 4% | Iron *% |
Nutrition Facts (Birthday Party)
Serving Size 1 cone (47g)
Servings per container 10
|
| Amount Per Serving |
| Calories 160 | from Fat 70 |
| % Daily Value* |
| Total Fat 8g | 12% |
| - Sat Fat 6g | 29% |
| - Trans Fat 0.5g | |
| Cholesterol 5mg | 2% |
| Sodium 50mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrate 22g | 7% |
| - Dietary Fiber 0g | 0% |
| - Sugars 17g | |
| Protein 1g | |
|
| Vitamin A 2% | Vitamin C *% |
| Calcium 4% | Iron *% |
Look at it this way: based on those nutrition facts, two cones is roughly equivalent to one "serving" of Ben & Jerry's. Based on that alone, there is no need to feel guilty for eating two in one sitting. I know you wouldn't feel guilty (okay, maybe you would) for having one "serving" of Ben & Jerry's.
ReplyDeleteha, too funny, that's exactly how I justified having two!
ReplyDeletethey aren't big enough to fill, but they are big enough to subdue my hunger urges, I actually enjoyed spreading them out.
Oh yum!! you get such fun looking products, id love to try the birthday cake one. i love cake batter ice cream and they dont sell it over here :|
ReplyDeleteI would definitely go for the vanilla one and leave the cake one for my younger cousins. They would love that. But the simplicity of vanilla and chocolate... delicious.
ReplyDeleteI actually purchased both of those when my grocery store was doing a bogo deal on them around 2 months ago. I really liked both of them and there's only one left of the birthday kind in my freezer. That's saying a lot when I'm the only one eating the ice creams. Though after being in my freezer for the 2 months the cones did start to lose their crunchiness and I have a pretty decent freezer so just a word of warning. Great review though.
ReplyDeleteTried the birthday cake kind on Friday and loved it! Despite the size I was full on one, I think bc of the richness. I loved how the white coating tasted like white chocolate and the swirl went into the base of the cone..def had a high quality much like the Magnum bars where you're satisfied with only a little taste.
ReplyDeletei love this ice cream so much its soooo bomb onnnn doggggs
ReplyDelete