Red Velvet Cake

We all know how majorly cupcakes have blown up in the recent past and while I may consider myself ahead of the times in the food world on occasion, I'm by no means above the trend. Before I discovered the sno-cap at Magnolia, red velvet was my jam, so when I saw Ben & Jerry's made a red velvet cake flavor I was all over it. Okay, so maybe when my mom was food shopping I asked her to surprise me with a flavor, and maybe the whole point of this all is to try every flavor so I would have had to eat it at some point, but technicalities aside, I was definitely excited to try out a flavor based on my ex-fave cupcake. Convincing, I know.

The flavor looks like strawberry and whether it was my overactive mind dictating my taste buds or what (more than likely), the flavor tasted fruity to me though it contained absolutely no traces of fruit. The base is a red velvet cake batter ice cream, and there are chunks of cake and a cream cheese frosting swirl throughout. Though awkwardly fruity, the iden (what my baby self referred to ice cream as) was batter-y (a technical term) which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I'm continually impressed when chunks of cake retain their moistness (ew) amidst something frozen. I can't say I saw the frosting swirl, though I tasted just the slightest tang of cream cheese.

I liked the flavor overall, though it looked and semi-tasted like strawberry. Hey, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Karamel Sutra

The name sounds sexy, as I assume it's meant to, "wittingly" derived from kama sutra, the holy handbook of sex. While the flavor was perhaps not as sultry as its Sanskrit origin, I can see why they chose the name (aside from ad purposes - go Unilever!). The smooth caramel is just that: smooth, silky and well, sexy, I guess, if I didn't mind referring to food as sexy, abandoning all of my hate for foodies who describe food as the former and themselves as the latter. The seldom fudge chips are like a little surprise, and a welcome one at that.

My biggest complaint is that the ice cream's execution seemed better as a concept. The thick, rich caramel is the "core" (their word, not mine), surrounded with half caramel and half chocolate ice cream and fudge chips. Great idea, in theory, except I'm not a master ice cream scooper, thus I didn't get a balanced portion to include said caramel core in my scooping. Let me be clear that my scooping experience peaked somewhere in middle school at sleepaway camp where during an after-meal ice cream party, waitresses were given a break and campers were given the privilege of scooping our own ice cream. Remind me now how this seemed like a privilege back then? Regardless, perhaps if I got this flavor at a Ben & Jerry's where one had been trained in scooping and was able to give me a balanced portion of part ice cream, part ice cream, chips and core I would speak higher, though I will say the flavor as a whole was delicious. The chocolate ice cream was a good contrast to the sweet and creamy caramel, and the chips were the right amount of decadent...what I got of the core was delicious, though it was a challenge. Now, someone get me a thesaurus and find me a synonym for core.

Night One

Julie Powell of Julie and Julia fame aimed at recreating every single one of Julia Child’s recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She planned to make at least one recipe a day, every day, for an entire year, until she had made all there was to make, though any (semi)insightful reader or movie-goer knows that what Julie craved was more than just a decent beef bourguignon. She craved creating something to be proud of, something to connect to and something to salvage her career, her marriage and her life. Her blog and subsequent book, Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen has now become synonymous with those foodie writers (and not) who need a mission, and moreover, a goal.

What I crave is far less complex, as my sweet tooth becomes more insatiable by the day, teetering on the edge of becoming cavity ridden but holding on tight as the fear of a nasty dental hygienist looms in the distance. I will be trying every Ben & Jerry’s flavor currently in production. I’ve had a lot of ice cream in my day, specifically Ben & Jerry’s (I MAY or may not have helped conquer a Vermonster in my youth), but fear not, for I will start with a clean slate and eat every flavor to ensure that I haven’t missed any. Could too much Phish Food kill a person, anyway? (Probably).

Maybe I do want more than to satiate my seemingly insatiable sweet tooth. Maybe I hope to find a new favorite flavor, one that gets added to my Facebook interests and becomes part of my "about me" banter at cocktail parties and social gatherings (people do talk about ice cream at these things, right?), but right now my reasons are simple. I want to do something and I want to finish something. ...And ice cream is delicious. Thank you Jimmy Fallon for the motivation (Late Night Snack - google it pronto), among other things.

Up first - Karamel Sutra.

Header thanks to wordle.net. Holler.