I don’t think I’ve ever had an ice cream I didn’t like, but my tastes have varied over the years. When I was a kid, I went through periods where my favorites were chocolate marshmallow and blueberry ripple. Nowadays I’m torn between vanilla bean and French vanilla. Each has its merits, and I’ll take whichever is available.
If I’m having chocolate, I want it to be Dutch chocolate. I also love lemon cream, but I don’t see it all that often.
Peach, rum cherry, and strawberry cheesecake are also at the top of my list.
One thing I’d like to try is oyster ice cream, which was a big thing back in the days of the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson served it to guests at the White House.
AFAICT, oyster ice cream was not sweetened, but served as a sort of extreme form of cold cream soup in summer. Think of vichyssoise or ajo blanco, cranked up to 11.
Yeah, it’s just tree bark, so it has to be ground very, very fine.
I remember Mark in The Rifleman saying they were “gonna serve some of that new stuff, ice cream” at his girlfriend’s birthday party. I guess he (or the writer) hadn’t done his history.
I’m partial to gelato I can get from specialty ice cream/coffee shops. One of my favorites I can get from a local store is a blueberry ice cream with 26% of the ingredient weight being blueberries. You can really taste the actual stuff compared to brands that just use “flavoring”. The only other ingredients in that ice cream are cream, sugar, milk, water, egg yolks and vanilla. Of course the cost is premium too.
Some of the worst ice creams I’ve eaten are not about the flavors, but the basic ingredients. When the producer is using cheaper fats like coconut oil or palm oil to replace some of the milk fats, or worse replacing some of the sugar with sweeteners like erythritol or sorbitol. Even if replacing some of the sugar with sweeteners is theoretically a healthier low calorie option, I’d rather eat a smaller amount of the real stuff that actually tastes good.
And it’s fabulous with apple pie. But I did once have it and the flavor was way too cinnamony. I believe I mentioned it upthread. Cayenne Chocolate is indeed delicious when the ingredients are high quality.
Also, I’d be willing to try that oyster flavor. I wonder if it wants some hot sauce?
The Stewart’s Shops dairy/convenience chain here in upstate NY a few years ago did a seasonal flavor called “Sweet Cinn”, and it was delish. I see some internetizens describe it as being a cinnamon sticky-bun texture/flavor thing, but I just remember it as cinnamon. Wish they’d bring that back!
The worst is anything made by a mass producer of ice cream, because they put something in it that really upsets my stomach. Whatever it is, they put the same stuff in commercially-produced sheet cakes and other bakery products. Horrible stuff.
Yet I can eat any quantity of fancy gelato or homemade cake and it doesn’t bother me a bit.
