So I think of myself as an ice cream connisseur and I love a nice, creamy ice cream that tastes fresh and makes me dance around as soon as it hits my mouth! There are two places where this has actually happened…McConnell’s Ice Cream and Yogurt http://www.mcconnells.com located in Santa Barbara (but for all my LA people, it’s coming to the Grand Central Market this month!!) and Carmela Ice Cream and Sorbet http://www.carmelaicecream.com located in Pasadena and Los Angeles.
I actually tried McConnell’s Ice Cream for the first time from my local grocery store and for $9 a pint, I hoped that this wouldn’t disappoint. I purchased 4 flavors: Turkish Coffee, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Toasted Coconut Almond Chip, and Peppermint Stick. For someone who doesn’t like coffee, the Turkish Coffee was amazing!!! It had that wonderful coffee aroma as soon as the lid opened and the best part of the ice cream were the little bits of espresso beans that added a slight texture to the cream. BUT, I have to say that the BEST flavor goes to the Toasted Coconut Almond Chip!!! This flavor will make you dance around in circles and make you feel so happy!! The melted chocolate chips are mated down and mixed with the toasted shredded coconuts and crunchy almonds. Then last month we took a trip to Santa Barbara and got to enjoy the taste in person and it wasn’t disappointing! I think you would agree with me when I say that any ice cream shop that uses grass fed milk and cream= HAPPY COWS= SUPER FRESH!
I first heard about Carmela’s a year ago from a couple of friends that said, “This is the best ice cream!” But during that time, I was already in love with McConnell’s ice cream and didn’t think anything could beat that! So a couple of weeks ago, my pregnant mommy friend Laura was craving ice cream and decided to pick up Carmela’s for us (to go) and brought four different flavors to share: Salted Caramel, Strawberry Buttermilk, Raspberry Rose Sorbet, and Mint Cacao Nib. All of the flavors were very fresh and you can tell they use good quality ingredients BUT the ultimate dance flavor was the Strawberry Buttermilk!! So one sunny afternoon, I was with my two girlfriends’ Jennifer and Susan and we were craving ice cream. We drove to their Los Angeles location and picked out a couple of flavors. I cannot get away from their Strawberry Buttermilk!! It is that addicting!! Of course, they believe in using fresh, seasonal products so my ultimate two flavors that I would recommend were the Strawberry Buttermilk and Blackberry Vanilla Bean Sorbet. I’ve been back about three times in the past two weeks and noticed they’re offering ice cream classes ($100 for 3 hours including 2 pints of ice cream to go) and I’m considering taking a class to see and learn the entire process. I have a couple of weeks to decide but I think it’ll be super fun and super YUMMY!!!