What’s better than ice cream? Ice cream delivered to your door.

And what’s better than ice cream delivered to your door? A complete ice cream social delivered to your door.

Dandy Don’s sent me their newest creation: an ice cream social for 25 people shipped directly to you. The ice cream social in a box includes 25 individual scoops of ice cream in separate containers, 9 toppings (including hot fudge and caramel), spoons, napkins, tablecloths, and soda jerk hats. There isn’t anything else that you would need for an ice cream social — except for people to eat the ice cream and perhaps some whipped cream.

I particularly liked that they included two containers of m&m’s and crumbled Oreos since most people enjoy those toppings. One of my favorite touches was the crushed sugar cones as a topping. I normally don’t eat crushed sugar cones on my ice cream but now I might start.

Another pleasant surprise was the amount of ice cream in the containers — there was A LOT of it. (Plus enough space was left in the containers to add toppings.) If you’re serving this for kids you’d almost want to cut each scoop of ice cream in half because the scoops were so large.

Lastly, the ice cream itself was very good. My favorite flavor was the cappuccino crunch, followed by vanilla, and then chocolate.

If you’re looking for an easy to assemble party this is a good bet. The price is a little steep, but if you compare it to buying and assembling all of the ingredients and supplies individually or to hiring Ben and Jerry’s to cater your party, it’s not too bad of a deal.

You can buy the Ice Cream Social in a Box on Dandy Don’s website.

Lately I have been reading a bunch of ice cream maker reviews.  Why, because I love ice cream so much that it’s fun to stay on top of the best ice cream technology out there.

When I first starting making ice cream I read reviews of ice cream machines and bought this machine: the Cuisinart Ice 30bc. It was a good machine and I can’t complain too much about it — especially given the price.  It worked well.  But, the down side of the machine was that you had to pre freeze the ice cream canister.  This was a problem.  Another unfortunate thing about this machine was that because of the pre freezing of the canister you couldn’t make back to back batches.  (Unless you bought a second canister.)

Then for a wedding present we got this maker.  We read all the ice cream maker reviews and registered for this one because it is a fully automatic (no pre freezing required) ice cream and gelato maker.  Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.  The Lello gelato maker junior doesn’t require pre freezing and you can make back to back batches.

Another ice cream maker that gets rave reviews is the Cuisinart ice cream maker — like this one here.  It is similar to the Lello in that there is no pre freezing of the canister.  It gets high marks for it’s looks too as it’s a stainless steel ice cream maker.

Perhaps someday I’ll upgrade to this ice cream maker.  It’s practically a professional ice cream maker and the reviews I’ve read of it say that they use it in many pastry schools.

Lastly, I thought I’d comment on some of the complaints that are frequent in ice cream maker reviews.

It seems to me that the ice cream maker reviews have several things in common.  People complain about the noise.  Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done about this.  My gut tells me that if you walk in to an ice cream making factory it’s going to be pretty noisy.

Another frequent problem cited in the reviews of ice cream makers is that it takes “too long” for the ice cream to freeze.  No matter what type of frozen dessert you’re making — whether it is ice cream or sorbet or frozen yogurt all ice cream maker recipes tell you to pre-chill the ice cream soup.  This allows it to freeze much faster.  So, as long as you pre chill it shouldn’t take to long to freeze.

I hope these ice cream maker reviews help you in choosing an awesome ice cream machine.

Again, if you’re looking for a cheap ice cream maker – my recommendation would be this one.  This ice cream machine gets top marks for ease of use.  Just remember that you’ll have to think ahead and put the canister in the freezer.

If you’re looking for a no pre freezing required ice cream maker (like a professional ice cream maker) check out this one or this one.  (I use the later and love it.)

If if you can afford to splurge, this one is beautiful. The ice cream maker reviewers say it works wonders.  Just because it’s a gelato maker — remember that you can use it for sorbet, frozen yogurt, and ice cream too.

All the guidebooks touted Argentine ice cream as being the finest in the world. So, for the past few months while planning our trip to Argentina I’ve been anxiously awaiting the chance to try this deliciousness. Well, I’ve been in Buenos Aires for one week and sampled 5 different ice cream flavors at 2 ice cream shops and so far I’m a little disappointed.

I’ve had Argentine ice cream before, but in the U.S. Specifically, countless times at Dolcezza in Georgetown, Washington DC. At Dolcezza the ice cream was delicious. The flavors rich and fresh and the ice cream creamy. So, I expected it to be even better than this in Argentina itself.

Both the places I have tried ice cream in Argentina so far have been good, but not great. The helado consistency is bizarre. It’s creamy and icy at the same time. The taste is a little icy but the consistency on the spoon is creamy. Elastically is probably the best way to describe it. When I try to take a bite with the little gelato spoons the ice cream doesn’t break free but instead stretches out — much like cheese on a pizza. This in and of itself makes ice cream a little frustrating.

The flavors are good, but I haven’t had any that I would highly recommend. I’ll likely post some specific reviews in the near future.

One of the biggest disappointments is the price. Almost everything in Argentina is far cheaper than you would find in the States. You can get an amazing steak for $7-10 US dollars. An entire pizza (quite popular with the Italian influence here) is $4-7 US dollars. An empanadas — small cheese and meat filled pastries, 3-4 would equal an entire meal — are $1 each. So image my surprise when ice cream is the the same price, if not more than what you would pay in the US. One cone/cup is about $4 US dollars!

Now, I’m not exactly complaining. The ice cream could be terrible. Or worse yet could be non-existent. I guess I just had my hopes up.

The following lucky 10 commenters have won coupons for PhillySwirl Cupcakes as part of my National Ice Cream Month giveaway:

• 11- jade
• 5- ms jackie
• 10- lessley
• 4- s. phil
• 12- izabela
• 16- caroline
• 3- charles
• 8- Jeaneaen
• 15- Arlene Descargar
• 6- casie m

And the grand prize winner (who actually gets the Ice Cream cupcakes shipped to her home) is commenter #9: Rebecca!

Congratulations everyone! And thaks to PhillysSwirl for their generosity.

Winners should have received an email from me by now asking for the address to ship to; if not please contact me.

In celebration of National Ice Cream Month in the United States (every July); PhillySwirl is sponsoring an A Daily Scoop Ice Cream Contest.

The grand-prize winner will get a box of PhillySwirl ice cream cupcakes shipped right to his/her door. And 10 runner ups will get a coupon for a free-box of cupcakes.

How do you win?

1. Leave a comment below with your favorite ice cream flavor
2. Make sure you include your email address in the comment form (will not be shown) so that I can contact the winners
3. On July 29th I’ll use a random number generator to choose 1 grand-prize winners and 10 runner-ups

Here are the 2 simple rules:

1. One entry per person
2. Must live in the US (due to shipping restrictions)

The kind folks at PhillySwirl sent me a box of Ice Cream Cupcakes to review.

Bite into a PhillySwirl Ice Cream Cupcake and it’s like a birthday cake and scoop of ice cream in each and every bite. At least that’s the way the PhillySwirl Ice Cream Cupcakes taste to me. They are simple- either chocolate or white cake topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream with sprinkles. And they are a tasty little treat.

I tried both the chocolate and white cake cupcakes. The chocolate is a rich almost devil’s food type cake; but it’s a little dense. The white cake is a much fluffier texture.

The ice cream in the cupcakes is pretty average and tastes like New York Vanilla. The whipped cream tastes like coolwhip.

But, the most ingenious part about these Ice Cream Cupcakes is the layer of chocolate fudge that separates the bottom layer of cake from the upper layer of ice cream. Not only does it taste delicious it also prevents the ice cream from getting into the cake layer and making it mushy!

I’ve only had an ice cream cupcake one other time in my life, and that was at Maggie Moo’s where the cupcakes were a little too sweet. PhillySwirl’s were better. If you’re specifically looking for an Ice Cream Cupcake for a birthday party, etc I would recommend these.

Tomorrow, watch for a contest where you can win a box of PhillySwirls shipped right to your door!

• Flavor: 4
• Flavor Intensity: 3
• Texture; 4
• Originality: 5
• Overall: 4

Tomorrow, April 30, 2008 is 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins.  Find your local Baskin Robbins ice cream store here.

Just a reminder for everyone that today is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s! This means waiting in a short line for a delicious ice cream cone.  Locate your local scoop shop store here.

Recently I have become semi-addicted to Potbelly Chocolate Malts.  (Is it possible to become semi-addicted?  That’s beside the point…).  Potbelly chocolate malts are just the right thickness and have just the right amount of malt powder.  There’s something about the taste of malt powder where you can easily have too little or too much; and the Potbelly malt lands right in between.
The thickness of the malt is also excellent.  It takes some effort to suck it up through a straw, but not too much effort.  Again, they’ve achieved that critical balance.
Oh, and who can forget the cookies?  Two minature shortbread cookies on the straw, mmm tasty.
My only complaint is the size.  It’s a smaller size cup, but it’s still too much.  After finishing an entire malt I feel like I’ve eaten way too much.  I need about three-quarters of the current size.  That would be the right amount.  I realize I could throw it away after I’ve eaten 3/4; but wouldn’t that be a waste??

• Flavor: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 2
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $2.86 at Potbelly

Well, I finally found it: Outstanding plain chocolate ice cream. Haagen Dazs’ new “reserve” line has produced at least one amazing flavor: Amazon Valley Chocolate. This ice cream is very very chocolatey. (It’s more of a dark chocolate than a milk chocolate.) It’s smooth and it’s rich. It’s so rich that it’s actually difficult to eat a lot in one sitting (which is probably good since it’s not the healthiest ice cream.) One of the scoops I had before finishing the pint I drizzled with melted peanut butter– I would highly recommend this. But, this ice cream doesn’t need the peanut butter to taste good. It is wonderful on it’s own. Go out and buy some before they discontinue it, trust me. (Hopefully they won’t discontinue it, but if it’s truly good amazon cocoa bean they use, then it could run out.)

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 5
• Cost: $3 on sale at Safeway

I was in Chicago a few weeks ago visiting my grandparents, and we went to a wonderful French restaurant, Marche, for dinner one night. Several people got some sort of ice cream with or for their dessert and I tasted them all. My favorites were the chocolate-peanut butter and the mint chocolate chip. The chocolate peanut butter had swirls of rich peanut butter in it and the mint chocolate chip was very very crisp and refreshing with fresh mint. The plain chocolate was kind of bland and the butter pecan was decent. If you get a chance to visit Marche, try the chocolate peanut butter ice cream. You won’t regret it.

Haagen Dazs is having a free scoop day tomorrow, May 15 of two of their new flavors.  Find a shop near you. Unfortunately, there’s not one close to me so I won’t be making it out.

Recently I’ve been asked by a number of people what my favorite ice cream is. I can never seem to list an absolute favorite, but here are my 5 favorite ice creams.

1. Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. I can’t think of an ice cream that I enjoy more than Cherry Garcia. There’s just something about it that I absolutely love.
2. Oreo at Sebastian Joe’s in Minneapolis, MN. This ice cream is hands down the best Oreo ice cream I’ve ever eaten. I doubt if I will ever find an Oreo ice cream that’s more flavorful and rich than this one is. If you get a chance to visit Minneapolis (especially during the summer) head over to Sebastian Joe’s get a scoop of Oreo and walk around the lakes.
3. Homemade Easy Cocoa chocolate ice cream. I adore chocolate, yet somehow most chocolate ice creams don’t live up to my expectations. This ice cream recipe is incredibly easy to make and buying the incredibly is cheaper than buying a carton.
4. Brown Bread Ice Cream at Murphy’s Ice Cream in Dingle, Ireland. Brown Bread ice cream is extremely unique and wonderful. Plus, I have fond memories of wondering the streets of Dingle, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
5. Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean. Everyone needs a favorite vanilla; Breyer’s “all natural” vanilla was mine for a long time, until they started adding Tara Gum. Now, I choose the more fattening, but actually all natural, Haagen Dazs vanilla bean.

This post was published in conjunction with Problogger’s “Top 5″ group writing project. Check it out for other list’s of top 5’s.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their free ice cream cone at Ben and Jerry’s Free Cone Day.

Following in their footsteps, Baskin Robbins is having a 31 cent scoop night on May 2, 2007. It’s in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Mark your calendars!

Today from 12 noon until 8pm you can get a free scoop of Ice Cream at your local Ben and Jerry’s.

Be sure to stop by and pick one up!  You can find your local shop here.
Also, if you’re feeling generous, put a few dollars in the bucket for whatever charity they’re raising money for at your location.