Haagen Dazs 2012 Limited Edition: Salted Caramel Truffle

Last, but definitely not least, salted caramel truffle.  If you thought "spiced caramel biscuit" was unique, salted caramel truffle is definitely way more intriguing.  "Salted" was not usually a word that you will see with desserts. 

This flavor reminded me of a flavor that I loved from a discontinued product line of Haagen Dazs called Haagen Dazs Reserved.  Reserved were ice creams made with unique, sometimes unheard-of ingredients, and very limited.  There was a flavor in the Reserved called Fleur de Sel, which was a caramel ice cream with fleur de sel caramel ribbons and chocolate throughout.  What is fleur de sel?  Fleur de sel is a special French seasalt.  It is not as sharp as regular sea salt, but has a milder and gentle saltiness.  Fleur de sel ice cream was one of my all-time favorite ice cream from Haagen Dazs.  I was quite depressed when it was discontinued.  

I am so pleased to see another ice cream marrying caramel and fleur de sel together.  Salt and caramel are made for each other.  Salt and chocolate also worked beautifully together.  The truffles in the ice cream are chocolate truffles, which have a rich, soft and velvety texture.  With the salted caramel, and creamy truffle with rich and silky ice cream in every bite, it is hard to stop.  This ice cream is like a love triangle, with no conflicts and all three parties love each other with perfect harmony.  This sort of harmony does not exist in human relationships, but certain in foods.

I give it a 10 out of 10. 

Haagen Dazs 2012 Limited Edition: Spiced Caramel Biscuit

Spiced caramel biscuit...what does it sound like to you?  It makes you go "Huh...".  This flavor sounds so interesting and different that makes me want to try it badly.  

The base is velvety caramel ice cream with the sweet caramel aroma.  Like the coconut macaroon, the ice cream has this buttery, crunchy biscuits throughout.  The biscuits have a nice crunch, and not soft or soggy at all.  The cinnamon in the biscuits compliment very well with the caramel ice cream base, and also created textures contrast.  Creamy smooth caramel ice cream with crunchy buttery biscuits are definitely match made in heavens, and definitely worth the try.  

I give it a 8 out of 10. 

Haagen Dazs 2012 Limited Edition: Vanilla Bean Espresso

The second limited edition flavor: Vanilla bean espresso.  Just from the name, I can tell that this one will be a winner.  Vanilla and coffee?  What can go wrong?

When looking at the ice cream, it has black dots throughout the ice cream, which I can't tell if they are vanilla beans or espresso grinds.  The base is vanilla bean ice cream, which everyone loves.  The espresso is presented in a very interesting way.  It is espresso syrup ribbons laced throughout the ice cream, which create this gorgeous color contrasts against the pale beige ice cream.  The combination of the espresso and vanilla mingled in my mouth as the ice cream melts, which transformed into the best iced vanilla latte that you won't get at any coffee shops.  

I give it a 8 out of 10.

Haagen Dazs 2012 Limited Edition: Coconut Macaroon

The first flavor is Coconut Macaroon, which is definitely unique.  Honestly, I am not a big fan of coconut.  It is OK in certain things, and coconut itself is great as an ice cream flavor.  Coconut has  high amount of saturated fats, which make the ice cream very smooth and creamy.  However, I am usually not a fan of coconut desserts with coconut shavings.  

Haagen Dazs' Coconut Macaroon ice cream is actually not too bad.  The ice cream itself was rich, creamy, with a strong coconut aroma, and actually very tasty.  The part I did not like, however, was the coconut macaroons throughout the ice cream.   The texture of the coconut macaroons just wasn't pleasant to me.  It was almost like eating coconut shavings with that weird texture.  It would be great if I can get around the pieces of macaroons, but the pieces were so small it was impossible to pick them out.  I only took a few bites, and never went back.  

I don't see this one coming back to be a regular flavor...but who knows.

I give it a 5 out of 10.

FINALLY!!!

So for those of you that have been reading my blog, you know that I am a Haagen Dazs fanatic.  And I am very happy to announce to you that I have finally tasted all four of the newest limited edition flavors, and I will be posting reviews for them.  YAY!!!