Just as I suspected, THIS is a flavor I can get behind.
There's an airy, subtle quality to the almond milk that they use here that lends itself to lighter, vanilla-esque flavors, in my humble opinion. After trying the peanut butter & chocolate variety last month, I projected that I'd be far more into a vanilla cake type flavor than the peanut butter one, despite my affinity for most things peanut buttery. My suspicions were correct.
There's still a completely unnecessary "fudge swirl" element in this non-dairy frozen dessert that I find completely uncalled for and superfluous. I'd have given this product a near-perfect score if not for that particular ingredient.
I might also ask for even more cookie dough and cake pieces, because they worked beautifully in this mix. The "vanilla cake batter flavored" pseudo-ice cream was delish. It's like almond milk was invented just to be the base of this flavor. The cookie and cake pieces worked perfectly, too. They're just sweet and simple and slightly chewy.
Chocolate's great and all, and there are tons of desserts it should be included in, but this just isn't one of them if you ask me. The richness of chocolate just throws off the balance of all the lighter flavors. And there's just so much of it! You can see in the picture above how massive and thick the "ribbon" of fudge actually is. Perhaps a quarter that amount of chocolate would have sufficed.
But still, this non-dairy frozen dessert is scrumptious and worth a purchase or two even if you're not vegan or lactose intolerant. If you like ice cream—particularly vanilla-based ice creams with cookie dough—you're probably not gonna hate this. It's very refreshing, perfect for beating the heat on a hot summer day, and the sweetness is great for a pick-me-up. I will absolutely buy this flavor again, though perhaps after trying even more of these non-dairy ice cream flavors.
I give this non-dairy frozen dessert 8 out of 10 stars.
