Snack Review: Dove Miniatures Ice Cream

Still heartbroken from my reunion with the Chocolate Éclair bar, I turned my attention to a modern creation, one without a past to live up to, an ice cream novelty designed for grownups. These two-bite-sized, chocolate-coated, ice cream bar-nugget things are practically diet food, in my household. It’s all about portion control! One is only sixty calories, and they are so good that if you are paying attention while you eat it, one can be satisfying enough. (Note: it helps, of course, not to eat it while standing in the open freezer door where you can just reach in and grab another.)

These are obviously designed for a fairly sophisticated palate. I am a snob about dark chocolate, and I have no complaints with the dark chocolate coating. For technical reasons, ice cream coating can never be identical to a dark chocolate bar, but this is probably as good as it gets. The coating is thin, which is as it should be. And the small size is good for reasons other than restraint: the coating/ice cream ratio per bite is very nice.

The box contains nuggets with both chocolate and vanilla ice cream inside. In case you’re as slow a learner as I am, here’s a hint: You don’t need to bite one open to see which flavor it is. The chocolate ones are decorated with a few thin stripes of milk chocolate; the vanilla ones are undecorated. You’re welcome.

• Dove Chocolate Ice Cream Website

Snack Review: Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bars

Summer is Ice Cream Novelty season. Remember all of those treats, mostly on sticks, that you used to buy at the ice cream truck when you were a kid? Well, there’s nothing stopping you from eating them as a grownup. If you’re lucky enough, that is, to live in a place where the ice cream truck hasn’t gone out of business because of high gas prices, or it hasn’t been banned because of its noise pollution or its carbon footprint or the fact that it sells stuff made with corn syrup or trans fat or whatever the evil of the day is.

Fortunately, you can buy a lot of these treats at the supermarket, too. Unfortunately, it turns out that it might not be worth the bother.

Seriously, what have they done to these Chocolate Éclair bars? The chocolate inside layer is a nasty icy texture. There isn’t enough vanilla ice cream surrounding it, ruining the interplay between chocolate and vanilla. The chocolate coating, which has the cake crumbs stuck to it – it’s barely thick enough to be chocolate-colored, much less chocolate flavored. And didn’t the cake crumbs used to be both chocolate and vanilla? And why are they so stingy with them? And the whole deal is too darn sweet.

I didn’t even finish it. I can’t remember ever in my life not finishing a serving of ice cream.

I had planned to also conduct research into the mystery of why these are called Chocolate Eclairs when they bear not even a metaphorical resemblance to the pastry of the same name, which has a non-chocolate filling and no relationship to cake crumbs. But now I’m too depressed.

• Good Humor website

Snack Review: A&W Root Beer Float (in a bottle)

I love a good ice cream float - especially root beer floats. When I saw the bottle that said A&W Root Beer Float in my local convenience store, I was more than excited. A root beer float in a bottle? Oh yeah, I’m there!

Unfortunately, I don’t think this could have tasted worse if they were trying to make it taste bad. It had that tan, ice cream plus root beer look to it, but it was super sweet and tasted really strongly of black licorice. Most good root beer has a licorice undertone but this was too much. Gah! I couldn’t even finish it. I poured it out after three or four swigs. It was truly awful.

Get one now if you are a soft drink/bottle collector because I can’t imagine these will last long. These also come in Sunkist Soda Orange Float flavor and I’ve heard those taste pretty darn good (like a Creamsicle), but I haven’t tried it myself.

If you want a good ice cream float at home, make one yourself and skip the float in a bottle.

• A&W Floats

The “What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?” Online Video Contest

Klondike, maker of wonderful chocolate-covered ice cream bars, is having a contest to find the best video detailing what you would do for a Klondike Bar. The grand-prize winner will receive $100,000 and a trip to meet with Saturday Night Live comedic writing stars Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island. You can also win $25,000 just for watching and rating videos.

What are you waiting for? Make a video and enter! Full contest details are available at the contest’s website, http://www.klondikecontest.com