Congratulations! We have reached the final day of spring classes. At press time, today's forecast was in the mid-sixties and sunny. Today is cause for celebration. Today is a day to not wear pants.
More important, today is the time to eat a sandwich filled with ice cream.
Ice cream sandwiches have been a summer staple for decades. Nowadays, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. On Sunday, I sampled three mass-market versions of the ice cream sandwich that I found at a nearby convenience store. Then I crafted my own variation on the classic. Below is a rundown of my experience:
Nestle "King Size" Vanilla sandwich: 230 calories, 7g fat, 22g sugar, 40g carb, 6 fl oz
This one's your standard ice cream sandwich: rectangular, with soft chocolate cookie wafers on both sides. At six fluid ounces - yes, it's measured in fluid ounces even though it is most certainly not a fluid - this sandwich was the biggest I tried, so the "King Size" moniker may be justified in context. The ice cream itself is boring, with no apparent vanilla flavor, really just white frozen milk and cream. The sandwich as a whole has a pleasant texture, and it's comforting, probably because I used to chase down ice cream trucks as a kid in Brooklyn to eat these guys. Not great, but would eat again if I was in a bind.
M&M's Ice Cream Cookie sandwich: 250 calories, 13g fat, 22g sugar, 33g carb, 4 fl oz
Again, a straightforward sandwich: A pat of artificially flavored vanilla ice cream between two soft round sugar cookies. The cookies have M&M's lodged inside and are fine, a bit doughy but respectable. Again, the ice cream itself is virtually flavorless. Maybe the ice cream would have been better had the M&M's been stuck inside both the ice cream and the cookie. Overall the sandwich was slightly more exciting than the Nestle "King Size," but for all of that 13 grams of fat, I wanted a food that had more richness to it.
Skinny Cow Cookies 'n Cream low fat ice cream sandwich: 150 calories, 2 g fat, 15 g sugar, 31 g carb, 4 fl oz
I was impressed with the packaging - before you bite into this thing, it actually looks tasty. Round chocolate cookies with ridges sandwich vanilla ice cream with what appear to be appetizing specks of cookie inside. But as I suspected, this sandwich is bad news. All of these mass-market sandwiches are loaded with artificial ingredients, but the Skinny Cow in particular had a bizarre chemical aftertaste I could not place. I appreciate the attempt to make a low fat version of the ice cream sandwich, but ice cream sandwiches are simply not a diet food. I enjoy many low-fat foods - always down to snack on a kale chip - but where ice cream sandwiches are concerned, fattier might be better.
Which brings me to my version of the ice cream sandwich: one warm blueberry waffle, drizzled chocolate sauce, 1/2 crushed Rice Krispies Treat, Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie ice cream, sliced banana, more drizzled chocolate sauce and another warm waffle on top.
Nutritional facts are not included, but it's safe to say this is a sandwich for only special occasions. Using good ice cream is essential and makes a big difference. The varying textures of the toasted waffle, chewy Rice Krispie and soft banana are delicious together. And there are cookies inside the ice cream! This sandwich got a little messy, but it was a sacrifice that I was eager to make.
--
Ben Kochman is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Benjamin.kochman@tufts.edu or on Twitter @benkochman. Want to see what Ben ate this week? Watch the video version of this column at blogs.tuftsdaily.com.
