Thanksgiving special: Baskin-Robbins' Turkey Day Fixin's ice cream!
This is one day when it might pay to be chicken.
This week’s installment is coming early, to leave you time to rush out and try it for yourself…if you’re up for the challenge. Baskin-Robbins’ 32nd flavor is Turkey Day Fixin’s, a literal mashup of some favorite side dishes: sweet potato casserole, honey cornbread, and cranberry sauce. It’s the November 2023 flavor of the month, so you only have a few days left to check it out. Here’s a sneak peek of what you might expect!
In case you missed it, I also reviewed very fancy chocolatier Phillip Ashley’s limited edition Holiday Sides Truffle Collection this week, for the TODAY Show’s online Food section (you can read it here). It’s a mashup made in my own personal heaven — chocolate truffles infused with the many-layered flavors of genuine Campbell’s Soup side dishes, such as Jalapeno Mac and Cheese, and Green Bean Casserole. This ice cream isn’t nearly so ambitious, and although Chef Phillip knocked it out of the park, it’s probably best that Baskin-Robbins set their sights on the kid’s table with sweet potato, autumn spice, honeyed cornbread, and cranberry sauce flavors. Nobody needs to try cream of chicken-infused ice cream.
It’s been a minute since I’ve been in a Baskin-Robbins, but I used to take my older kid a lot, when we lived right by one. Breathe in the cool nostalgia of the space with me. The ice cream case is as brightly lit as ever, and the bright furnishings and hot pink spoon are like a little love letter to a simpler time.
Let’s taste it!
Hmmmmm.
Y’all. I almost like this.
BR has great texture, as ever. The sweet potato ice cream is the majority of the scoop, and it seems to be real sweet potato, with an apparently natural color and flavor. The cranberry is tart, but not bitter, which I sort of regret, but it’s not a bad choice. It echoes canned sauce, and that’s a legitimate option with a lot of devotees. The pieces of “cornbread” are about a half inch square and quite dry, sort of like very dense, corn flour pound cake bits. It’s not what I expected, but it could definitely be worse. I do hope that if they try this again, they coat more authentic cornbread croutonlets in white chocolate, the way Ben and Jerry’s envelops some of their mix-ins for crispness purposes.
My one complaint? The autumn spices. I was expecting cinnamon, and it is there, but it’s sitting sullenly in the backseat while cloves and…I’m not sure, maybe nutmeg? cardamom? take the wheel for a joyride in the raw. As for me, I’m white-knuckling it while they go careening at 110 mph in a 35, straight past the Turkey Day parade and headfirst into the Williams-Sonoma mulling spices display at the mall.
A lot of flavors hit really differently cold vs. hot, especially if they’ve never been toasted or cooked, and that’s what this tastes like to me. I’m a victim to the unchained melody of Frosty Spice.
I still think it’s worth trying, for old time’s sake if nothing else. Everyone’s looking for something to do the day after Thanksgiving, so head over to your local Baskin-Robbins with the cousins in tow, and get one scoop of this for everyone to share. Talk over what you like or don’t like — I’ll bet you hear some surprises! Things really do taste different to different people.
And then, get a scoop of Rocky Road to cleanse the palate. You’ll be thankful you did.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I’m so grateful to get to explore the wide world of flavors with you.
Nutrition notes from the RD:
This is not an ad — I have no agreement or partnership with any of the companies mentioned. I purchased the Turkey Day Fixin’s ice cream myself, and samples of the Phillip Ashley chocolates were provided by Campell’s for the TODAY review with no assurances I would have a favorable opinion. It was very brave of them to let me try them…the last time I tried a green bean candy, I didn’t have much nice to say, and it made the national news. Actually, it was international. On at least 2 continents. And again just a couple of weeks ago on CNN.
BR says that one 2.5 oz. scoop of this flavor is only 170 calories, with 2 g of protein. Rocky Road is similar, with a couple of extra g of protein from the almonds. If you’re looking for something a smidge lighter after all that pie, the Triple Mango is SO GOOD, and it’s 130 calories with the same 2 g of protein.