treat | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

Trader Joe’s WILDBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM

Trader Joe’s WILDBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM with cheesecake pieces and a mixed berry swirl

A LIMITED SUMMER EDITION ICE CREAM

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/wildberry-cheesecake-ice-cream-071061

“To herald the coming of summer, we’re offering Wildberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, featuring the vibrance of wild berries and bits of cheesecake. That’s right: in addition to a dreamy, sweet-cream ice cream base, you’ll find a generous mixed berry swirl (made with blueberries, elderberry juice concentrate, and a blend of raspberry, strawberry & blackberry purees) and tender bits of classic cheesecake.” – Trader Joe’s

Apparently Trader Joe’s had this two years ago, then it vanished. It’s finally made a come back. Someone on Reddit called this a “hidden gem”.

This lists first three ingredient as “cream, milk, cane sugar…” Yes this is actually Ice Cream. Not “ice cream style frozen dessert” . Just compare this to the fake-y tasting “Gelato Style Frozen Dessert” I reviewed. That stuff had coconut oil as the third ingredient. Here the ingredient list here reads like what you expect when you buy ice cream. If you like cheesecake, and see it, I would give it a try. I really liked it.

INGREDIENTS include : Cream, milk, cane sugar, cheesecake pieces…mixed berry swirl with blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, elderberry…

I was on the check out line, next to the ice cream case, and a worker was putting these in the case. There wasn’t even a sign for this ice cream yet but I was intrigued at the name of it. I asked him if he tried it and he said, yes he did and loved it.

So I got one to try. My honest review? Soo good; this is a delicious ice cream that tastes exactly like it’s name. It actually has little pieces of cheese cake in the ice cream mixed with swirls of berry. I found this on target. As good as something Ben and Jerry’s would come out with. It’s a delicious summer treat.

We enjoyed this for July 4th and to make it even more special I added fresh blueberries on top which of course made it even better with fresh fruit.

One thing to note though. As it got softer, and melted together, the important texture of the cheese cake pieces vanished, so try to eat this while it is still pretty cold.

I would buy this again.

$3.79

Trader Joe’s recipe idea: Smoked Salmon on Potato Pancakes

This is hardly a “recipe”, just putting out an idea how sometimes putting two or three TJ products together is an easy way to come up with something good. For New Year’s Eve I had the idea for a “Russian inspired” taste: Smoked Salmon with Potato Pancakes (the pancakes instead of blinis). The combo turned out just as delicious as I hoped and we really enjoyed these as a super easy special holiday meal – however you can make them any old day!

I took a package of Trader Joe’s Latkes / Potato Pancakes and Smoked Salmon and OK instead of sour cream I actually used Greek yogurt to save a few calories. Of course a Russian would use lots of Sour Cream, calories be damned, plus fresh dill. To put the dish together all I had to do to was cook the frozen Potato Pancakes till crispy in an frying pan, then topped them with a good amount of smoked salmon and topped that with a spoon of Greek yogurt. Better with sour cream sure, up to you. Sprinkle some fresh dill on if possible plus a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Voila, it took about 5 minutes until they were ready to serve as a dinner with salad and roasted beets on the side. Easy as pie to “make” and really yummy, so try this if it sounds good to you. You could make this as an appetizer for a few guests in minutes and make a big splash with almost no work except assembling the ingredients. Now I was hardly the only one shopping thinking about Smoked Salmon early afternoon of New Years Eve. Trade Joe’s whole section with smoked salmon was completely sold out except for a few packs of this Nova Salmon! The Nova was a wee bit saltier than some other versions they sell, but as fine with the creamy sour cream / yogurt as it it all balanced out. The next time I make these I will probably opt for the Everything Salmon.

Trader Joe’s (frozen) Potato Pancakes Latkes are $2.69 for 10 little pancakes. I think the Nova was about $9 for 8 oz package.