Thursday, May 8, 2014

Bland As Expected . . . Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato Is A Pricy, Light, Treat.


The Good: Fairly flavorful, Great ingredients
The Bad: More expensive than other Gelatos and ice creams, Not terribly healthy!
The Basics: Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato is a good basic gelato flavor that is good for what it is, but is still a tougher sell on its own than more flavorful gelatos.


When my local grocery store does clearance specials, I often find myself given the chance to get nice deals on things I cannot usually afford. Some of them actually surprise me quite a bit. One of the latest surprises for me came when Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato was marked down 50%! The Vanilla Bean Gelato seemed like a pretty basic and integral flavor to the Haagen-Dazs Gelato line, so when my local grocery store decided to clearance it, I was miffed. Having now gone through both my pints of it (I stock up when the deals are good!), I’m a little less surprised.

The Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato is a good basic gelato flavor, but it is a bit too bland for full price. At best, it is a classy palate cleanser more than a truly satisfying dessert on its own.

Basics

Haagen-Dazs Gelato comes in a 14 oz. (almost) pint container. The Vanilla Bean Gelato is a smooth Gelato without any additives. Vanilla Bean is entirely smooth without noticeable black spots usually found in vanilla bean ice creams. This Gelato is a single, solid flavor.

At (locally) $5.99 a pint, the Haagen-Dazs Gelato is an expensive frozen dairy dessert. That I found it on clearance for $2.99 was the primary reason I bought the pint of Gelato!

Ease Of Preparation

The Vanilla Bean Gelato is a simple Gelato with no additives. As a Gelato, preparation is ridiculously simple: one need only open the top of the container, remove the safety seal from the top, scoop out a half cup and consume! There is no trick to preparing or eating the Vanilla Bean Gelato!

Taste

Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato has almost no aroma to it. Even as the gelato warms a little, this flavor does not have much of a smell to it.

As far as the taste, the Vanilla Bean Gelato is a predictably light flavor. Unlike standard vanilla flavors, though, the Vanilla Bean Gelato is not bland; it actually has a sweet, dry, distinct flavor to it. Not at all milky or even watery (as many gelatos can be), the Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato is actually a potent reminder of how vanilla can actually be a flavor and one that is compelling enough to carry the palate. Even so, it is a somewhat dry flavor that is sweet, but not the most compelling flavor. In other words, this is a good palate cleanser and a gelato that can be augmented (with ice cream toppings), but is not in any way incredible on its own.

This Gelato has a very slight dry aftertaste to it.

Nutrition

The Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato is a comparatively light Gelato on its own. The 14 oz. container represents three and a half half-cup servings. In the half-cup serving, there are 230 calories, 90 of which are from fat. The ten grams of fat represent 15% of the RDA of fat, with 30% of one’s RDA of saturated fat coming in the 6 grams of saturated fat in this Gelato. One serving has 90 mg of cholesterol (that’s 30% of the RDA!) and 40 mg of Sodium (2% RDA). The only other real nutrients are four grams of protein, 10% of the RDA of Calcium and 8% of the RDA of Vitamin A in the Vanilla Bean Gelato.

Haagen-Dazs Gelatos have decent ingredients! Made primarily of Skim milk, cream and corn syrup, Vanilla Bean Gelato is entirely natural! There is nothing unpronounceable in the ingredients list. The Vanilla Bean Haagen-Dazs Gelato is neither Kosher, nor marked as gluten free. There are no allergy warnings on the package. It does, however, contain milk and egg ingredients, so it is very much not Vegan compliant.

Storage/Clean-Up

Haagen-Dazs Gelato is both a frozen and a dairy product, so it is pretty obvious that it must be kept frozen in order to remain viable. Kept frozen it remains fresh for months (my pint had an expiration date of May 22, 2014, which may be why I was able to find it on clearance).

The Vanilla Bean Gelato is fairly light and is not likely to stain. However, as a dairy product, when the Gelato melts and gets onto fabrics, it will require one to wash it right out. On nonporous surfaces, the Gelato wipes off exceptionally easily.

Overall

The Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Gelato is decent, but in no way extraordinary, which means it cannot truly justify its expense.

For other Haagen-Dazs products, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Coconut Macaroon ice cream
Blueberry Crumble Ice Cream
Black Cherry Amaretto Gelato

4.5/10

For other food reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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