Belly Artisan Ice Cream, Toronto

I love ice cream. I eat it many days a week.  You probably know this by now, if you read my blog regularly, or see my Instagram.

I also enjoy interesting flavors, and trying new brands, particularly when I travel.  Thus, I bring you Belly Artisan Ice Cream, based in Canada, where I recently visited.

"Belly Ice Cream is all natural and completely handcrafted with an obsessive attention to detail and an emphasis on creative, Chef driven flavours. Each flavour you love, is made from scratch using locally sourced, fresh dairy and the highest quality ingredients. "

I was impressed with the commitment to truly being an artisan manufacturer that Belly has - all ice cream is made when you order, they keep no stock.  Nearly everything is made in house, including all the mix-ins like brownies, caramel, etc.  And the flavors? They really are unique.

Belly might be a bit hard for you to get your hands on though ... they have a single shop, and otherwise just sell wholesale to small markets.  Or, it turns out, to my office.

Ice Cream Freezer!

Discovering the ice cream freezer is always a highlight  when I travel to another office, but particularly when they have local items.  A chance to try new things!  And in our Toronto office, it was stocked with Belly products.

Individual Ice Cream

The flavor range is what made me most excited about Belly, with versions of desserts I love, just, made into ice cream, like Sticky Rice with Mango, Cinnamon Bun, or Sticky Toffee Pudding.  There are plenty of boozy flavors, and florals as well.  Our office had a limited selection, but still, some interesting ones.

The ice cream is low overrun, less air, but I didn't find it to be particularly creamy nor premium.  It seemed like mid-grade ice cream, really.  Not bad, but not notable in its texture in any way.

Mini Tubs.

I appreciated the size of the mini tubs, bigger than a single scoop, but not giant, actually a reasonable portion size.

Each one just had the flavor on top with a little sticky label.  Clearly a smaller scale production!

Scotch Whiskey with Smoked Almonds & Salted Caramel.

I snatched this one up immediately.  I loved the sound of it.

There were some highlights: the runny, gooey salted caramel sauce, generous throughout.  The crunchy bits of smoked almond, which great texture.

But ... uh ... where was the whiskey?  I didn't taste it at all.  And the ice cream itself was fairly standard, not particularly creamy nor premium.

Overall, sounded better than it was, just because I wanted a boozy ice cream!

Basil & Lemon.

I liked the basil and lemon much more.

I was first introduced to basil ice cream a few years ago by a pastry chef friend, and I've been hooked since ... on the rare occasions when I can get my hands on it that is.

It was refreshing, yet not sorbet, definitely creamy ice cream.  The basil and lemon were very pleasing together, fresh strong flavors, the play of acidity and herbs just worked wonderfully.

A unique flavor, and I enjoyed it.

Belgian White Chocolate & Lemon.

I selected this near the end of the week, when the pickings were slim.  I know I don't care for lemon, but the white chocolate I hoped would balance it out.

The white chocolate I did like, shreds within, but, as expected, the ice cream did taste like lemon, and that just isn't for me.  If you like lemon though, I think this was likely pleasant.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Artisan ice cream sandwiches?  Now those sounded interesting, made with homemade cookies and the ice cream, fascinating flavor combinations, and totally non-standard flavors of each.

The freezer was loaded with them my first day, so I didn't try any then, opting for the individual ice cream, assuming I could come back another day for the ice cream sandwiches.  I was mistaken, as most of the good flavors disappeared the first day, not to be restocked all week!

Carrot Cake Cookies w/ Cream Cheese Ice Cream.

I would have grabbed this on the spot had I known it wouldn't be restocked, but alas, I missed out on carrot cake cookies with cream cheese ice cream.

Chocolate Sugar Cookie with Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Ice Cream.

I also loved the sound of this one, I'm not sure I've ever had a chocolate sugar cookie?

Shortbread Cookies with Blackberry Earl Grey Ice Cream.

I returned to the ice cream freezer later in the week to find only one option.  This one.  The item was unlabeled, so I did't know what I was getting until I bit in, and realized it was the same as the one I ad bypassed on an earlier visit because I don't care for blackberry (in general, I dislike the seeds in the fruit, so anything that includes seeds, which this did, is a no for me).  And I didn't like the earl grey flavor, it tasted floral, another no for me.

So, the ice cream was fail for my tastes but the shortbread cookies were actually quite wonderful.  And I say this as someone who doesn't love cookies.  They were soft, buttery, sugary, and just really quite delicious.  I scarfed the cookies down in record time.

Cornflake Skor Cookies with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

The next day I went earlier, right after stocking, and was rewarded with better options.

This ice cream was boring, just plain vanilla, but the cookies were again a highlight, the cornflake added a crispness, the skor bar a toffee quality, and there was plenty of salt.   I really quite liked these, much like cereal milk ice cream, just, even better.  For cookies, not bad.

It was rolled in mini chips of assorted flavors (chocolate, white chocolate, toffee perhaps?), which I appreciated for extra texture as well.