Eclipse Ice Cream

Vegan.  Lactose-free.  Not exactly the terms you think of when it comes to tasty ice cream generally.

"Eclipse is the first-ever plant-based ice cream that is indistinguishable from conventional dairy. It requires no sacrifice on taste, texture nor functionality."

But I was drawn in by the promise of the plant based ice cream from Eclipse, a Bay Area company started in 2019, by the same folks behind the JUST product line (e.g. JUST mayo, which, really does taste exactly like regular mayo to me ...).  It has stuck around a few years, so, I decided to finally give it a try.

One thing to note is this is not healthy ice cream in a lower fat, lower calories, lower sugar sense.  It is on par with premium dairy ice cream, e.g. >300 calories per 2/3 cup scoop, 20g fat, etc.  So, better for the environment, and the cows, but probably not for you.  It is made of a base of different food starches (cassava, corn, potato, canola) and cane sugar, but in a way that mimics cow dairy, the best they can.  So, not a sorbet.  I found it freezes really quite hard, and takes a while to soften.  Once soft, it is nicely creamy, but, compared to regular ice cream, of any brand, it definitely froze more solid.

Eclipse makes 6 standard flavors: vanilla, mint chip, caramel butter pecan, cookie butter, mango passionfruit, and "Dark side of the spoon", a chocolate peanut butter flavor.  In addition, they have around 20 different collaborations with different chefs, with some really creative flavors (e.g. sweet potato and salty black sugar caramel, roasted plantain with coconut cream & salted caramel, cherry & black sesame swirl, sweet corn & salty sesame fennel crunch, etc.  The one that called out most to me is a collab with Boston based Flour Bakery incorporating their famous sticky buns (which, I didn't actually love when I had it, but their cinnamon rolls are incredible!).  However, the best I can tell, these were all super limited flavors, and you can't actually get them anywhere at this point.

I found Eclipse at my local Whole Foods, which carried the 3 most popular flavors.  I tried two of them, and don't particularly feel compelled to seek out more.

Vintage Vanilla.

"The only old-school thing about this is that it tastes like the vanilla ice cream from your most favorite summer."

I started with the classic, er, "vintage" vanilla.  I'll admit that I was a bit put off when I opened my container, and saw the color of it.  The dingy beige color was really not all that appealing, visually.  It also was rock solid, even though I had it stored with my other ice cream near the front of my secondary freezer, that I keep a bit warmer just for ice cream (it is normal to have a second ice cream freezer right? Gulp).

I waited patiently until I could chisel out a scoop, and let it soften a bit more before trying it.  The mouthfeel was actually reasonable, pretty smooth and creamy.  But the taste?  Just ... odd.  It tasted like chemicals kinda, and I didn't detect any vanilla flavor.  For a brand that so strongly talks about the ice cream being indistinguishable from regular, this was far, far, far from that.

I tried it a few separate times, with my expectations adjusted, and just never cared for the flavor (nor the color, but I could get past that).  I do not recommend starting with this flavor. *+ for texture, but, no stars for anything else about this.

Cookie Butter.

"Swim in the velvety river of vanilla sweetness. Discover chunks of cookies so golden, you’ll feel like a miner."

I gave them another chance, with the decadent sounding cookie butter, although I purchased just a single serve portion of this, rather than a full pint.  I didn't trust it enough to commit to another pint.

The cookie butter flavor froze just as hard, and took even longer to soften up, and didn't ever get quite as creamy.  But, the flavor was considerably better.  I really tasted cashew, although there is no cashew in it.  I also did taste fairly recognizable cookie butter, and it was quite heavy and indulgent as a result.  There was cookie butter flavor throughout, not just in the visible cookie chunks.  Basically, this pint reminded me of a cashew based ice cream, loaded with biscoff spread.  I liked the flavor actually, but, a little went quite a long way, in the way that cookie butter spread does.  I found that I liked it with about equal parts whipped cream, and thought it went great with fresh berries too.

I enjoyed this one in its special way, but, I wouldn't say that it was like normal dairy ice cream, and I probably wouldn't seek it out again.  But if you are the type that is tempted by spoonfuls of cookie butter, or cashew butter, this may be the flavor for you.

***.

Update review: this grew on me more and more.  The texture still isn't creamy and smooth like dairy ice cream, and the flavor is kinda a lot, but, with whipped cream and fresh fruit, I found myself craving it.  Add some strawberries for PB&J vibes ... ****.