Kulficream

As you know by now, I eat a lot of ice cream.  Essentially, daily.

Sometime in the middle of the pandemic, I ventured out to a nearby Indian grocery store and discovered that they carry Kulficream, a local brand of Indian ice cream made by Zeefoods.  For those unfamiliar, kulfi is an Indian frozen dairy dessert, so, the brand name, "Kulficream" is just a spin on that.

"Zeefoods started by offering delicious falooda kulfi during the Festival of India held every year in Fremont, California. In the past 13 years we have grown to offer more than 15 varieties of Indian ice creams and kulfi including Kulficream, Kulfipop and Kulfibar."

Zeefoods is mostly a wholesale distributor, selling to to Indian stores and restaurants in the Bay Area.  In addition to the Kulficream ice cream line, they also make bar forms (Kulfibar and the smaller Kulfipop), although I never tried those. 

Kulficream is available in 15 flavors.  Some are generic flavors like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and choco-vanilla (chocolate chip), but most have Indian flavors at the forefront, think: saffron, pistachio, cardamom, rose water, rose petal, lychee, mango, coconut.   I've mostly only tried the more unique flavors, and I'm impressed with them all.   The ice cream is available in large tubs for foodservice distribution, or individuals as I had.  I'll gladly try more.

Meetha Paan. 

I think I really liked this.  It confused me!

I'm fairly familiar with betel leaf, in desserts even, but this was my first time having meetha paan ice cream.  I was surprised, and pleased, when I opened the lid of the container to find it had toppings.

On top was a sprinkle of fennel seeds, chopped almonds, candied fennel seeds, bits of dried fruit.  Like all the little sweets you often see at the exit of an Indian restaurant ...

I can't say I really love those toppings, but, it was quite fun that they were on there, and made for a very colorful top and good textures.  And, well, it made it quite fascinating.

The ice cream itself was creamy, high quality ice cream.  Not too sweet.  It had a very subtle refreshing quality to it, which I guess was the betel leaf flavor?  It also had bits of almond (or fennel seeds?) throughout, and I appreciated the crunchy bits.

Overall, a fascinating ice cream no question.  It really grew on me, and I found myself actually craving this unique flavor.

***+.

Update review: I've since gotten this several more times, and like it even more now that I know what to expect.  The bits on top are sometimes really quite soothing and refreshing, in an odd way, when I'm in that mood.  And yes, clearly premium ice cream.  ****.  My second favorite of all the flavors I've tried.

Falooda. $3.95

"Ice cream flavored with bits of falooda and basil (tukmaria) seeds."

Next I went for the falooda, which I assumed would be similar to Persian faloodeh, but, in ice cream form.  Which, it basically was.  If you aren't familiar, that is a dessert with rose syrup over frozen vermicelli and cream, sometimes with sweet basil seeds.

I was pretty worried this one would be way, way too sweet (rosewater!), but it turned out quite lovely.  Yes, it was sweet, but the rich ice cream helped temper the sweetness in some ways.  It was not too strong in the rosewater either.

I liked the crisp little bits of falooda (presumably, frozen noodles) throughout as well.

I think a huge scoop of this would be too much, as it was quite sweet, but a small scoop when in the mood, or when paired with a flavor like the meetha paan, it was enjoyable, quality ice cream.

***+.

Malai (Classic Indian). $3.95.

"Creamy ice cream with delicate aroma of cardamom and rose water. Enhanced with bits of pistachio and almonds."

Next up, another classic Indian flavor, and another winner!

I was slightly worried about this one too, rose water and cardamom are not my favorite things, but, this turned out quite balanced, with only subtle sweetness and spicing, and awesome crunch from the bits of pistachio and almond.

The creamy, high quality ice cream base was also a joy, it melted perfectly, and is quite rich and creamy, in all the right ways.

****.

Update: I've since gotten this many more times, and always adore it.  The flavor is so nuanced, and quite lovely.  100% my favorite of the flavors I have tried.  ****.

Kesar Pista (Royal Saffron).

"Made using the purest Spanish saffron, this ice cream is a pure delight for saffron lovers."

Eventually I got brave and went for the saffron flavor.  I'm ... clearly not a saffron lover.  This one was fine, but, it certainly wasn't something I really wanted more of.  Too sweet for me, but a friend really enjoyed it.  **+.

Pistachio.

"Our pistachio ice cream, delicate and not too sweet."

A bit more mainstream, I went for the lovely green hued pistachio.

Broken record?  Yup, another quality ice cream.  The cream level in this ice cream is just fantastic.  So very rich and creamy.

It had lots of small bits of pistachio, which made for real pistachio flavor and a bit of crunch.  Very good pistachio ice cream.

***+.

Butterscotch.

"An all time favorite of Indians, sweet buttery flavor, candy bits swirled with butterscotch syrup."

I was overjoyed one day when I spotted a flavor they never had before at my local Indian grocer: butterscotch!  Obviously not a traditional Indian flavor, but, I adore butterscotch pudding and pie, so this sounded glorious.  I was even more excited by the butterscotch chips on top.

The flavor was ... interesting.  Not something I'd identify as butterscotch, but hard to actually describe.  Sweet with undertones ... of ... something ...  Kinda fake tasting though, and sorta plastic-like.  The quality rich base was still evident, but, alas, this just wasn't a great flavor.  The butterscotch chips were only on top, what you see there, no more hiding within.  Also not sure where the butterscotch syrup swirl was, I never found it.

**+.