A foray into ice cream bars

A while back, courtesy of the lovely folks at Foodbuzz, I received a coupon to try the new Magnum ice cream bars making their debut in the U.S. Once they showed up in my local Food Emporium's freezer case, I redeemed the coupon and shoved the bars in the freezer. And then kinda forgot about them.

But last week, on one of those blistering hot days, I popped one open and set to work. Here's what it looks like:

Wrapped in gold...

Denuded

And here's the first bite:

You can kinda make out the layers there

Whoa. This thing is powerful. I chose the caramel version, which is filled with vanilla bean ice cream, which is enrobed in a thin layer of chocolate, and then a slightly thicker layer of caramel, and then a much thicker layer of chocolate. In case you missed it, that means there are TWO layers of chocolate on that there bar.

How does it taste? It's very rich. The ice cream, while probably pretty rich on its own, is completely eclipsed by the chocolate and caramel. The caramel is sweet and slightly gooey; the exterior shell of chocolate is smooth and delicious. Curiously, the only part of the bar that didn't quite do it for me was the interior layer of chocolate; it tasted like a different kind from the outer shell, and it had a bit of a mockolate-y aftertaste for me. I actually think if they'd done away with the interior chocolate layer and just gone ice cream-caramel-chocolate it would have been a more balanced confection. But overall, this was one delicious indulgence. And if you want to enjoy it, don't look at the calorie count. Trust me.

Magnum ice cream bars. Available in grocery stores.