... When opening our tub of Smarties ice cream he commented, "ahh, so that's where crushed Smarties go!" I enquired what he meant. "Well, it's very clever," he responded. "Rather than waste product that doesn't pass quality control, they bung it all in the ice cream and claim it was meant ... Read review
...When opening our tub of Smarties ice cream he commented, "ahh, so that's where crushed Smarties go!" I enquired what he meant. "Well, it's very clever," he responded. "Rather than waste product that doesn't pass quality control, they bung it all in the ice cream and claim it was meant to be like that."
Whether he's right or wrong is really beyond the pail. I'm more interested in how this product tastes, ... ...Although it's possible to get Smarties ice cream in single-portion, cardboard "pop-up" style bars, I opted for a great big tub of the stuff. With a quantity of 950ml, this circular ice cream tub is about 15cm high and 10cm in diameter at its widest point. The tub is made of blue plastic, with a full-colour label around its girth. The front of the label is flashed with the Nestle ice cream logo, and a photo of three perfectly boules of the ... more
One of my friends is a pedantic fellow. When opening our tub of Smarties ice cream he commented, "ahh, so that's where crushed Smarties go!" I enquired what he meant. "Well, it's very clever," he responded. "Rather than waste product that doesn't pass quality control, they bung it all in the ice cream and claim it was meant to be like that."
Whether he's right or wrong is really beyond the pail. I'm more interested in how this product tastes, and whether it's actually worth buying.
THE TUB ------------
Although it's possible to get Smarties ice cream in single-portion, cardboard "pop-up" style bars, I opted for a great big tub of the stuff. With a quantity of 950ml, this circular ice cream tub is about 15cm high and 10cm in diameter at its widest point. The tub is made of blue plastic, with a full-colour label around its girth. The front of the label is flashed with the Nestle ice cream logo, and a photo of three perfectly boules of the ice cream. A large Smarties logo is also sprawls across the front of the label, and is surrounded by multi-coloured Smarties.
The reverse of the label describes the product as "Vanilla flavoured ice cream with whole, mini and crushed milk chocolate in a crisp sugar shell. 12% Mini Smarties, 5% Crushed Smarties". Quite where the full Smarties fit into these percentages I'm not entirely sure!
The size, shape, and construction of the tub also makes it perfect to use as a pen pot once all the ice cream has been eaten. Desk workers, take note!
INGREDIENTS --------------------
Hidden away in difficult-to-read, miniscule writing, is the actual ingredient list. Close by is the Nutrition information and Nestlé's customer service information. One thing I am impressed by is the clear statement that the ice cream "May contain nut traces". This is probably the clearest thing it's possible to see on the back of the tub.
The ingredient list from the back of the tub reads as follows: Partially Reconstituted Skimmed Milk, Double Cream, Whole and Crushed Milk Chocolate in a Sugar Shell (17%)(Contains Colours; E171; E104; E124; E110; E122; E133; E120, Emulsifier - Soya Lecithin, Glazing Agents - Carnauba Wax, Beeswax, Shellac, Flavourings), Sugar, Glucose Powder, Whey Powder, Emulsifier (E471), Stabilisers (Carob Bean Gum, Guar Gum Carrageenan), Flavourings.
I'm personally impressed that double cream features so high up the list, as the higher up it is the more of an ingredient is present in the product.
The nutritional information is what should be expected from a "luxury" food - high in fat and sugar! The numbers below are for the whole tub, as I don't believe that anyone could eat this in the tiny suggested 100ml serving.
Energy 6080 kJ - 1450 kcal (which means a tub of this is about 2/3 recommended daily calorie intake for an adult!) Protein 21 grams, Carbohydrate 187 grams, 171 grams of which are sugars, Fat 69 grams, 42 grams of which are saturates, Fibre 1 gram, Sodium 1 gram.
PRICE ---------
Smarties ice cream costs £1.98 a tub from Tesco and ASDA, but both stores often have it available on "buy one get one free" with other ice creams in the same range, which include Rolo, Mivvi and After Eight ice cream tubs. This is how I bought it (with a tub of "After Eight" ice cream) and I got the two for £2.50 = £1.25 per tub.
INSIDE ----------
The first time you open the ice cream you have to snap off a safety seal, and peel back the plastic lid. Inside you find an almost perfectly flat mass of creamy white ice cream in a swirled shape, with the occasional Smarty (most of them looking crushed) poking out.
As the ice cream was taken straight out of the freezer, it was a bit firm to serve without first warming a spoon under hot water. However, once I'd done this the ice cream was relatively simple to slice through and pile, in great quantities, into my eagerly awaiting bowl. It was as I did this that I found that some colouring off the Smarties had begun to run into the white of the ice cream, but to be honest that doesn't bother me too much. It was all going to be eaten soon anyway!
Curiously, I couldn't actually smell anything when I opened the tub. I was expecting at least a whiff of vanilla, but nothing came.
THE TASTE TEST ------------------------
The first thing that struck me on putting the ice cream in my mouth was that it was quite a rough texture. The quicker ice cream is frozen, the better, as it stops air bubbles forming too large. I suspect that as this is mass-produced the producer hasn't paid too close attention to this important part of the ice cream production process.
As it melted in my mouth, the ice cream took on a richer and creamier texture. However, I was disappointed by the flavour. I adore vanilla ice cream, as long as I can taste vanilla. However, this ice cream tasted distinctly "white", if you follow what I mean. It was clearly made with cream, but didn't taste much of vanilla. It's quite sweet, but let's face it - Smarties ice cream is hardly going to avoid being!
The interesting thing about this ice cream is, of course, the Smarties. It's necessary to crunch these between your teeth as you eat the ice cream, and it's a strange feeling. Having sensitive teeth I found this a bit more of a challenge than others might (the cold was a bit painful!) but combined with the texture of the soft melted ice cream and crunchy Smarties it was surprisingly pleasant.
CONCLUSION --------------------
Nestle have been identified as a company with a poor ethical track record, particularly in terms of their marketing of baby milk formula in the thrid world. Therefore, there is a large and active Nestle boycott takign place around the world. For more details on this, there is a review in the Ciao cafe that is worth reading to gain a much fuller insight than I could provide here.
As for this ice cream, I found that the best balance of texture between the ice cream and Smarties came when it was allowed to go slightly soft. This way it was possible to eat the ice cream with my lips and crunch the Smarties between my teeth. It also meant the ice cream was less rough, and didn't feel as "mass produced" as if it's left frozen.
I was disappointed that, despite the claim on the side of the tub, I didn't find any full Smarties. However, there were certainly enough "mini" Smarties and crushed Smarties to make up for them. In fact, the balance between Smarties and ice cream was perfect.
This ice cream is quite expensive on its own for the quantity and quality of the product, so I'd only really recommend it to prospective buyers if you get it on special offer. When you see it cheap, though, buy it...and indulge!
...for it, I bought a Smarties pop up ice cream. Well, what does it matter in the warmth of my house anyway? The choice I made was a quick one, and I chose this because it looks different and I quite like smarties.
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The packaging is a cardboard cylinder which is blue with smarties all over it and "smarties" is splashed across it in white letters. It's about 10cm high. There is a see-through plastic tube coming out of the bottom which ... ...bits of all different coloured smarties mixed into it. It smelt just like ice cream really, sort of vanilla scented and I could smell the chocolate too. The idea is that you push the plastic tube of smarties upwards, forcing the ice cream out of the cardboard so you can eat it. What a novel idea! At first I struggled to move the ice cream at all and was starting to panic when it started to move slowly. On my first bite I got a mouthful of, er, creamy ...
DebzJ 21.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smarties Ice Cream
Advantages: A good idea Disadvantages: Better to make yourself for a tasty result
...I won't be so unprepared. Smarties ice cream has been around for ages in tubs, but I have only just discovered the Smarties cones that you can buy. Smarties cones are simple ice cream cornets filled with ice cream that has crushed Smarties mixed into it, and topped with whole mini-Smarties. It's not hard, you could DIY at home and, to be honest, you might be better off doing that. Here's why.
The ice cream used for Smarties-themed goodies is extremely ... ...odd bits you get without Smarties in break off into flecks if you so much as look at then. The ice cream is not creamy or even a nice colour - it's a strange shade of white and looks and tastes much more like a children's ice cream than an adult or family one.
The cornet is strange because it has been frozen, so is not nice and fresh, but frosty and brittle. It tastes reasonable, but cannot compare to a room-temperature one taken from a freshly ...
zoe_page 06.05.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smarties Ice Cream
Advantages: Cheap if you shop around Disadvantages: An awful lot of "E" numbers
...I saw tubs of Nestle Smarties Ice Cream in my local ASDA; I like Ice cream and I like Smarties; ergo, I must like the Ice cream. The Ice Cream comes in a 1 Litre round plastic tub which is decorated mostly in blue with Smarties flying in all directions. A small part of the tub is opaque so you can see the ice cream inside. The Nutritional Information and Ingredients could do with being larger and in a different colour, Dark blue on a light blue background ... ...gram.
In ASDA, Nestle Smarties Ice Cream costs £1.98. I have also seen it for £2.49 in Tesco, but as this was on a “Buy One Get One Free offer” in reality it was £1.25 a tub. The secret, as always is to shop around. £1.98 poorer, I left ASDA and travelled home with my new found dessert. This took about 15 minutes which should render the Ice Cream nicely softened by the time I got home, and it did.
On breaking the seal and pulling the tab, I lifted ...
stuleg 25.08.2003 (31.08.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smarties Ice Cream
Advantages: Looks fun Disadvantages: Not for the sophisticated ice cream eater.
...a fun looking tub of Smarties ice cream produced by Nestle UK. The container was clear with a large label stating the registered Smarties name, similar in design to the one found on the sweets of the same name.
The price seemed reasonable at £1.99 for 1ltr.
I left the tub at room temperature for about 5 minutes before attempting to serve. I opened the tub and became rather alarmed as the lid broke into several pieces, some of which fell onto the ... ...flavour I have tasted. The Smarties in contrast were a mass of bright colours that began to dye the ice cream. These were the typical candy coated chocolate I have tasted and enjoyed before, although mixed with the vanilla ice cream, far too sweet for my liking!
Due to me now being past the adolescence stage of life and finding the finer things available in freezer cabinets more appealing. This product was a huge disappointed. However I can't help ...
honeybead 09.09.2002 (11.10.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Smarties Ice Cream
Advantages: taste, kids will love them Disadvantages: food colouring used can stain clothes
Smarties Ice Cream by Nestle.
Vanilla ice cream and crushed smarties inside a waffle cone with whole smarties sprinkled on the top. They are about the same size as a Walls Cornetto.
Containing: Smarties, Milk, wheat, gluten and soya. Four in a box for £1.00.
They taste great and kids will love them however parents need to be aware that the food colouring used can stain clothes. Most young children, will wipe their hands and face on the first thing ... ...are no exception and the first thing they found was one of my wife's long sleeve t-shirts off a pile of clean washing. The t-shirt is ruined, we've tried several stain removers to no avail. My little boys trousers were also ruined, the stain remover used took the colour out of them (I might do a review of the stain remover next!).
We contacted the manufacturer who sent a nice letter back explaining how to wash clothes properly, including which stain ...
loachie 01.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Smarties Ice Cream
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