Van Leeuwen’s Malted Milkshake & Fries ice cream could have been perfect: An honest taste test

You have to respect Van Leeuwen(Opens in a new tab)‘s audacity. For the artisanal ice cream chain based out of Brooklyn, the question is never whether one should push the palatable limits of a classically sweet, simple dessert with off-putting flavors and bizarre mix-ins. The question is whether you can.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you talk to), the answer to this question is usually a hard yes. Left-field flavors that have graced Van Leeuwen’s freezer shelves in the past include mustard(Opens in a new tab), onion(Opens in a new tab), and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Whether they’re gunning for actual tastiness or viral bait(Opens in a new tab) is something you could argue either way. Nevertheless, Van Leeuwen persists.

That brings us to their latest concoction: Malted Milkshake & Fries ice cream, made in partnership with the Idaho Potato Commission(Opens in a new tab). The flavor launched on Feb. 23 in Van Leeuwen’s New York and Los Angeles scoop shops and online(Opens in a new tab) for $12 a pop, though its first run has already sold out. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few pints.

I’ll be fully honest: I couldn’t remember the last time I was so excited to try a new ice cream flavor. (My coworkers, not so much.) There’s actual science(Opens in a new tab) behind the satisfying, craveable combination of crispy, salty fries dipped into a cold, rich, creamy shake, and I’ll take it in any form. Culver’s Crinkle Cut Fries dunked in a malt made with their Chocolate Custard? A Midwestern must-order. Wendy’s French Fries with a large Frosty? Foolproof, soul-affirming, has saved my life during a hangover. Condensing the experience into something spoonable sounded genius: No more greasy fingies, no more running out of fries before the shake was gone. You can’t go wrong — or at least, I didn’t think you could.

I judged Van Leeuwen’s Malted Milkshake & Fries ice cream based on its color, smell, texture, and taste, with a best possible score of five potato emojis (????) for each category. Here are the results of my very official, very scientific testing.

Color

Yep, that’s ice cream.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Unlike the Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese flavor that some of my colleagues tried a couple of years ago, which had an unsettling neon tangerine hue, Malted Milkshake & Fries looks like any ol’ pint. I’d compare it to a butter pecan or a salted caramel situation looks-wise — just your average creamy color with streaks of tan mix-ins.

No red flags straight out the gate, although there was some questionable copy on one pint’s wrapper that gave me the ick.

Pardon?????
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Rating: ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? based on the ice cream itself — I pretend I do not see the wrapper.

Smell

In another diversion from the mac ‘n’ cheese flavor, Malted Milkshake & Fries does have a faint smell. The best way I can describe it is like instant mashed potatoes with an earthy, subtly caramel-y edge. It’s a little off-putting, but not terrible. You won’t notice it unless you stick your whole face into the pint, anyway.

Rating: ???? ???? ???? ????

Texture

Van Leeuwen’s “French” ice creams are made with milk, cream, eggs, and cane sugar, so they’re technically custards. The Malted Milkshake & Fries flavor adds in butter, powdered sugar, malted barley, and wheat flour, plus some Idaho potato flakes — that’s their way of recreating fry pieces(Opens in a new tab) and probably where that instant potato-y smell comes from.

This is where Van Leeuwen really nailed it. The ice cream itself was decadently thick and creamy, with streaks of fry/potato providing a nice textural contrast, almost like soft cake or crumbly cookie pieces. It’s pretty rock-solid right out of the fridge, but a few minutes on the countertop made it perfectly scoopable, and it didn’t melt too fast in my bowl. No notes, keep up the great work, etcetera.

Rating: ???? ???? ???? ???? ????

Taste

I really wanted to love this. It had so much potential. But it just tastes… off. The best way I can describe it is like wheaty caramel ice cream mixed with old potatoes that were sitting in vegetable oil for too long, plus a milky, tangy, tongue-coating aftertaste that takes too long to go away. It’s not blatantly offensive, but it’s pretty strange and mostly disappointing. It’s definitely not a fitting ode to its source material. You don’t get that beautiful sweet-salty contrast; it’s just homogenous weirdness.

I wanted to get a second opinion, so I had my fiancé Paul try a spoonful. Here’s how he described it:

“It tastes like the leftover fries that you wipe off your Pizza Pizzazz(Opens in a new tab) before you cook your Dino Nuggs. It’s kind of metallic, burnt, yet kind of wet and cold.”

Scrumptious!

Rating: ???? ???? 🙁

Final thoughts

Despite the flaws of Van Leeuwen’s creation, I firmly believe that the fries and milkshake flavor combo could be turned into a decisively delicious ice cream. You’re already well on your way there if you just swap the caramel base for a Frosty-inspired chocolate, which is more true to form. What would really amp it up is a rework of the potato situation, where you scrap the artificial-tasting potato flakes that commingle with the base too much for saltier, crunchier potato bits. (It’s more about the salt than the potato, IMO, but if you wanted to push the potato narrative, swirl in extra chunks of cooked potatoes to preserve that nice cake batter-style texture.)

You know what? I’ll even settle with Ben & Jerry’s bringing Late Night Snack back(Opens in a new tab) from its flavor graveyard. Justice for sweet-and-salty snackers everywhere.