After a less than ideal start to my Haagen-Dazs City Sweets experience, I was really hoping to right the the ship with another new spin on an undeniable HD classic in Dulce De Leche Churro — cinnamon churro ice cream and thick, gooey dulce de leche sauce mixed with crispy cinnamon-y churro pieces.

Well, this one has problems, but different problems.. The good news is the base actually tempers, unlike Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel, and it tempers perfectly. The ice cream is smooth and creamy with the nice mouthfeel I associate with HD; but sadly the flavor is a bit mild for me. Being that it’s supposed to be cinnamon churro I would like a more robust spicy taste. I’s not bad, just tame, and reminds me much more of a cereal milk sweet cream than a churro. There’s the essence of something lingering beneath the surface but nothing exciting.

The dulce de leche swirl is one of HD’s most effective flavor weapons and it absolutely delivers here. Thick, sticky, and super sweet, with ever-enticing buttery notes of burnt sugar. It’s just as delicious and perfect in this ice cream as it is in the classic stand alone flavor of the same name. For those unfamiliar with dulce de leche It’s essentially caramel, and HD executes it with the best of ‘em.

Where this “pint” goes awry are the churro pieces, and unfortunately I could see this coming from a mile away. The pieces aren’t coated so a lot of them, 60% or more, are soggy and stale. It’s an awful texture that completely kills the scooping experience. That being said, somehow, the other 40% or so are impressively crunchy and explode with fun, crispy texture. The problem with is that even when they do crunch they don’t have a ton of flavor. They remind me of CTC Churros in size and texture but they lack the flourish of cinnamon and sugar that makes that cereal great. They’re more reminiscent of pretzels than churros, and without any salt it’s just not that exciting for my tongue.

When putting something crunchy into ice cream it HAS to be coated — pretzels, cereal, etc do NOT work without some help from a chocolaty coating or glaze. I would have loved to have seen these churro pieces get covered in a cinnamon white chocolate, or even a slightly salted caramel white chocolate. That could have been delicious, and help fix not only the crunch catastrophe but the muted flavors of the ice cream as a whole.

Rating: 5.5/10

Found at: Safeway ($3.99)