vs.
You can file this one under the “I would do anything for you, my readers” category. This weekend I decided I would start doing a showdown with foods for my blog. I started with ice cream, seems like a logical place to start to me. If you need me to eat two cartons of frozen treats, then I am definitely here for you. This is going to be similar to the Food TV face-off. I take two products that are the same (example - balsamic vinegar) or similar (example - coffee ice cream vs. coffee frozen yogurt) and compare them for you. I am not sure if everyone can get their hands on Gifford’s Frozen Yogurt, I know I couldn’t when I lived on the west coast for a year. I apologize in advance, if you can’t get your hands on Gifford’s Ice Cream and Yogurt, some of their flavors are fabulous.
On to the match up. The two products were Starbucks Coffee Almond Fudge Ice Cream and Gifford’s Cappuccino Low Fat Frozen Yogurt with Cappuccino pieces. I know there is a huge group of people who hate Starbucks. I have to say I am not a huge fan of Starbucks regular coffee, but do enjoy their fancier drinks, although that has nothing to do with today’s challenge. I apologize if you hate Starbucks, but maybe next week I will try something you like so stay tuned. Now on to the challenge.
The Starbucks brand had a smooth, creamy texture with a strong coffee flavor. The chocolate covered almond pieces are divine. I love ice creams with things to pick out. The coffee flavor was rich and delicious and not in any way overpowering. Now for the Gifford’s brand. I have to say this is a frozen yogurt and I often find the texture is pretty different between frozen yogurt and ice cream. I would dare say if you gave this to someone without telling them it was frozen yogurt they would say it was ice cream. The Gifford’s product did not have as strong a coffee flavor and what it did have for coffee flavor tasted more artificial. I am not sure what it was exactly, but there is a funny backnote to this frozen yogurt. The texture was decent and there were chunks of cappuccino candy, but not very big chunks.(I would call them crumbles) I would say for those watching their calories this may be a nice little treat every now and again. While the flavor was not as good as the Starbucks, it was still a pretty good product. The calorie savings between the two was substantial. The Gifford’s came in at 110 calories per 1/2 cup and the Starbucks came in at 250 calories per 1/2 cup. The difference in fat was nothing short of amazing - Gifford’s came in at 1.5 g total fat with 1 g saturated, while Starbucks came in at 13 g total fat with 7 g saturated fat. So, I leave it to you to decide if you want to be good and eat the Gifford’s or if you want to walk on the dark side and eat the Starbucks. (I would highly recommend walking on the dark side every now and again.)