Purely Decadent Vegan (and Gluten Free) Ice Cream

Turtle Mountain offers Purely Decadent dairy free ice cream in a number of incredible flavors. They all have the rich, creamy texture and mouth feel of regular ice cream.

Turtle Mountain is also the maker of So Delicious (Soy Delicious) dairy free ice cream, which I never enjoyed. I am not a fan of soy ice cream. To me, it leaves a coating in the mouth, has a funny aftertaste and doesn't taste balanced. It gets foamy as it melts and has a fake flavor.

Purely Decadent does not suffer from these problems. Their ice cream is fluffy, but substantial. The texture holds up, even as the ice cream softens and melts.

Even as I broke open my first carton of Purely Decadent Cookie Dough flavor, I was impressed. The chunks of chocolate were nice sized bites, thick pieces, not shavings. They covered the landscape of the ice cream.

As I proceeded deep into the container, the distribution remained consistent. The cookie dough pieces are about a half inch wide, enough for one whole bite or two good mixed bites (ice cream plus dough) per piece. Generous and rich, the experience changed my mind about soy ice cream.

In the Turtle Trails flavor, the ribbons of caramel are soft and thick enough that you can return to each vein for several bites. Any vegan out there knows that caramel treats are few and far between. You won't be disappointed. Also inside are huge chunks of chocolate covered pecan, nestled in a delicious vanilla ice cream.

Purely Decadent does not skimp on the flavorings, either. I noticed with every brand I've ever eaten that, over time, the additions make up less and less of the content. Rice Dream's Mint Chocolate Chip for example, changed from packed with chips to a quest to find a piece of chocolate. This put the mint completely out of balance and rendered it overpowering.

The Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana has not only large, soft cherries, but a cherry flavor throughout the ice cream itself, married well with chocolate chunks.

This line of ice cream reminds me of Ben & Jerry's in flavor, feel and quality. You can tell someone made these selections with a caring hand. 

Purely Decadent comes out of the carton nicely. My former preference, Rice Dream, was a step above soy versions, but still not quite ice cream as I remember it. It was often so hard and thick in the container that I'd have to eat it by scraping off layers with my spoon. It also had a tendency to crystallize (much of that due to faulty handling by the retailer, I'm sure).

Even the packaging is brilliant and forward thinking. Each carton comes with a safety seal. The photos are true representations of what you will see inside.

The gluten free choices, such as Cookie Dough (again, incredible, to offer this flavor as a gluten free vegan choice is ballsy and it works), are clearly, boldly labeled. There are none of the odd aftertastes or strange and bitter flavorings that accompany some gluten free products.

Their ice creams are guaranteed to be vegan. They contain no dairy, no egg and zero cholesterol!. Many selections are also gluten free and most of the choices are peanut free.

In their other treat lines, Turtle Mountain offers diabetic and soy free choices. If you have been stuck with multiple allergies and unable to find an ice cream you can eat, check out their site at Turtle Mountain. Not only will you find an acceptable ice cream product, you may find a better alternative to watery rice milk and beany soy milk in the new coconut milk milk alternative. They even provide coconut milk yogurt products!

Purely Decadent flavors: Belgian Chocolate, Blueberry Cheesecake, Dulce de Leche, Key Lime Pie and Snickerdoodle are new.

Cherry Nirvana, Chocolate Brownie Almond, Chocolate Obsession, Chunky Mint Madness, Coconut Craze, Cookie Avalanche, Mint Chocolate Chip, Mocha Almond Fudge, Peanut Butter Zig Zag, Pomegranate Chip, Praline Pecan, Purely Vanilla, Rocky Road, So Very Strawberry and Turtle Trails.

Cookie Dough, Snickerdoodle and Key Lime Pie are GLUTEN FREE and labeled as such. A Turtle Mountain representative told me that the company has applied for a GF symbol for their packaging and that soon, all GF flavors will bear the symbol. In the meantime, they have clearly labeled any flavors which would regularly be considered to possibly contain gluten.

That said, I know how tricky it can be to be truly certain that any product is GF, so until the labeling reflects this change, I'd stick to the flavors definitely identified as GF.