Roll back the years for a slice of nostalgia (Tesco Ice Cream Rolls)

Member Name: Chelle1969

Product:	Tesco Ice Cream Rolls
Date:	30/07/09 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's delicious

Disadvantages: I always eat too much of it!

If you're as old as I am you probably remember Bird's Eye Arctic roll, a staple of the 1970's diet and the good news is they've brought it back. I was quite excited by this as I used to love it, then the other day I spotted sitting next to it in the freezer compartment in Tesco, their own version of it called Ice Cream Roll. Ice cream roll is, if you don't already know, a roll of ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of sponge cake with strawberry sauce between the two - and it's delicious.

Packaging
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Unlike Bird's Eye Arctic Roll, the Tesco version comes in a box of two rolls. Quite simply packaged (slightly different to the picture above - now in pink and yellow) the box shows a photo of the product sliced up and a brief description of what's inside On a side panel is the nutrition information, frozen guidelines, allergy advice and ingredient list. Inside, each roll is individually wrapped in a plastic wrapper.

What's In It?
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Each 50g serving (1/5 of a roll) contains:

105 calories (GDA 5%)
12.6g sugar (GDA 14%)
2.9g fat (GDA 4%)
1.8g saturates (GDA 9%)
0.1g salt (GDA 2%)

Allergy Info: Contains Milk, Wheat, Gluten, Egg and Soya
No nuts but not guaranteed nut free

Suitable for vegetarians

Look and Taste
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On opening my very first thought was, "you expect me to cut this into 5 portions - get out of here!" The roll measures about 15cm long and about 7.5cm across and could very probably serve four people, but I have to admit I'm a bit of a pig and always cut it into three!

There's no distinct smell to the product and it looks as you'd expect, a light brown sponge and pale yellow ice cream. The roll is best eaten when left for about 5 minutes to soften slightly (if you can resist it that long) which gives the sponge enough time to defrost.
The cake is a firm dense textured sponge, quite dry but when combined with the ice cream this is not an issue. The red strawberry sauce is sweet and full of flavour but the best bit by far is the ice cream. It's quite sweet and has a strong vanilla taste, very smooth and really creamy.

The product holds its shape really well and even when left for 15 minutes before eating (the longest I've managed) its still not sloppy or falling apart. The overall taste is delicious, and very moreish. How can ice cream and sponge cake together taste so different to just ice cream and err.. sponge cake? Strangely they do. When combined they take on a whole new retro taste that immediately shouts 'arctic roll' or in this case 'ice cream roll'

Verdict
******
Gosh this brought back memories; it took me right back to childhood birthday parties in the flare-wearing mid-70's when my Mum would somehow manage to divide one between about ten kids! I would say that the Tesco version is every bit as good as I remember Bird's Eye Arctic Roll, the main difference being the price. At just £1.68 for 2 x 250g rolls this is better than half price when compared to Bird's Eye (about £2 for one roll). I'd like to try the original again, but having tried this Tesco version I don't feel the need to spend any more on the branded product. I highly recommend this, it's a fantastic retro dessert, maybe not the classiest thing to serve, but I love it!
Now, where did I leave my Chopper bike?

Summary: Go back in time with an Ice Cream Roll