Ferris Acres Creamery – Cow Tracks
Farm Friendly Flavor That can Mooove me to Tears
Finally headed out of NYC, I’m went deeper into the NE for some Connecticut cream. After hours of driving along a beautiful forest highway, a quaint red barn that’s obstructed by something comes into view in the distance. As I drive closer, I realize two things:
- The obstruction was actually people. There is a fatty line for people wanting this ice cream. This makes me hopeful that I’m about to be treated to some masterful cream.
- This is a creamery in the most traditional sense of the word. A diary farm creamery with the cows and everything. It just so happens that this creamery makes some killer ice cream as well.
So I pull up to the dirt lot, and as I wait in line, somehow I found myself engaged in some friendly chit chat about the creamery from these folk. I find out that Ferris Acres Creamery is a fantastically family friendly establishment, featuring fun flavors for all. And when I say fun flavors for all members of a family, I am also referring to some of our more furry family members. That’s right, Ferris Acres has ice cream for dogs. Ok, way to go tug at my heartstrings guys.
With high expectations, I went for their most popular flavor, Cow tracks.
Cow Tracks Flavor Profile
Now much like the many other “tracks” flavors, we’re looking at some peanut butter/peanut butter cup in a vanilla base. Fairly standard, I suppose. But not so much here. Sure, there’s some peanut butter swirl with some chocolate chips, but then throw in some caramel too, and somehow the whole thing becomes next level. And for those wondering how, the answer lies in the texture.
While the whole thing is ice cream and has an ice cream consistency, there are many other texture layers that intertwine into the whole thing. The peanut butter swirl is smooth like Skippy, but throw in those chocolate chips, and suddenly the whole thing feels chunky. Then add caramel for another layer! The sticky chewy consistency overlays on top of the peanut butter to make it like a natural ingredient candy bar. And all of this, is on top of a thick and rich vanilla base.
What’s more, is all of this can be felt individually or all at once. It’s amazing to taste and feel differences when taking bites of the same thing.
There’s another hidden element that is obviously there, but you don’t think about. This element is unlike the others, and while everything above only enhanced my experience, this element did the opposite. This element: the farm. Yes, after a few bites and recognizing what I was smelling, that cow pie potency was alive and present in almost every bite. And once it gets into your face and begins to sting the nostrils, you can’t just unsmell it. Poetically, I loved the fact that there was a true cow element in my cow tracks. But as an eater of ice cream, it was more of a detriment than anything. In the end, the whole thing hinges on your ability to turn off or separate your sniffer from your taster, otherwise.
Cow Tracks Conclusion
There’s this amazingly thick vanilla base with peanut butter, cute chocolate chips, and caramel mixed in. It’s unlike a lot of other “tracks” ice creams I’ve had in the past (horse tracks, bull tracks, yeti tracks, etc.), and could be considered better… if it wasn’t for the cows. Because this was a farm, I ended up smelling a lot of cow pie in my ice cream, and this lowkey became a turn off because I was unable to separate the smell from the cream.
So what I’ll end with is this: If you have a natural affinity for the country and everything that comes with it, you’ll adore this ice cream. If you’re a city slicker or pansy like me, this will have a higher chance of bothering you and taking away from your ice cream eating experience.
If you want to Ferris Acres for yourself, look for the Red Barn at 144 Sugar St, Newtown, CT 06470.
P.S. I did manage to meet one of the owners of this establishment who was kind enough to take a picture with me. However, she made me promise that I’d note she just made it back from DC, so her hair/makeup are a bit of a mess.
