Icecream Journal

Only two flavors remain in our Ultimate Flavor Tournament — Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. Who will win? Your votes in the poll on the right will decide! As always in the final round, Ernie will refrain from choosing a winner (he doesn’t want his “expert opinion” swaying the voting process), but he will offer an analysis of both final round flavors.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUP

“Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup is the Chicago Cubs of the Ultimate Flavor Tournament. A great, lovable flavor, but it always seems to come up short in winning the title. With Vanilla Bean (the New York Yankees of the tournament) and Light Recipe Moose Tracks on the bench, this could be the year CPBC finally steps up to the plate and hits one out of the park to win the whole thing. By the way, can you tell it’s spring? I think I’ve used more than enough baseball references in this analysis to last the entire season.”

TASTYKAKE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE

“If its competitor is the Chicago Cubs of ice cream flavors, then Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake is the Kansas City Royals (right down to the royal blue color). It’s a small, pint-sized flavor, and certainly the underdog of the tournament. No one would have predicted it would be here on week five, just one win away from a championship title. Does this little flavor have the heart and drive to win it all? Your votes will decide!”

And then there were four. Just four flavors remain in this year’s Ultimate Flavor Tournament. One of them — Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake, or Rocky Road — will become the Ultimate Flavor! To register your opinion, cast your vote in the polls on the right.

It should be noted that after correctly predicting the winners of all eight match-ups in round two of the tournament, Ernie flexed his ice cream expertise muscle once again last week by guessing all four match-ups correctly. And let’s just say, he’s not shy about letting everyone here at the Dairy know it! Ernie is back again with his opinion on who will win this week’s Frosty Four match-ups.

MATCH-UP #1: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup vs. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

“If you asked me at the beginning of the tournament, I would have told you that these two flavors would be in the final round, but it looks like only one will make it to the last showdown. Truth is, I’m a big fan of both flavors. Have been for many years. But if I have to pick one to win this match-up, I’d choose Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. It’s okay Cookie Dough, you know I still love you!”

MATCH-UP #2: Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake vs. Rocky Road

“I’m really glad to see a pint-sized flavor like Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake still in the tournament. It really is a great flavor, which is why I’m picking it to win this week and advance to the final round. If it ends up winning the whole thing, I think I’ll have to make a case to our flavor development team to consider giving this flavor a full-sized container!”

Last week, Ernie boldly predicted he would correctly guess the winner of all eight Ultimate Flavor Tournament match-ups with his Monday commentary. So how many winners did the Einstein of Ice Cream correctly predict? Would you believe ALL EIGHT? That’s right, Ernie was a perfect eight-for-eight, and he’s feeling bold because he’s predicting that he’ll be perfect again in choosing this week’s four winners.

It should be noted that Ernie’s spotless record last week came down to the wire in the showdown between Rocky Road and Choco Mint Chip in what was the closest match-up in Ultimate Flavor Tournament history. After 615 votes were cast in that match-up, Rocky Road won by just FIVE VOTES (310 to 305)! As always, below are Ernie’s thoughts and predictions on this week’s four showdowns.

MATCH-UP #1 – Neapolitan vs. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

“It’s been a good run for Neapolitan, but there’s not much that can stop Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup from making it to the final round of this tournament. I’m calling this one in favor of CPBC by a 60-40 margin, which is impressive when you consider that its opponent is actually three ice cream flavors packed into one container.”

MATCH-UP #2 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough vs. YORK Peppermint Pattie

“I’m amazed that a flavor that hasn’t even been released yet (YORK Peppermint Pattie) has been winning so handily over the past several weeks. It doesn’t even have a container designed for it! (As evidenced by the stand-in image above.) I’d be even more amazed if it beat a fan favorite like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, which is why I think Cookie Dough will win here, but it’ll be close.”

MATCH-UP #3 – Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt vs. Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake

“You have to applaud a frozen yogurt flavor for making it this far in an ice cream tournament. Bravo to you Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt, but Tastykake Chocolate Cupcake will more than likely win this week.”

MATCH-UP #4 – Orange Cream Swirl vs. Rocky Road

“This is probably going to be the closest match-up of the week. Both flavors were locked in very close battles last week and are hungry for another win. But Rocky Road is a tough competitor and could end up making it to the final two. I think the Road will continue this week, beating the Swirl by a narrow 52 to 48 percent margin.”

Six weeks. 32 flavors. One winner. That’s the Turkey Hill Ultimate Flavor Tournament and it’s about to begin. Starting today, we’re pitting 32 of our best ice cream flavors against each other to determine which one has what it takes to take home the title of the “Ultimate Flavor.” Last year, Vanilla Bean was crowned the winner. Who will win it all this year? The power to decide rests with you!

Here’s how it works: Each week will feature a different series of match-ups, all voted on by you (see the polls on the right). We’ll start with 32 flavors (the “Thrilling 32”) and narrow the field down every week until one flavor, as determined by your votes, is crowned the champion. Of course, there will also be prizes. At the end of the tournament, we’ll give away a free one month supply of ice cream to 10 commenters chosen at random and one lucky reader will receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream.

To help make sense of it all, each Monday here on the Ice Cream Journal Ernie will be offering expert analysis of predictions for each match-up. Starting right now!

THE DUETTO MATCH-UP – Mango Duetto vs. Root Beer Duetto
“An exotic tropical flavor versus an all-American classic? This is what the Ultimate Flavor Tournament is all about. I see a win for Mango here, but it won’t be as easy after this round.”

THE DUETTO MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Cherry Duetto vs. Raspberry Duetto
“Two fruit flavors, but only one winner. That’s too bad, because both are great. This could go either way, the but traditional Cherry might have the edge here.”

THE LIGHT MATCH-UP – Light Recipe Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream vs. Light Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
“I’m an Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream fanatic. Everyone knows that. But up against Cookie Dough? That’s a tough one. Alright, I’ll go with the Cookies. Is anyone surprised by that?”

THE LIGHT MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Light Recipe Moose Tracks vs. Light Recipe Strawberry Cheesecake
“These Light Recipe flavors are a force to be reckoned with and these are two full-flavored heavyweights. I’m going out on a limb here and picking Cheesecake to upset the very popular Moose Tracks.”

THE LIGHT MATCH-UP (PART 3) – Light Recipe Banana Split vs. Light Recipe Skinny Minty
“The Light Recipe line is so robust, we had to add a third match up this year. This one features two lesser known flavors, but they’ve got a lot of heart and potential in this tournament. Who will win? It’s just too close to call.”

THE SPORTS MATCH-UP – Eagles Touchdown Sundae vs. Phillies Graham Slam
“Play ball! Yeah, that’s more of a baseball phrase, but both of these Philly flavors are going to put on a great show in this round. The Eagles scored a late touchdown to win this match-up last year, but I predict the Phillies’ World Championship will propel Graham Slam to a win this time around.”

THE PINT-SIZED STUFF’D MATCH-UP – Tastykake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake vs. Snyder’s of Hanover Chocolate Pretzel
“Good things come in small packages. If you don’t believe me, check out our Stuff’d line-up. Here’s two of our finest pint-sized treats going head-to-head, but only one will win. I’m going with Kandy Kake here, but I have a feeling Chocolate Pretzel will prove me wrong.”

THE DYNAMIC DUOS MATCH-UP – Caramel Cone Chaos vs. CocoNutz!
“This is a new flavor category for Turkey Hill and some might say the Duos line-up has an unfair advantage because they’re actually two ice cream flavors in one package, but I don’t think that’s the case. They’re rookies in this tournament and they’ll have to pay their dues. As for these two, CocoNutz! has an explanation point in its name, so you know it’s playing to win.”

THE YOGURT VS. SHERBET MATCH-UP – Orange Cream Swirl Frozen Yogurt vs. Fruit Rainbow Sherbet
“These are the only two non-ice cream flavors in the tournament and it’ll be interesting to see how far the winner of this match-up makes it. But I think there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in this match-up. Look for sherbet to win and potentially beat a few ice cream competitors in this tournament.”

THE LIMITED EDITION MATCH-UP – Gertrude Hawk Box of Chocolates (January) vs. Coconut Cream Pie (February)
“If you were lucky enough to try both of these flavors when they were out earlier this year (or still have some in your freezer), you know that this is a tough match-up. I’ve tried them both, and I still can’t predict a winner here.”

THE LIMITED EDITION MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Junior Mint (March) vs. Fried Ice Cream (April)
“Here are two more Limited Edition flavors and they couldn’t be more different. One’s a minty candy favorite and the other is a sweet Latin treat guaranteed to end any meal on a good note. I’m rooting for Fried Ice Cream here, but Mint might have enough power to emerge with a win in this one.”

THE PREMIUM MATCH-UP – Vanilla Bean vs. Cookies ‘n Cream
“Now we’re getting to the power players in this tournament. Last year Vanilla Bean won it all and I expect it to go far again this year. Sorry Cookies ‘n Cream, you’re not going to make it past the first round.”

THE PREMIUM MATCH-UP (PART 2) – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup vs. Butter Pecan
“CPBC finished second in last year’s tournament, right behind Vanilla Bean. Look for another run at the title from this strong contender, which mean Butter Pecan will be defeated easily in this match-up.”

THE PREMIUM MATCH-UP (PART 3) – Dutch Chocolate vs. Party Cake
“This is an odd match-up. A traditional favorite like Chocolate against a wacky newcomer on the ice cream flavor scene. Party Cake has a lot of followers, which is rare for such a new flavor, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to take down this classic.”

THE HOLIDAY FLAVORS MATCH-UP – Egg Nog vs. Peppermint Stick
“Christmas has come and gone, but these flavors are so great, we had to include them in the this year’s tournament. I’d be happy to find either one in my stocking, which is why I can’t really choose a winner here. Okay fine, Egg Nog by a reindeer’s whisker!”

THE ALL NATURAL MATCH-UP – All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip vs. All Natural Coffee
“Sales of our All Natural line-up benefit the Lancaster Farmland Trust, and you can’t argue with that. As for which of these two charitable treats will win in the first round, I have to go with Mint Chocolate Chip.”