Ice cream that doesn’t melt? The Food Channel had to go check that out. We trekked off to the Cold Stone Creamery in the tourist town of Branson, Mo., to taste the phenomenon for ourselves.

We met up with Jimmy Funderburk, owner of two Cold Stone Creamery franchise stores in southwest Missouri. He explained the Cold Stone creation/collaboration with JELL-O®, new pudding ice cream. Developed by Cold Stone Creamery’s Tastemaster, Ray Karam, the new line of ice cream flavors not only tastes like pudding, it also has a velvety, JELLO pudding-like texture…and it won’t melt! When left at room temperature, this ice cream actually turns into pudding. ‘But we keep it ‘ice cream cold’,’ Funderburk notes.

The JELL-O pudding ice cream is available in four flavors at Cold Stone: Chocolate, Butterscotch, Vanilla, and Banana. The summer promotion, called ‘Puddin’ the Fun in Summer,’ continues through July 28 nationwide—and some of the flavors could become part of the permanent company repertoire if the promo goes well, Funderburk told us. ‘We only have the butterscotch and chocolate flavors in our stores, so far,’ he said. ‘We expect to get the banana and vanilla flavors in soon.’

When asked how well the flavors were going over in the first few days of the promotion, Funderburk was effusive. ‘The new flavors have been really well received,’ he said. ‘The butterscotch flavor especially has been a huge hit here.’ Store manager Jenny Komsthoeft agreed. “People really love the pudding texture,” she said.

Our on-the-scene video features interviews with some of the first consumers to try the new JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream flavors at Cold Stone.

Two indulgent creations have also been developed to complement the butterscotch and chocolate JELL-O pudding ice cream flavors:

• Butterscotch Velvet – Butterscotch JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream mixed with Butterfinger, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and Caramel
• Chocolate-y Goodness™ – Chocolate JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream mixed with Peanut Butter, Caramel and Fudge

We tried the Chocolate-y Goodness concoction and found it pretty darned fabulous. Layer upon layer of luscious flavor. Indulgent, yes, but not overly sweet like some ice creams can be. I wanted to just keep it at room temp and see how it tasted after it turned back to pudding…but it was too good to wait. It was still cold when I savored the final bite.

We talked to several customers who were sampling the new pudding flavors. Although it was an unseasonably cool evening, everyone seemed to be enjoying the newfangled frozen dessert flavors and, when asked, gave them an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Ready to taste ice cream that doesn’t melt? Remember, the ‘Puddin’ the Fun in Summer’ JELL-O pudding flavors are only available through July 28 at Cold Stone Creamery.

For a limited time, consumers can visit kraftfoods.com to receive $1 off the new JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream Creation™ when they join the Birthday Club.

You can also try these recipes using the new Cold Stone/JELLO-O Pudding Ice Cream:

Chocolate Pudding Trifle
Butterscotch Pudding Trifle
Puddin’ Cookie Sandwiches
Pudding Pops