Imitating the 99 flake Ice Cream in Kuwait

For as long as I’ve been a blogger I’ve used a social media avatar of mine where I was holding a 99 flake ice cream cone, slightly melted, against a background of clear blue London sky and a double decker red bus. My blog name is Danderma which also means ice cream and if you’ve read my blog at all you’d know that I’m crazy, head over heels in love with ice cream in general and the 99 in particular.

I make sure that whenever I’m in London when it’s not winter to devour as many 99′s as I could. The best ones are the ones sold right out of ice cream trucks and are just the right balance between creamy and milky. There is nothing like a half-bitten flake bar snuggled in the fold of soft vanilla ice cream soaking in the goodness as you walk the busy streets of London.

This past Eid holiday practically everyone I know was indeed spending the 10 holiday days in London and there were plenty of 99 pictures dotting instagram. I began craving the 99 so badly I actually got myself a box of flake from The Sultan Center and headed to the nearest McDonalds. The box of flakes I got -made in London not Middle East- is already half the usual flake bar length and aren’t individually wrapped so after I paid my 100 fils for the ice cream cone all I had to do is stick a flake bar on the side et voila! I had this beauty!

Taking a good picture of the Kuwaiti 99 is a challenge, mainly because it will start dripping two seconds after you assemble it and by minute three all the lovely folds making the ice cream would have melted away, leaving your clothes with a few too many droplets of vanilla ice cream.

Never mind the melting status of the cone, how does it taste? Quite good actually! Better than a handful of 99′s I’ve had in the UK before but not as good as the best ones I’ve had of course. However, you can momentarily indulge in something that tastes as good as it looks and reminds you of lovely carefree vacation days while you are stuck in the horrible traffic or watching endless 99 pictures on instagram.

I like to make sure all the excess vanilla ice cream is off the edges of the cone before I take a bite of the flake itself. Afterwards, I’d keep the flake soaking in the vanilla ice cream as I continue eating the rest until almost all the ice cream is gone.

Then I’d eat the vanilla soaked and a tad frozen remaining piece of flake and close my eyes as I crunch away. There is nothing like a 99 flake

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had a few too many imitation 99′s. I chose the McDondal’s vanilla cone because I think it’s the best tasting soft serve ice cream in Kuwait and it is also available almost everywhere, all you need is some miniature flakes and you are set. The last time I had a 99 was yesterday in Dubai during the inauguration of the new Al Maktoom Airport which I’m going to post about next. There were flakes, and a brand new McDonalds, and I was hungry, et voila!

Now do tell me, how much do you like the 99 and how do you eat yours?