Talenti - Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie - Pumpkin Ice Cream spiced with Cinnamon and Nutmeg with Pie Crust Pieces

This Halloween, I return to the Talenti Gelato brand for their seasonal flavor, Pumpkin Pie.  Pumpkin Pie may be more of a Thanksgiving treat but you can have it for Halloween as well.  Lots of brands implement this type of flavor.  I've tried implementations from Ben & Jerry's, McConnell's, Jeni's, Graeter's, Sweet Science and Pumphouse.  All have pumpkin, most have spice and a few have something else like cheesecake (Sweet Science, Ben & Jerry's) or graham cracker (Ben & Jerry's).  This pint from Talenti adds pie crust pieces.  That's in the same vein as a graham cracker swirl, but not quite the same thing.  Let's dig in.

Unscrewing the lid from one of these fun jars that Talenti uses, I see the distinctive orangish color of pumpkin.  It looks the same color as pumpkin pie.  It even has that distinctive glaze that a pumpkin pie has.  That's a good start.  In the first spoonful, the pumpkin flavor is a smidge sweeter than the usual pint of pumpkin ice cream.  I checked the flavor link above and there is indeed brown sugar in this pint.  The gelato is soft but still bit creamy.  I would put the spice level at mild.  There is enough cinnamon and nutmeg to keep it interesting, but it doesn't have a kick.  It is slightly spicier than most pumpkin pies but not much.  Occasionally, I encounter the pie crust pieces.  They are white in color and provide a small bit of chewy-crunchy texture that make the pint a bit more interesting than if it was homogeneous.

This is a very good implementation of a Pumpkin Pie ice cream -- emphasize on the 'pie' here.  It very accurately nails the pumpkin pie flavor from the color, the mild spices, hint of brown sugar and the gelato-texture helps as well.  I would recommend this for people who want -- or what to try -- a literal imitation of pumpkin pie filling.  For those looking for more, Jeni's & Sweet Science have more of a spicy kick and Ben & Jerry's and Sweet Science add a cheesecake into the mix.  I do like pumpkin pie for what it is, though, so I enjoyed Talenti as well.