Talenti - Vanilla Caramel Swirl

Vanilla Caramel Swirl - Vanilla Bean Gelato with a Swirl of Dulce de Leche

Today we return to Talenti Gelato.  I am done with their new Gelato Layers flavors for 2020 so I am back on their main menu.  This flavor is called Vanilla Caramel Swirl.  I got it at a local grocery store (either Cub or Hyvee, I forget).  This is a relatively simple flavor -- vanilla bean gelato with a dulce de leche (caramelized milk) swirl.  One of the reasons why I picked this up is because the brown swirl through the clear jar looks very enticing.  Let's check it out.

Unscrewing the jar, I see an off-white vanilla base with an interesting pattern of dulce de leche on top.  It looks a little bit like the flux capacitor from the original Back to the Future movie.  That's probably not what it is though.  It might be a artifact of the tool used to mix in the swirl?  I've never seen something like this before.  Digging in, the vanilla bean gelato tastes quite good.  Being a gelato, it is a bit softer and easier to spoon than most vanilla ice creams.  Upon close examination, I can see small bean specks in the base to verify that it is a vanilla bean and not just a vanilla.  The dulce de leche swirl appears to be mostly blended into the base.  I can taste the effects of it, though.  There is an infusement of a light caramel-like flavor into the gelato that is quite appealing, but there's is not as much caramel in here as one would guess from looking at the outside of the clear container.  I saw this issue with the swirl-blending before with Talenti in their Southern Butter Pecan flavor.

This is a decent pint from Talenti.  It is a simple flavor -- vanilla with a swirl of caramel -- but the caramel is overly mixed into the base.  Talenti's dulce de leche has much more of a kick when it is included in a gelato layers pint such as Banana Caramel Crunch.  Vanilla Caramel Swirl still has a smooth and pleasing flavor, though, just not as much caramel as you'd guess from looking at it on the shelf in the freezer case.