Talenti - Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake - Layers of Strawberry Gelato, Shortbread Pieces, Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce, Strawberry Gelato (2) and Shortbread Pieces (2)

 

Today's flavor is the last of the four new Layers flavors released this year by Talenti Gelato.  It is called Strawberry Shortcake.  I cannot remember which grocery store I bought this in, but the new layers flavors are popping up in grocery stores across the Twin Cities.  Earlier this week, I reviewed a strawberry shortcake flavor from Tillamook and I have also reviewed flavors from Milkjam Creamery and Ben & Jerry's.  In Talenti layers flavors there are usually three layers of mix-ins sandwiched between and below two layers of gelato.  Here both gelato flavors are strawberry, the two layers sandwiched between are strawberry rhubarb sauce and shortbread pieces and there is an additional layer of shortbread pieces on the bottom of the pint.  Let's check it out.

Like all layers pints, when I unscrew the lid, all I see is the top layer.  For the purposes of taking photos, I then cut out a vertical slice of the pint in order to see all the layers.  The layering here is well done.  How does it all blend together?  The strawberry gelato is quite delicious.  I can see a little bit of texture in the gelato as though there are tiny pieces of strawberry or perhaps seeds in the mix, but they are so small as to not affect the texture.  The layer of strawberry rhubarb provides a thick and tangy swirl of flavor into the mix.  It is a mostly strawberry flavor with the rhubarb providing a mild tangy kick.  I liked it quite a bit.  The shortbread pieces are quite good.  Shortbread by design is a mild confection but these little goldfish-cracker sized nuggets provide quite a lot to chew on as you are eating the pint.

This is an excellent new layers flavor from Talenti.  Fans of strawberry will want to check this out.  This concludes my survey of the four new layers flavors.  The other three flavors were Chocolate Pretzel, Cookies & Cream and Confetti Cookie.  Today's Strawberry Shortcake flavor might be my favorite, but the Chocolate Pretzel flavor with it's delicious salted cone pieces might be a close second.  Then comes Cookies & Cream which was still quite tasty.  Confetti Cookie was my least favorite because I did not think the layering worked well.

Finally, I should note that Talenti has two new non-layers flavors this year:  Honey Graham and Vanilla Peanut Butter Swirl.  I cannot seem to find these in Twin Cities grocery stores yet.  I know there is often a shortage of space in freezer cases.  Perhaps stores are prioritizing the layers flavors?  Hopefully, they turn up eventually.  If anyone spots either of these flavors, let me know in the comments section.

 

 

Pumphouse Creamery - Fresh Rhubarb

Fresh Rhubarb - Vanilla Ice Cream with Fresh Rhubarb

Spring is here and that means that Rhubarb Ice Cream has returned to the Pumphouse Creamery in Minneapolis.  Their flavor page says this is their best-selling seasonal flavor.  When local papers write up the ice cream choices in town, they almost always mention the rhubarb when they mention Pumphouse Creamery.  I tried to get it last year, but I was too late -- it is only available from April until mid-June.  I got myself a pint this year and I'm excited to check it out.

Opening the pint, I see big chunks of rhubarb right away immersed in a bright white vanilla base.  Very generous with the rhubarb!  Digging in, the rhubarb is delicious!  Sometimes rhubarb can be very sour -- which is why it is often used as a supporting ingredient (balanced with something like strawberry or cinnamon).  The rhubarb here is still quite tangy -- it is rhubarb after all -- but not so much that it makes your lips pucker.  The vanilla base provides a great balance to the mix-in, creating a pie-a-la-mode feel to the pint.

This is an excellent pint of ice cream.  Rhubarb has such a strong and sour natural flavor that it is quite unusual to see it as the only flavor in an ice cream.  This implementation hits it out of the park, though.  The rhubarb is sweetened up into a pie-filling-like mix-in that goes great with the vanilla base.  It is only available for a couple of months a year, so check it out.

McConnell's - Strawberry Rhubarb

Strawberry Rhubarb - Ice Cream Infused with Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

Today is the third pint of my recent shipment from the Santa Barbara-based McConnell's.  This flavor is called Strawberry Rhubarb.  Strawberry and rhubarb are commonly paired together because they are both strong flavors which complement each other well -- strawberry is very sweet and rhubarb is very tart.  Surprisingly, I have only had rhubarb in ice cream one other time, so I am looking forward to checking this out.

The top of the pint is a light pink color and there is sort of a bulgy shape to it.  McConnell's ice cream is often very thick and dense (not a lot of air) and I can tell just buy looking at this that it is thick.  Digging in, I can taste the strawberry right away.  It's a really good strawberry flavor, not too sweet and not too tart.  There are no strawberry chunks like in some other flavors (such as McConnell's own Chocolate-Covered Strawberries).  This is just smooth strawberry flavor and is very tasty.  The rhubarb comes through in the mix-ins.  You can see them in the pictures below.  They provide a twist of rhubarb flavor into each spoonful, but strawberry is the dominant flavor here.

This is a solid pint of ice cream.  The strawberry flavor is perfectly placed along the sweet-tart scale so as not to be too much of one and not the other.  The texture is thick and creamy as is McConnell's specialty.  Rhubarb is definitely a secondary flavor here.  That might be disappointing for rhubarb fans, but it might ease the concerns for those who might be apprehensive about the rhubarb.

Sweet Science - Rhubarb Cinnamon Almond

Rhubarb Cinnamon Almond - Amaretto-Cinnamon Ice Cream with Rhubarb Compote and Almond Pieces

We continue the exploration of ice cream brands local to my hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota.  Today is the Rhubarb Cinnamon Almond flavor of the Sweet Science brand which was started by Ashlee Olds on the East Side in 2011.  Ashlee is the daughter of local hockey legend Wally Olds and is also the great-great granddaughter of Ransom E. Olds the inventor of the Oldsmobile.  The Sweet Science brand started off small and focused on participating in tasting events and sourcing a few coffee shops for the first couple of years.  Since then, it has grown and is now available in pints in many local markets.  I found my pint at Whole Foods.

I am intrigued by the inclusion of rhubarb in this particular flavor.  Growing up, we had a rhubarb plant in the back yard.  Rhubarb is a very hardy perennial, so it basically showed up in the corner by the garage every year without any effort from us.  Every other year or so, we'd decide to bake something with it.  It was always a challenge because although rhubarb is very flavorful, it is also incredibly tart.

Removing the lid shows the beige color of the amaretto-cinnamon base as well as well as a smattering of the rhubarb and almond mix-ins intentionally placed on the very top.  In the base ice cream, I could taste the cinnamon but I did not specifically notice the amaretto.  Since amaretto is almond-based it could be that its flavor mixed in with the almond mix-ins.  I did enjoy the cinnamon flavoring, though.  The rhubarb swirl was thick, syrupy and quite tart.  It would be too much to eat just the swirl by itself but it worked well when balanced against the base ice cream.  The almond mix-ins are in the form of almond slices.  I think this is the first time I've seen thin almond slices used as a mix-in.  They were quite tasty and provided my teeth with something to crunch on from to time.

I enjoyed this flavor.  Rhubarb is a strong and tart flavor, but I think it did a good job of balancing it so that it was enjoyable.  If you like rhubarb-flavored desserts then you'll have to try this.