Update Reviews October 2021
To bond while still working from home, a group from work decided to hold an ice cream social, and ship us all ice cream (and toppings!) from Smitten Ice Cream, to enjoy from our own homes, while we socialized over the video conference. We had our pick of 2 pints and 2 toppings, from a restricted line up.
Ice Cream
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| American Pie. |
"Luscious summer berry ice cream laced with buttery pie dough crumbles. This beloved flavor transforms the classic ‘berry crisp a-la-mode’ into the perfect summer bowl of cold deliciousness!"
My first pick was easy - "buttery pie dough crumbles"? I was in! And, of course, I'm definitely all about "berry crisp a-la-mode", although, usually the crisp needs to be warm ... and, uh, if it is channeling a fruit crisp, then why does it have pie dough? Shouldn't it be crisp topping?
Anyway, I was surprised when I opened the pint to see the stunning blue color. Somehow I was picturing a vanilla base, with the pie crumbles and berries throughout ... but I realize it *did* say "berry ice cream". The ice cream was quite fruity, from strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Fairly unique actually, particularly for me, as I don't normally pick a fruity ice cream (e.g. I NEVER get strawberry ice cream, and this was like a sophisticated version of that). The flavor was complex, and interesting. I still don't gravitate towards a fruity base, but, this was original at least.
The pie crumbles were exactly as I hoped, decent size hunks, recognizable as pie crust. They added another fairly unique touch, and good texture.
This ice cream however was a strange consistency. It froze very hard, crumbly almost, and even when I allowed it an excruciatingly long time to warm up, it never got nicely soft and melty. It was odd, really. I know that higher fat percentage usually yields harder ice cream, and more flavor, etc, and less air also means harder ice cream. Hard ice cream is usually a sign of quality, but this ... really just seemed off. It just didn't soften nicely, even with time. I wonder if something happened to it in the shipping process?
Overall, this did deliver on what it set out to, it really was like a berry crisp a la mode (ok, a berry PIE a la mode), but I never really enjoyed it. Something about the texture just really put me off, no matter how much I tried to like it. It was better with whipped cream and fresh fruit to round it out, but still, just, somehow wasn't quite right.
**+.
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| Cookie Dough w/ Pretzels & Chocolate Chips. |
"Hand-chopped pretzels add a salty crunch to made-from-scratch (egg free) cookie dough pieces studded with teensy Guittard Chocolate chips. These buttery chunks of cookie dough are then mixed into a malted brown sugar ice cream base. Churned FRESH."
My second pick was also pretty easy, as this one was loaded with many great sounding things. This was not your average generic cookie dough pint. Buttery cookie dough and quality Guittard chocolate chips? A fascinating malted brown sugar base? Yes, please!
This pint also was very, very hard, but did soften a bit better with time. Again, I know that is a sign of premium ice cream, but, it again seemed just odd. Maybe liquid nitrogen flash freezing doesn't translate as well to our home freezers?
Anyway, the base flavor was interesting, a kinda complex sweetness (from the brown sugar?) with a nice hit of maltiness. Definitely a unique base, and I appreciated not having just plain vanilla, even with all the mix-ins. The base flavor is what kept drawing me back to this pint, I found myself craving the malty flavor.
The chocolate chips really were "teensy" as described, cute little mini chips. I sorta wanted them bigger, so I could get more hits of quality chocolate, but they worked well given the size of the other mix-ins. The pretzel pieces were also very small, just little broken up bits, which I was glad to see, as pretzels often don't work well in ice cream, they come out soggy (at least in so many Ben & Jerry's flavors!).
What is most interesting about this flavor though is the cookie dough. I left them for last for a reason: they were the least noticeable part of this pint. This is not the kind of pint you are unable to put down, digging through seeking out another big gob of cookie dough. There are no big gobs. In fact, I had to re-read the pint info several times at first, thinking I was mistaken as I didn't see any cookie dough hunks. I finally found them, but they were sooo tiny, just as small as the mini chips, and given their blond color, they blended right in with the pretzel bits and the base flavor. They did perhaps add a bit of texture, but really, this is not a cookie dough forward flavor, which was quite unexpected, given the name
Overall, I enjoyed this far more than it probably sounds - I really did like the malty base flavor, and the little itty bits of mix-ins did work. I found the malty flavor paired really well with many desserts, something I never expected.
This pint was easily finished, and I'd consider getting another, I just wish it stayed a bit softer in my freezer, scooping it was always the biggest deterrent!
***+ ... borderline ****.
Toppings
For toppings, Smitten offers sauces (chocolate, strawberry, or brown sugar caramel), "healthy things" (toasted almonds, spiced oat crumble), and crowd pleasers (cookie dough chunks, chocolate crispies, rainbow sprinkles). I decided to try the cookie dough chunks as they sounded the most fun, and the crumble, as I knew I'd be able to use it in others ways too (like on my morning breakfast fruit and yogurt parfait!).
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| Spiced Oat Crumble. |
The crumble was ... fine. The chunks fairly large, and mostly just reminded me of Nature Valley crunchy granola bars, which I don't really care for. Just oats-butter-sugar, and light spicing.
Fine, but not exciting, and not the crumble I was expecting ... I thought it would be more like a fruit crisp or crumble topping, not granola bar.
**+.
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| Cookie Dough Chunks. |
The cookie dough chunks are the same as those used in the Cookie Dough with Pretzels & Chocolate Chips ice cream, so they include bits of pretzel, in addition to the expected (mini) chips. The big difference, compared to the ice cream, of course is the size. These are real chunks.
The chunks were ... fine? Large size, soft enough, some slightly interesting sweetness from the use of brown sugar (in addition to regular sugar). They seemed out of place as a topping with this size though, kinda large to throw on a sundae, but weren't really quite right to just eat as finger food.
***.
Original Review, July 2014
I eat a lot of ice cream. For the most part, I don't blog about it. Most of it is just standard ice cream, from a pint in a grocery store, or, more often, soft serve from the machine at my office. I've also tried most of the quirky, unique San Francisco ice cream shops, offering up non-mainstream flavors, but it isn't a scene I've really gotten into. Ok, ok, I admit it, I do love Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, but Bi-Rite? I really don't understand the hype, nor the willingness of folks to wait in ridiculously long lines on freezing cold days for it. Or, Humphrey Slocombe? Sure, the flavors are novel, but ... meh.
Given all this, it makes sense that it took me a few years to get to Smitten Ice Cream. Yes, I like ice cream, but it seemed like yet another San Francisco trend, always with ridiculous lines. The San Francisco location is in a parklet in Hayes Valley, in a shop crafted out of a shipping container. They also now have a location in Oakland, and one down in Los Altos as well. The shipping container houses the area where the ice cream is made, and an awning extends out over a few benches for seating. But most people take their ice cream to the sunny park across the street, and mingle with the folks sipping juice from the juice shop, or coffee from the coffee shop (both popup style), or pizza from a food truck. So. Trendy. I wanted to hate everything about this place.
But the shipping container isn't even the trendy part. The ice cream is prepared, batch at a time, using liquid nitrogen. The claim is that since it can freeze ridiculously quickly, you wind up with a much smoother product, and you don't need to add any chemicals or stabilizers, since it doesn't need to have any shelf life. You can create a premium product, made from all "real" ingredients. They use only organic milk and cream, source the fruit from local farms, the chocolate from a local chocolate candy. And, they price it accordingly. This is just the dessert version of $4 toast.
On my first visit, I was apparently not unique in my seeking out ice cream on a reasonably hot San Francisco Saturday afternoon. I wondered if the long line was really going to be worth it, as it certainly wasn't moving quickly. As in, it was barely moving. The line was just to order, once you ordered, your ice cream still had to be made, and there was a wait after that too.
I'll admit, I was a bit grumpy by the time I got my ice cream. 25 minutes elapsed between the time I took this photo of the line, and the time I took the photo when I got my ice cream. I think my total wait time was closer to 30 minutes, since I didn't snap this photo immediately. San Franciscans love to wait in lines ... I hated that I was one of them.
Each batch of ice cream is made individually in a machine dedicated to that flavor. Since they have only 4 machines, this means they exactly 4 flavors on any given day. They always have classic vanilla and chocolate (60.5% TCHO), along with a monthly flavor (on my first visit in February it was earl gray with chocolate chips), and one other (alternating between salted caramel, mint chip, and brown sugar cinnamon).
Each machine is staffed by an single worker, who completes a batch, pulls the container off the machine, and then immediately starts another batch churning. Once it starts up, he or she turns their attention back to the completed batch, and begins filling orders, one by one, until it runs out. A batch seems to produce about 5 scoops. Depending on what the people in front of you have ordered, this can take a while.
Besides the base flavors, you can add toppings. Sauces are available for 50 cents each (updated: now 75 cents), and include TCHO chocolate sauce and 3 types of caramel (spicy, brown sugar, or malt). In all the orders I saw, the sauces always amounted to a tiny drizzle, so I'd recommend doubling up on the sauces. I'm really not sure why they apply so little.
Or, you can splurge for a crunchy topping for 75 cents, and pick from toasted walnuts, TCHO crispies, cinnamon shortbread, housemade brittles (peanut, pistachio, almond), or fresh whipped cream. Unlike the sauces, these seem to be applied in generous amounts.
The menu is rounded out by vegan popsicles and a few bottled drinks, neither of which I tried.
As I said, I was a bit grumpy by the time I finally received my ice cream. Was it really worth a 30 minute wait? I'd actually avoided going to Smitten for several years because it sounded so hyped.
But ... damn it was good. A few bites, and I immediately stopped caring about how long I'd been waiting. Yes, indeed, it was worth it.
The texture of the ice cream was unlike anything I'd ever had before. It was fluffy, yet dense. Insanely creamy. Very, very rich. Wow, ok, so the nitrogen thing isn't just a gimmick, it produces amazing results.
None of the flavors that day really jumped out at me - I didn't want the caffeine from chocolate or the seasonal earl gray, so I was left with vanilla or salted caramel. I would never normally order vanilla, except that I wanted to try out the toppings, as I was really in an ice cream sundae sort of mood, and I didn't think putting caramel on caramel ice cream would make sense. So, I was boring, and got vanilla. It wasn't the most intense vanilla flavor, in fact, the vanilla was barely noticeable, but the toppings made up for it.
I wanted a sauce, and my choices were three types of caramel: spicy, malt, or brown sugar cinnamon. I didn't really know what was different about them, so asked for a recommendation, and the person taking my order suggested the brown sugar cinnamon. So I went for it. It was sweet, a bit cinnamony, not bad. But there was very, very little of it. Just a tiny drizzle. Toppings cost the same no matter what size you get, so if I'd had a bigger ice cream, I think I would have wound up with only 2 bites with sauce. It was not hot, and was a bit thick, but just a tiny tiny drizzle. I'd gladly pay double for more, as this wasn't sufficient.
I also wanted a crunchy topping, so went for the housemade peanut brittle. I was hoping it would add a crunch, obviously, but also a sweet and salty component. Unfortunately, it didn't really have any salt to it, not in the peanuts, not in the brittle. But, it was crunchy, it was sweet, and I enjoyed it. Definitely a premium topping, and that was applied in generous amounts. ***+.
The ice cream didn't melt too quickly, and I loved the even smoother consistency it got as it melted slightly. I tried to stop devouring it to let it melt a little, but ... it was too hard to resist. Seriously, so good. ****.
Besides the small amount of caramel, the only other complaint I have is with the spoon. It was an obnoxious little gelato spoon, so hard to take big bites. But, moreover, it was one of those potato spoons, so it was too flexible, and bent easily, making it even more difficult to eat. Yes, I'm complaining that the spoon was too small to shovel ice cream into my mouth fast enough, and that its bio-degradable nature made that even worse ...
Smitten isn't a cheap place, as a small, without toppings, is $4.75. I knew a secret though - it isn't listed anywhere on the menu, but you can get a "munchkin", a single scoop, for $3. I saw several smalls come out ahead of mine, and I really didn't think my munchkin was that much smaller. It wasn't a huge ice cream, but it was plenty satisfying as an after-meal treat. I think my munchkin plus two toppings was a better deal than a plain small.
I really enjoyed my ice cream, and I'd go back, even if there is a long line. I'd love to try their homemade waffle cones ($1), which smelt amazing, and perhaps the shortbread cookies as a mix-in ... mmm...
So, I went back. This time my choices were again vanilla, chocolate, and salted caramel, along with the seasonal flavor for April: Rhubarb Crisp. Due to its more complicated mix-ins, the rhubarb crisp carried a $0.50 premium.
Given all this, it makes sense that it took me a few years to get to Smitten Ice Cream. Yes, I like ice cream, but it seemed like yet another San Francisco trend, always with ridiculous lines. The San Francisco location is in a parklet in Hayes Valley, in a shop crafted out of a shipping container. They also now have a location in Oakland, and one down in Los Altos as well. The shipping container houses the area where the ice cream is made, and an awning extends out over a few benches for seating. But most people take their ice cream to the sunny park across the street, and mingle with the folks sipping juice from the juice shop, or coffee from the coffee shop (both popup style), or pizza from a food truck. So. Trendy. I wanted to hate everything about this place.
But the shipping container isn't even the trendy part. The ice cream is prepared, batch at a time, using liquid nitrogen. The claim is that since it can freeze ridiculously quickly, you wind up with a much smoother product, and you don't need to add any chemicals or stabilizers, since it doesn't need to have any shelf life. You can create a premium product, made from all "real" ingredients. They use only organic milk and cream, source the fruit from local farms, the chocolate from a local chocolate candy. And, they price it accordingly. This is just the dessert version of $4 toast.
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| Shipping Container Turned into Ice Cream Shop ... |
I'll admit, I was a bit grumpy by the time I got my ice cream. 25 minutes elapsed between the time I took this photo of the line, and the time I took the photo when I got my ice cream. I think my total wait time was closer to 30 minutes, since I didn't snap this photo immediately. San Franciscans love to wait in lines ... I hated that I was one of them.
 |
| Inside, each machine makes one flavor. |
Each machine is staffed by an single worker, who completes a batch, pulls the container off the machine, and then immediately starts another batch churning. Once it starts up, he or she turns their attention back to the completed batch, and begins filling orders, one by one, until it runs out. A batch seems to produce about 5 scoops. Depending on what the people in front of you have ordered, this can take a while.
Besides the base flavors, you can add toppings. Sauces are available for 50 cents each (updated: now 75 cents), and include TCHO chocolate sauce and 3 types of caramel (spicy, brown sugar, or malt). In all the orders I saw, the sauces always amounted to a tiny drizzle, so I'd recommend doubling up on the sauces. I'm really not sure why they apply so little.
Or, you can splurge for a crunchy topping for 75 cents, and pick from toasted walnuts, TCHO crispies, cinnamon shortbread, housemade brittles (peanut, pistachio, almond), or fresh whipped cream. Unlike the sauces, these seem to be applied in generous amounts.
The menu is rounded out by vegan popsicles and a few bottled drinks, neither of which I tried.
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| Munchkin Vanilla with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Caramel and Peanut Brittle. $4.25. |
But ... damn it was good. A few bites, and I immediately stopped caring about how long I'd been waiting. Yes, indeed, it was worth it.
The texture of the ice cream was unlike anything I'd ever had before. It was fluffy, yet dense. Insanely creamy. Very, very rich. Wow, ok, so the nitrogen thing isn't just a gimmick, it produces amazing results.
None of the flavors that day really jumped out at me - I didn't want the caffeine from chocolate or the seasonal earl gray, so I was left with vanilla or salted caramel. I would never normally order vanilla, except that I wanted to try out the toppings, as I was really in an ice cream sundae sort of mood, and I didn't think putting caramel on caramel ice cream would make sense. So, I was boring, and got vanilla. It wasn't the most intense vanilla flavor, in fact, the vanilla was barely noticeable, but the toppings made up for it.
I wanted a sauce, and my choices were three types of caramel: spicy, malt, or brown sugar cinnamon. I didn't really know what was different about them, so asked for a recommendation, and the person taking my order suggested the brown sugar cinnamon. So I went for it. It was sweet, a bit cinnamony, not bad. But there was very, very little of it. Just a tiny drizzle. Toppings cost the same no matter what size you get, so if I'd had a bigger ice cream, I think I would have wound up with only 2 bites with sauce. It was not hot, and was a bit thick, but just a tiny tiny drizzle. I'd gladly pay double for more, as this wasn't sufficient.
I also wanted a crunchy topping, so went for the housemade peanut brittle. I was hoping it would add a crunch, obviously, but also a sweet and salty component. Unfortunately, it didn't really have any salt to it, not in the peanuts, not in the brittle. But, it was crunchy, it was sweet, and I enjoyed it. Definitely a premium topping, and that was applied in generous amounts. ***+.
The ice cream didn't melt too quickly, and I loved the even smoother consistency it got as it melted slightly. I tried to stop devouring it to let it melt a little, but ... it was too hard to resist. Seriously, so good. ****.
Besides the small amount of caramel, the only other complaint I have is with the spoon. It was an obnoxious little gelato spoon, so hard to take big bites. But, moreover, it was one of those potato spoons, so it was too flexible, and bent easily, making it even more difficult to eat. Yes, I'm complaining that the spoon was too small to shovel ice cream into my mouth fast enough, and that its bio-degradable nature made that even worse ...
Smitten isn't a cheap place, as a small, without toppings, is $4.75. I knew a secret though - it isn't listed anywhere on the menu, but you can get a "munchkin", a single scoop, for $3. I saw several smalls come out ahead of mine, and I really didn't think my munchkin was that much smaller. It wasn't a huge ice cream, but it was plenty satisfying as an after-meal treat. I think my munchkin plus two toppings was a better deal than a plain small.
I really enjoyed my ice cream, and I'd go back, even if there is a long line. I'd love to try their homemade waffle cones ($1), which smelt amazing, and perhaps the shortbread cookies as a mix-in ... mmm...
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| Munchkin Rhubarb Crisp with Toasted Walnuts and Whipped Cream. $5. |
I'm not sure if I've ever written about my distaste for rhubarb before, but, let's just say I sorta have a vendetta against rhubarb, due to its sneaking into my mom's homemade strawberry jam when I was a child. Even as an adult, I haven't gotten over it. But ... fruit crisp and ice cream is one of my most favorite things on earth. I liked the vanilla on my first visit, but I wasn't super excited about getting it again, and I still didn't want the chocolate or salted caramel for the same reasons as my previous visit. So ... I went for the rhubarb, against my better judgement.
Like the vanilla, the ice cream was incredibly smooth and creamy. It didn't melt too quickly. The rhubarb was added as mostly a liquid, so it was entirely integrated into the ice cream, no chunks. It was tart. Rhubarb-y. Certainly not my favorite flavor, but I did appreciate that the ice cream wasn't super sweet. The crisp part of the "rhubarb crisp" was streusel pieces, all very tiny, well mixed in. They added texture, but I would have liked bigger chunks so I could actually taste them. ***.
The base ice cream wasn't turning out to be the fruit crisp I was striving for, but I hoped my topping choices would enhance it. I always love cold ice cream with my hot fruit crisps/crumbles/pies, but, in reality, I also always want whipped cream. So, I added it to my creation. The whipped cream was very fluffy, lightly sweetened, fresh whipped cream out of a dispenser with Co2 cartridge, not canned stuff. I got a generous amount for the additional $0.75 charge. ***+.
I also wanted to make sure it was crunchy and reminded me of a crisp, so I added the toasted walnuts. They were ... just walnuts. Not quite sure what I was expecting, but there wasn't anything remarkable about these. I got a generous spoonful of nuts for my $0.75. ***.
Overall, I didn't love this, but I only blame myself. I ordered a flavor I know I don't like, and I wanted it to be a fruit crisp and ice cream, which it wasn't. I think that flavor with a sauce might have worked better, to compliment the tart rhubarb with something more sweet. And the cinnamon shortbread cookies would have worked for a better crunchy, crisp-like topping than the nuts. For next time ...
Finally, I visited when the famous mint chip was being made! It is part of the standard rotation, yet somehow I kept missing it. I’d read great things about it, and had been hoping to run into it for ages.
Like all of the ice cream from Smitten, I liked the texture, so smooth and creamy, although, it seemed less rich than some of the other flavors. Maybe I’m just used to it by now, or maybe it is due to the mix-ins? Anyway, the remarkable thing about this flavor was how intense the mint was, and, that it was real mint. Not mint flavor, but mint. It tasted like eating leaves of mint. I can honestly say I’ve never had any mint product taste so legitimately minty. I actually didn’t love that flavor, but, I was impressed.
The chocolate wasn’t actually chips, rather, large flecks of dark chocolate. A generous amount of chocolate, all high quality. Given that they use TCHO for their sauces and toppings, I imagine it is TCHO as well. ***.
Speaking of the sauces, I went for a duo this time, since I have felt in the past that they didn’t put enough on. Rather than doubling up on one, I decided to ask for two, the chocolate sauce and the malt sauce. I really had no idea what to expect from a malt sauce, but I didn’t want to have caramel with mint chip, as that just sounded odd, so malt was my only other choice. The chocolate sauce was a thin style, and good enough, but it was very lost when mixed together with the malt, which, really just tasted sweet. It wasn’t the right topping for the mint chip. ***.
I also added peanut brittle, just because I wanted something crunchy, and they were out of the TCHO crispies I would have liked to add. Peanut brittle was also not the right thing to add, it was just sweet, and super strange with the mint. Good on its own, but not in this combo.
So, overall, I didn’t create a winner here. I still enjoyed the toppings, and I enjoyed the ice cream, but they didn’t combine very well. And, although I really was impressed by the minty flavor of the Mint Chip, I wouldn’t go for it again.
Update: Ojan got this flavor on a subsequent visit, with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. I again felt like it was crazy minty, like real mint leaves, and again just didn't care for it much.
Seasonal Flavor for July, nectarine: "Ripened by the hot sun overhead, stone fruits from local orchards are juiciest and most plentiful throughout July."
The nectarine was recommended with brown sugar caramel, so I choose that as one topping. Inspired by the thought of a fruit crisp, I also added cinnamon shortbreads, since I thought the cookie crumbles would be a bit like a crisp topping.
The nectarine ice cream was tasty, same good texture and density as all of their other ice cream. It had some very small pieces of nectarine inside. Very seasonal and fresh tasting. ***+.
The brown sugar caramel didn't go with it at all. I was really shocking by what a poor pairing it was. nectarines with brown sugar sounded good, but the caramel was just too sweet, and masked the nice flavor of the nectarines. In the past, I've mentioned that I only received a tiny drizzle of the sauce, and this time, there was tons of it. Doh. (Sauces also increased to $0.75 from $0.50, so maybe they are intentionally giving a bit more now?)
The cinnamon shortbreads were also a fail. I didn't taste cinnamon at all, and they were just dried out and boring. Not very buttery. I appreciated the generous amount and the crumble sizes, but, I really didn't like them. **.
A munchkin base price is $3, but nectarine was an additional $0.50, and both toppings were $0.75 each, making this a $5 investment. Normal for Smitten, but pretty pricy for such a small treat.
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| Munchkin Fresh Mint Chip with TCHO Chocolate Sauce, Malt Syrup, and Peanut Brittle. $4.75. |
Like all of the ice cream from Smitten, I liked the texture, so smooth and creamy, although, it seemed less rich than some of the other flavors. Maybe I’m just used to it by now, or maybe it is due to the mix-ins? Anyway, the remarkable thing about this flavor was how intense the mint was, and, that it was real mint. Not mint flavor, but mint. It tasted like eating leaves of mint. I can honestly say I’ve never had any mint product taste so legitimately minty. I actually didn’t love that flavor, but, I was impressed.
The chocolate wasn’t actually chips, rather, large flecks of dark chocolate. A generous amount of chocolate, all high quality. Given that they use TCHO for their sauces and toppings, I imagine it is TCHO as well. ***.
Speaking of the sauces, I went for a duo this time, since I have felt in the past that they didn’t put enough on. Rather than doubling up on one, I decided to ask for two, the chocolate sauce and the malt sauce. I really had no idea what to expect from a malt sauce, but I didn’t want to have caramel with mint chip, as that just sounded odd, so malt was my only other choice. The chocolate sauce was a thin style, and good enough, but it was very lost when mixed together with the malt, which, really just tasted sweet. It wasn’t the right topping for the mint chip. ***.
I also added peanut brittle, just because I wanted something crunchy, and they were out of the TCHO crispies I would have liked to add. Peanut brittle was also not the right thing to add, it was just sweet, and super strange with the mint. Good on its own, but not in this combo.
So, overall, I didn’t create a winner here. I still enjoyed the toppings, and I enjoyed the ice cream, but they didn’t combine very well. And, although I really was impressed by the minty flavor of the Mint Chip, I wouldn’t go for it again.
Update: Ojan got this flavor on a subsequent visit, with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. I again felt like it was crazy minty, like real mint leaves, and again just didn't care for it much.
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| Munchkin Nectarine with Brown Sugar Caramel and Cinnamon Shortbread. $5. |
The nectarine was recommended with brown sugar caramel, so I choose that as one topping. Inspired by the thought of a fruit crisp, I also added cinnamon shortbreads, since I thought the cookie crumbles would be a bit like a crisp topping.
The nectarine ice cream was tasty, same good texture and density as all of their other ice cream. It had some very small pieces of nectarine inside. Very seasonal and fresh tasting. ***+.
The brown sugar caramel didn't go with it at all. I was really shocking by what a poor pairing it was. nectarines with brown sugar sounded good, but the caramel was just too sweet, and masked the nice flavor of the nectarines. In the past, I've mentioned that I only received a tiny drizzle of the sauce, and this time, there was tons of it. Doh. (Sauces also increased to $0.75 from $0.50, so maybe they are intentionally giving a bit more now?)
The cinnamon shortbreads were also a fail. I didn't taste cinnamon at all, and they were just dried out and boring. Not very buttery. I appreciated the generous amount and the crumble sizes, but, I really didn't like them. **.
A munchkin base price is $3, but nectarine was an additional $0.50, and both toppings were $0.75 each, making this a $5 investment. Normal for Smitten, but pretty pricy for such a small treat.
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