Jessica Little Fu

Update Review, April 2026

Back in November, I attended an event run by the tea club at my office where they ordered a selection of desserts from a local home baker, Jessica Little Fu, to pair with the teas.  The desserts were exceptional.  Truly, exceptional.  Flawless execution, complex and interesting flavors, everything.  My mind was blown.  And I lamented the fact that this was not a very accessible option to get to try more things from again, and she only does catering and some pop-ups.

And then the host of the tea club ordered from her again, about 6 months later.  To say I was excited when I saw the placards introducing the lineup was an understatement.  I couldn't wait to try more items from this clearly extremely talented baker.  And the best part?  Our host had selected all new items (one was a different flavor of something we had before, but the rest were all new), including two cakes, and one pie, 5 items total.

And again.  Just, wow.  Seriously, seek this baker out any chance you get!

Strawberry Daifuku.

"Ichigo Farms Albion strawberry wrapped in white bean paste and house made mochi."

In the interests of picking my first two choices only to be polite, I skipped the daifuku initially.  It was the simplest of all the items after all.

When I returned for a second pass, after everyone had their initial fill, alas, they were all gone.  I really was interested to try it, the white bean paste in particular sounded unique, but, everyone else grabbed them.  Alas.

Strawberry Mochi Mousse Cake.

"Mochi, strawberry mousse, roasted strawberries, whipped cream and vanilla chiffon."

The one item that was a slight repeat from the previous event was the mochi mousse cake, however this time it was strawberry.  I skipped this my initial pass too, since I had something similar before, but I was thrilled when there was a tiny piece left when I went back for my second round.  When I had it last time in passionfruit form I was blown away by the passionfruit mousse, and I was curious how the more common strawberry would compare.

It was a delicious creation yet again.  The soft pliable mochi wrapping it, the flavorful insanely fluffy mousse ... yep, no words.  The flavor was a bit more "boring" compared to the passionfruit, but I still really quite enjoyed it, and gladly would have another and another and another of these.  I need more homemade mochi wrapped cream items in my life!  4.5/5.  My favorite of the items I tried.

Yuzu Blueberry Meringue Pie.

"Flaky butter pie shell filled with blueberry compote, yuzu curd and torched meringue and makrut lime leaf whipped cream."

I also skipped the pie offering, yuzu blueberry meringue, in my first venture up to the dessert table, even though I had *adored* the pie we had last time (black sesame banana cream pie), and in particular I adored the crust, but I tend to not like lemon/citrus curd and again, wanted to be polite and not take everything, even though I still loved the sound of the blueberry, the meringue, and the crust.  And honestly, if any baker was going to have me like a citrus curd, it could very well be her!

Alas, when I went back, this pie was also gone, except for a shard of crust.  I did snag that shard of crust, and it was just as flawless as last time: soooo crispy, soooo flaky, soooo buttery, just, perfect.  Five star crust, but I can't review the rest.  What I had though, was my second favorite bite.

Pineapple Earl Grey Cake.

"Three layers of vanilla chiffon, earl grey white chocolate whipped ganache, pineapple lemongrass curd."

The cakes were where I focused initially. The first cake was the tea inspired offering, perfect for the event, with earl grey and a fascinating sounding pineapple lemongrass curd.  The decoration was extremely classy, it gave wedding adjacent vibes. 

Pineapple Early Grey Cake: Inside.

The layers were well constructed, with light simple vanilla chiffon, all equal size layers, with an appropriate ratio of the earl grey white chocolate ganache, and thin layers of the curd.

The chiffon was again just soooo light and truly what chiffon should be, although still not a favorite cake style for me.  The cake needed a base though, and any other style of cake would be too heavy for these fillings, so, it makes sense.

The earl grey white chocolate ganache was thick, rich, and had enough earl grey to taste it, but it wasn't overly strong.  The sweetness level was low for white chocolate that is so often overly sweet, but still sweeter than many Asian style desserts.  The curd was slightly tangy, slightly tropical.

It was all well made, delicate flavors, that worked well together, but none are flavors I necessarily gravitate towards, so it didn't wow me.  3.5/5 because I can appreciate how well done it was, even if it wasn't the item for me.  My least favorite, only due to preferences.

Black Sesame Strawberry Cake.

"Three layers of vanilla chiffon, black sesame pastry cream, strawberries, roasted strawberries and whipped cream."

And lastly, the one I was most excited for, the black sesame strawberry cake!  I was excited for every single element of this.

It too was beautifully decorated, with gold shimmer for a touch a class, and brilliantly juicy strawberries that drew me in immediately.

Black Sesame Strawberry Cake: Inside.

The layers of this were expertly crafted as well: even layers of cake, plentiful black sesame cream and whipped cream, large hunks of berries embedded within.

The cake was essentially the same, light, the right style for this kind of cake, but not my preferred kind of cake.  The berries were perfectly ripe and vibrant.  Eating these made me lament a bit more than I missed out on the strawberry daifuku.  The whipped cream was fresh and not overly sweetened.  These are all simple elements, but, done exactly right.

And then of course, the black sesame pastry cream!  It reminded me of the black sesame mousseline from the black sesame banana cream pie, just a bit less firm, which makes sense for a cake filling compared to a pie filling that needed to retain structure for slices.  It was delightfully nutty, and a great combination with the berries.  So put it all together?  Yep, no edits really.  5/5 execution, 4.5/5 for my own enjoyment.

Original Review, December 2025

It is rare for me to really be impressed with a baked good or dessert these days.  I was spoiled by years of having an ex-Michelin star pastry chef creating nightly desserts for my group at work (and a succession of equally talented pastry chefs before/after that) and by having a couple years of doing extensive fine dining.  That is all in my past, but more recently, I've spent my last three summers in New York City, where I've made eating top notch pastries and baked goods a priority.  So most things I encounter in everyday life in San Francisco just don't really wow me.  Sure, there are some that stand out (e.g. yes, Arsicault), but most, even if good, I'm not like "ZOMG" about.

So I had no expectations when I recently attended a tea and dessert event featuring a popup vendor I'd never heard of: Jessica Little Fu.  Let me tell you: um, you should pay attention to this pastry chef.

Jessica Little Fu is a pastry chef and baking instructor, and hails from a background working at the Michelin starred restaurants State Bird Provisions and The Progress (and later, Stonehill Matcha).  She now sells at popups, and special orders from her website.  I know little else about her, besides that, well, she's crazy talented.  

"Today, I can be found at occasional pop ups around the bay area, working on passion projects and teaching what I have learned to baking enthusiasts. My pastries showcase California seasonal produce and often have a touch of Chinese pastry nostalgia."

She's sorta low profile, just doing her thing it seems.  Her work features a lot of Asian flavor profiles, but modern unique creations, with high level of mastery of technique.  She incorporates a lot creams, fruits, cakes, and flavored whipped creams.  Mmm, all things I love.

Our event had 6 items: 1 sheet cake, 2 types of pie, 2 kinds of panna cotta, and one individual sized cake/mousse.  I read through the menu with my eyes getting wider and wider.  I wanted them all.  As a first pass, I selected my top two choices, but when it was clear that there was plenty, and that most people were loading up platters and taking some home, I returned to get more.  In the end, I had 5 of the 6 items, and all were ... flawless?  To say I was impressed is an understatement.

Black Sesame Banana Cream Pie.

"A pie filled with layers of silky black sesame mousseline, malted milk sweet cream and bananas encased in a flaky pie crust with a thin layer of milk chocolate."

The one I went straight for, my first pick to try, was the black sesame banana cream pie.  I love banana cream pie.  I adore black sesame.  This sounded, well, perfect.  I loved that it came pre-sliced into 8 very large slices.  I also loved that other event attendees didn't seem inclined to try to cut them in pieces, so taking a full slice seemed appropriate.

Black Sesame Banana Cream Pie: Close up.

"Flaky butter pie shell brushed with milk chocolate and filled with black sesame mousseline, bananas and malted milk whipped cream."

The pie was a stunning 3 layers of bananas and black sesame mousseline, plus a very generous layer of the malted milk whipped cream, all sprinkled with some black sesame seeds.  I was impressed with the structural integrity as I took a slice.

The crust was everything I want in a crust: super crispy, super flaky, high butter, fantastic.  I suspect the light layer of milk chocolate lining it helped keep it crisp against the filling.  The crust alone had me impressed.

But this pie kept on giving.  It was loaded with bananas, fresh, ripe, not too mushy.  Very strong banana focus, as you can see visually as well.  The bananas were enrobed in the glorious black sesame mousseline.  It was creamy, rich, and sophisticatedly nutty.  As someone who grew up eating a lot of bananas with peanut butter as a snack, this immediately worked for me, and just felt like a grown up spin on a flavor profile that sparked comfort and nostalgia.  And then, the very generous layer of whipped cream on top, which was not just any old whipped cream, but, malted milk whipped cream.  It had just that extra touch of depth and again, sophistication, that felt both familiar and a bit upscale all at once.

Put it all together and you have a very unique and complex spin on what is otherwise a fairly basic nostalgic comfort food pie (banana cream) and childhood snack (nut butter on bananas), melded together into a showstopper.  There is literally nothing I'd suggest be done differently with this, the flavors, textures, and technique just all were top notch.  4.5/5, tied for first place for me in favorites.

Passion Fruit Mochi Mousse Cake.

"Mochi, passion fruit mousse, strawberry sauce, whipped cream and vanilla chiffon."

My second pick when honing in on selecting just two to try to start was the mochi mousse cake.  It was certainly the most unique looking, and I was fascinated by what it might be like inside as well.  The mochi blanket embracing it was so soft and pliable, and really quite pleasant to eat, just a subtle rice taste.

Passion Fruit Mochi Mousse Cake: Inside.

And then, within.  The base was a very light vanilla chiffon.  It was an uninteresting component of the desert, and I'd prefer some other kind of base, but there was nothing wrong with it, and its plainness did offset the intensity of the other elements.

The majority of this was a stunner, a sensational passion fruit mousse.  It was fluffy and creamy, fruity and tropical, slightly sweet and slightly tart, and studded with sooo many passion fruit seeds for lots of crunch.  It never seemed too heavy nor too sweet, and had just the right level of intensity, all from real passionfruit, no fake taste to it.  I adored the mousse.

The whipped cream was a minor component on top, and was nice to balance the mousse a little, but the mousse was so good I barely felt it needed it.  The strawberry sauce turned out to be just that dot on top, none within, so it added a sweet additional fruity burst, but then was gone. 

Overall, such a unique item, and it did all work together well, but I almost think I would have enjoyed it more if it was just mochi filled with passion fruit mousse.  Still, I devoured it, and would get another in a heartbeat. Strong 4/5, the passion fruit mousse though was an easy 5/5.  My second favorite item.

Chestnut Oolong Cake.

"Three layers of vanilla chiffon, Phoenix Honey Orchid oolong tea pastry cream, chestnut whipped cream."

After securing my top two choices, I moved on to take a look at the large format cake.  The cake looked slightly more homemade than professional (obviously by a talented home baker, but it didn't scream out professional at first glance), and at first I thought this might be a different source than the other items.  But then I saw the description, and saw how it fit right in.

While the cake and oolong components, and the less polished look of it didn't quite draw me in, the mention of chestnut is all it took for me to slice off a small piece, to at least give it a try.

Chestnut Oolong Cake: Close up.

The cake had three very equal layers of chiffon, and what seemed to be the same filling (albeit studded with chestnuts) and frosting.  I had somewhat expected the inside to be the oolong tea pastry cream, and outside to be the chestnut whipped cream.

I often comment on how chiffon cake is my least favorite style of cake (I may adore Asian flavors and desserts from around the world, but, American style dense butter cake is still my preferred cake, chiffon, sponge, genoise ... eh).  However this was moist and light as air, and really did seem appropriate with the delicate flavors of the oolong pastry cream.  This was actually the first bite of anything I had (before the previous items), and I was immediately impressed.

Then, the pastry cream / whipped cream.  Light and fluffy.  There was a mild hint of tea that lingered on the finish, but it was very mild, as you'd expect from oolong.  The filling within the layers of cake was studded with little bits of chestnut.  At first I thought they were red bean actually, as the taste and size of the bits immediately connected in my brain as red bean, but actually, this was the chestnut.  It was more ... nutty? Legume-like? than I expected.  It was quite savory, and the pastry cream/whipped cream wasn't very sweetened either, so this really was not a sweet dessert.

Overall this was my least favorite of the items I tried, as I prefer things a bit sweeter, I prefer non-chiffon cake, and I'm not excited about oolong, but it was still a very good cake.  4/5 on execution really.

Hojicha Dulcey Cream Pie.

"Cocoa cookie crumb crust filled with hojicha dulcey chocolate cremeux and caramel whipped cream."

In my initial priority stack rank of items to try, I had this near the middle of the pack, after the cake.  I adore dulcey chocolate, but I'm not really a tea lover (I don't mind it, just, not my top choice of flavor to go for), and the cocoa cookie crumb crust seemed less interesting than the elements of the other desserts.  I still was curious to try it though, given how successful everything else was, so when there was still a bunch of slices of this left, I broke the mold of taking full slices and actually cut one in half, so I could just try it, but not take a full slice (which, totally mangled it, alas).

The cocoa cookie crust was actually pretty good.  Crispy, compressed, deep cocoa flavor, slightly bitter in a good way.  It was a nice thickness to really taste the cocoa, but not too thick to easily break through with a fork.  But as I expected, it just wasn't all that exciting to me on its own (but, I also hate Oreos, so, consider that fact).  When you combined it with the  caramel whipped cream on top though ... brilliant!  There was no denying the fact that it was caramel, so sweet, so intense.  I loved it, and it did indeed go well with that crust, in a way that elevated both elements when consumed together.  I would be happy with just this crust and topping as a pie!

But there was more.  The main body of the pie was actually the hojicha dulcey chocolate cremeux.  Oh, wow.  For all the lack of intensity in the oolong pastry cream in the cake, this one had in spades.  The tea flavor was strong, and really kept drawing me back in.  It was bitter but tempered by the dulcey which gave a hint of caramely sweetness (and of course, it was balanced out with the crust/whip as well if you ate it all together).  The consistency of it was remarkable too - soooo smooth.  It was quite thick, far thicker than the passion fruit mousse, the oolong pastry cream, or the black sesame mousseline, yet velvety smooth.  It really was exceptional, and I found myself wanting more and more of it.

I ended up liking this quite a bit, and would have easily consumed a full slice (perhaps saving half for the next day).  I actually preferred the crust/whip as one dessert, and this cremeux as its own thing, as I felt the flavors were allowed to shine a bit more that way, but, such a surprise hit for me.  Shockingly tied for first place. 4.5/5.

Elderflower Panna Cotta.

"St Germaine panna cotta with fresh berries and passion fruit."

And finally, the last item I grabbed, a panna cotta.  This may come as a surprise that it was the last thing on my priority list, given that my blog has a label dedicated to pudding AND one exclusively for panna cotta, and I do love it, but, I actually just thought it was the least likely to impress compared to the more elaborate items.  Plus, the St. Germaine didn't draw me in.

It came topped with a few berries (raspberries, blueberries) and fresh passionfruit.  

The panna cotta was, as you may have guessed by now, executed flawlessly.  Well set.  Thick.  Rich.  Smooth.  Fresh cream taste, mildly sweet.  The vibrant fruit on top, particularly the passion fruit, offset the slight plainness of the base panna cotta.  As for the St. Germaine, I'll admit I didn't taste it.  But it really was a fantastic panna cotta nonetheless.  If I had one note it is that I would have preferred some additional flavoring, be it the St. Germaine or something like buttermilk, but still, this was very, very good.

This really was textbook execution of panna cotta, you can tell the pastry chef is a master of her craft from this simple dish alone.  4/5.  My third pick, only because the others were more interesting, but, yeah, flawless.

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United Polaris Lounge, EWR

The week before I took a flight from Newark to San Francisco, United changed the branding of the flight to ... Polaris.  No longer just considered a "premium transcon", this was full fledged Polaris now.  Which yes, meant Polaris lounge access.  I was of course thrilled by the opportunity to check out the Newark Polaris lounge for the first time.

My visit was from about 11am until 12:30pm on a Saturday.  It was not busy at all.  

The space was tranquil, and seemed nice enough, however I found myself actually liking the food, and the natural light, more in the much smaller UA Club near Gate C74.

Setting

The lounge is large, and was not crowded at all when I visited.  It had shower suites that I didn't check out, and large, nice individual bathrooms.

So Empty.

There were many styles of seating, and sooo much of it was vacant.

So much space!

The lounge really was expansive, with many different sections.  It felt very open, but had considerably less natural light than the smaller UA Club at C74.

Dining Area.

There was a large dining area for those who choose to eat from the buffet.

Soft Seating.

And soft seating large individual armchairs.  Most seats had power outlets including USB.

Dining Room.

A signature feature of Polaris lounges, the main dining room.  It was also not busy at all.

Dining Room Menu.

The dining room menu sounded great, for both breakfast and lunch. I wished I was hungry for a real meal, as there were not one, but two dishes featuring asparagus, which I was really craving at the time, and all three desserts sounded great to me.  But alas, it wasn't a meal time for me, so I didn't partake in any of it.

Breakfast

I caught the tail end of breakfast when I arrived.  I saw basic breakfast scrambled eggs and sausage, but narrowed in fast on the sweet carb offering, gleeful to have the chance to try it before the lunch swapover.

Maple Baked French Toast Casserole.

I was excited to snag the maple baked french toast casserole, but it wasn't actually very good.  Extremely aggressively spiced, and very dry.  Fruit was mediocre, syrup was unlikely to be real maple syrup.  2/5.

Lunch

The lunch swapover took a while, with different elements brought out in strange order (e.g. the toppings for the crostini bar were there for a really long time before the actual bread to use as a base).  The lineup seemed decent enough, but I didn't actually really like anything I tried.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar had mixed greens or arugula for a base.  The mixed greens were brown at all the stems and didn't seem very fresh.  There were two pre-made, pre-dressed, additional salads.  I plucked some toppings out of them as the rest of the salad bar was so meager. 

Salad Toppings.

The salad toppings were a bit of an odd assortment.  Other than raw red onion, no fresh veggies.  Instead, there was marinated beets, roasted tomatoes, roasted edamame, and mushy mushy mushy asparagus (I had hope! I was craving asparagus! But wow, so mushy).  The pickled radishes were fine.  

Salad Toppings: seeds/cheese/dressing.

The remaining salad toppings were pretty uninspiring to me: some seeds, cheese, and dressing.

Shrimp Cocktail / Gazpacho.

Poached shrimp with cocktail sauce (and random marinated artichokes?), and shots of gazpacho came next.  If I was hungry, I would have tried the shrimp, but, I wasn't, and had been nibbling on other things, so random shrimp at questionable temperature didn't really seem worth trying.

Cheese / Charcuterie.

Interestingly there were only two types of cheese offered (compared to more extensive lineup in the UA Club), and no grapes, in the cheese & charcuterie section.  And no crackers?

Crostini Toppings.

An interesting offering is a build-your-own crostini bar, with several different kinds of spreads.  I didn't try the fig jam nor green olive tapenade, but I wanted to try the brie + chive spread ... and couldn't tell which that was, and which was lemon herb goat cheese spread as items are not individually labelled.  So I took a tiny bit of both, and sadly picked wrong to start, blegh, goat cheese!  The brie spread was fine though, not memorable.

Shrimp & Chicken.

The two main dishes were chicken or shrimp, neither of which I tried.

Carrots & Green Beans.

For a hot veggie, they had a dish that was mostly carrots, with a few token green beans.

Couscous & Rigatoni.

There was a base cous ous for a grain, and pasta dish of rigatoni with mushrooms, peas, and a creamy tomato sauce that I tried, but truly did not like (mushy, not very complex flavor).

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The "famous" chocolate chip cookies made an appearance in the buffet, presented in a bit more of a classy style than the UA Clubs where they are just laid out on a platter.  They were the thin crispy style everyone raves about.

I see why people like these cookies. They aren't really my style (I'm not a big cookie person anyway), but they were pleasantly crispy, had a nice buttery richness, and did seem a bit unique. The chocolate chips were regular size, and it wasn't loaded with them, but they were fine. I'm glad I tried this, and if I really wanted a sweet treat, I could imagine getting another.  3/5.

UA Club Cookie (Top) / Polaris Lounge Cookie (Bottom).

Interestingly, the ones here in the Polaris lounge were nearly twice the size (diameter) than the ones from the UA Club down the hall.   I didn't notice any real difference in taste despite the very different look.

Lemon Vanilla Budino.

I love all puddings (enough that my blog has a label for them on it after all!), so even though I'm not into lemon desserts, I still tried this.

It was way too lemon curd for me. Tangy in not a way I enjoy. Thick and gloopy. Just, not for me. And far too little whipped cream on top! No textural element like crumble or nuts. 1/5.

Berry Crumble Bar / Seasonal Berries / Golden Oat Streusel.

The dessert bar was slightly more inviting, but was also not enjoyable. It was extraordinarily dry. So dry. The base, the topping, all of it. Dry, dry, dry. 1/5.

Snacks

I'm a sucker for all snack mixes and candies, so I was happy to see the lounge did feature a few.

Snacks!

The Polaris lounge had far more snacks than the UA Clubs, with 5 offerings: yogurt covered cranberries, trail mix, wasabi peas, pineapple, and gummy bears.  I tried the yogurt cranberries, but wasn't really into them.  The rest were standard.

Below these were self serve soft drinks, basic Coke/Sprite/Ginger Ale.  No sparkling water.

Godiva Chocolates.

"GODIVA continues to reimagine chocolate with our NEW Gold Collection: the beating heart of our praline savoir-faire. Each piece in this iconic collection embodies Belgian craftsmanship. Enjoy delicate ganache, nutty pralines and smooth caramels.."

A relatively new (I think?) collaboration between Godiva and United meant there were self serve fancy chocolates, from the new Gold Collection, with little tongs to serve them that made it nearly impossible to pick them up without dropping.  I of course tried both and appreciated the relatively premium offering.

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Yoplait and Oui by Yoplait

Update Review, 2026

Whips

"Discover the reduced fat yogurt mousse snack that’s high in light and fluffy deliciousness with at least 1/3 less fat than our regular yogurt mousse. "

When I've liked Yoplait in the past, it has always been the Whips.  They are sometimes really hard to find.  

Key Lime Whips.

"Yoplait Whips! Key Lime Pie Flavored Reduced Fat Yogurt Mousse is a creamy key lime pie flavored with other natural flavor yogurt mousse with an incredibly light and airy texture. The balance of refreshing key lime pie taste and reduced fat recipe helps you satisfy sweet cravings without all of the guilt."

This really is decent.  Light and fluffy.  Sweet but not cloying.  Slight tanginess from the key lime flavor.  No artificial or bad aftertaste.  Add some fresh fruit and something crunchy, and it works as a nice healthy quasi-treat. 4/5.

Chocolate.

"Yoplait Whips! Chocolate Flavored Yogurt Mousse is so light and airy, your taste buds will be on cloud nine. This creamy, delicious naturally and artificially flavored chocolate yogurt mousse has a superbly light and fluffy texture with a smooth finish. The indulgent chocolatey taste is a great way to satisfy sweet cravings."

I really do like this.  It is light, fluffy, and basically a slightly tangy chocolate mousse.  If I add fruit + nibs/choc chips/nuts + whip I really don't mind it as a dessert, but its good for breakfast too when I'm in the sweet mood.  4/5.

Oui

Within the Oui range, there are 3 styles: fruit on the bottom, blended, and creamy.  I've never seen the creamy ones before, but they have some fascinating flavors like creamy mocha & chocolate or creamy raspberry & chocolate.  I'm not quite sure what is different about these compared to the blended line?

As I have mentioned in previous reviews (below), I've tried Oui by Yoplait yogurts before, and found them fine, but not something I'd seek out or purchase myself.  But I was recently staying at a hotel that had them at breakfast, and so, captive audience I was, I tried more flavors.

Oui Strawberry
(Fruit on the Bottom).

"Enjoy the moment with every spoonful of Oui by Yoplait French Style Strawberry Whole Milk Yogurt. Pleasure is at the heart of this French style yogurt. It begins with simple ingredients like whole milk and real strawberries, poured into individual glass pots and left to set for eight hours."

First up, strawberry, part of the fruit on the bottom lineup.

I really do like the experience of eating these yogurts from the glass jars.  It does feel more premium than plastic.  Plus, then I get a great little jar to repurpose!  The yogurt itself is about what I remembered: thick, rich, creamy, somewhere in-between tart and sweet, perhaps actually plain?  I like it, but I like other brands more, but this is better than most American yogurt, and I appreciate how thick it is, and how it isn't overly sweetened.  3.5/5 yogurt.

Vanilla.
(Blended)

"There's delight in every spoonful of Oui by Yoplait French Style Vanilla Whole Milk Yogurt. Pleasure is at the heart of this French style yogurt. It begins with simple ingredients like whole milk, live cultures and real vanilla extract, poured into individual glass pots and left to set for eight hours. "

I also tried the vanilla flavor, which is a blended flavor.  This one I didn't care for.  It was sweet, and vanilla flavored, in a kinda artificial way.  Just not the style of yogurt I enjoy.  I like tartness. 2/5.

Update review: I tried it again.  Yeah, nice creaminess, but this is a sweet vaguely vanilla yogurt, and that is not my thing at all.  Do not like.

Dairy Free Vanilla
(Blended).

"Meet the Oui that's dairy free with Oui by Yoplait Vanilla Dairy Free Yogurt Alternative. Just like traditional French yogurt, this recipe begins with simple ingredients like real vanilla extract and cane sugar, poured into individual glass pots. Instead of milk, Oui dairy free yogurt alternative is made from coconut for creaminess."

Yoplait also makes the Oui line available dairy free, with 4 flavors: vanilla, raspberry, strawberry, and mango.  All use a coconut milk base.  I tried the vanilla.

It was very coconut forward.  If you are in the mood for coconut, this delivers.  If you wanted just vanilla though, this is not it.  I found the taste slightly plastic-y, and really a bit of an unpleasant mouth feel that really coated my mouth (which is how I kinda often feel with coconut milk based products).  I suspect the mango flavor would be the best, as it would be like mango sticky rice sorta with the coconut cream sauce ... 

Anyway, this wasn't for me, but I think it was a fine very coconut yogurt. 2/5.

Update Review, 2022

I've tried Oui by Yoplait yogurts before, and found them ok, but not worth really getting again (as you saw in my original review).  I recently had the "opportunity" to try the brand again when I ordered a different yogurt on Door Dash, but, my Dasher decided to sub in Yoplait instead.  I use things like as a a impetus to try new things, and try not to be too annoyed ...

Pumpkin Caramel.

"Inspired by our traditional French recipe, Oui by Yoplait pumpkin caramel yogurt creates a moment of pure enjoyment in every spoonful."

Although this isn't what I ordered, I was actually fairly interested in what my Dasher has randomly picked for me.  Pumpkin and caramel?  I like those things!  Although I had to lol slightly as the "fruit on the bottom" labelling, as, well, caramel and pumpkin ... not fruits.

The yogurt itself was about as I remembered - nicely thick, slightly tart, not too thick.  Fairly decent full fat yogurt, for US based yogurt.

The "fruit on the bottom" however is where this got interesting.  I reached my spoon in to get a bit of it, and, WOW, that was sweet.  Yup, there was caramel in the base of my yogurt.  No denying that.  I didn't really taste any pumpkin, so no pumpkin pie vibes here, but, yes, caramel for sure.  I like caramel, I liked this caramel, but, my brain wasn't quite sure what to do with it in my breakfast yogurt.  I like sweets in the morning, but this was just ... not doing it for me.  I put it back in the fridge, and decided I'd try it later for a mid-afternoon snack perhaps.  In the "worst case", I could also just use the plain yogurt, and the caramel, separately.

I later enjoyed it with some fresh figs and granola.  I often do yogurt + figs + granola + honey, and in this case, the caramel just took the place of the honey I usually drizzle over, and made it a bit more decadent.  It was a lovely combination, and I'd do it again if I wound up with another of these randomly in my grocery order.

***+.

Original Review, 2021

If you have ever browsed the yogurt aisle at a grocery store in the US, you know that there is, um, *plenty* of selection.   The amount of real estate devoted to yogurt in many stores confuses me - do people really buy that much yogurt, and in such variety of flavors, styles, fat contents, etc?  It amazes me.  Perhaps that is just because I'm not exactly excited by yogurt, at least, not by most grocery store yogurt. Legit yogurt, real, rich, full fat, super creamy, luxe Greek yogurt?  Now that I like.  Some labne comes close too.  But in the US, grocery store yogurt is just ... ugh, not for me.  A slight exception for Noosa, although I have liked that less in recent years too.  I *loath* Chobani, I think it ruined Greek yogurt for this country, although I do sometimes like the mix-ins in their Flip products.  I think basically all Dannon yogurt tastes like fake sweetness.

When I travel outside the US though, I'm always stunned by the yogurt.  Particularly in Australia.  Much like the milk there, it is a higher fat percentage, and just dramatically tastier, creamier.

I still continue to try yogurt products, all the ones boasting to be full fat, richer, creamier.  It rarely pleases me though.  And sometimes, sometimes I try things just because they sound unique.  And almost dessert-like.  As someone who eats way too much dessert (as in, after every meal, every day), I do try to find some healthier options.

Yoplait

Which brings me to Yoplait.  Yoplait nominates the yogurt aisle, offering up just about every style of yogurt imaginable: original, light, lactose-free, greek ... unique limited edition collabs wtih other companies like Starburst or Gushers, kid-friendly small cups or squeezeable "Go-Gurt", smoothies, ones with fruit mix-ins, etc, etc.  Most do not interest me at all, although the curious part of me wonders about the ridiculous Gushers flavors.

One product line however called out ...

Whips!

"A light and fluffy yogurt mousse that melts in your mouth."

Yogurt mousse.  This sounded promising as a plausible dessert-like item?  Branded as Whips!  Yes, excitement is in the name.

Whips! are available in a slew of flavors, all dessert inspired: Key Lime Pie, Cherry Cheesecake, Sea Salt Caramel, etc, etc.  I had hope.

These are low fat yogurt, still pretty light items, all <200 calories each, 5 grams of fat or less, and not *that* much sugar.  5g protein.

I'll admit, I was impressed when I tried the first one.  The texture is incredibly fascinating.  It really, truly was light and fluffy.  Like air.  But it was yogurt.  It had tang.  Yogurt-air.  Crazy.  I quickly bought more varieties.

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Chocolate.

Does it surprise you that the first flavor I tried was the chocolate one?

This was the first chocolate yogurt I've ever had, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I was hoping it would be like a slightly tangy chocolate mousse, a chocolate pudding almost.

It certainly didn't trick me into thinking it was a real dessert.  The texture, amazing, and it was slightly chocolately, but it was also still clearly yogurt.  It tasted like yogurt.  I was still fascinated by it, and stirred in some cacao nibs, and enjoyed it, but, it wasn't a dessert.  They do suggest freezing it too, which I could imagine working well, like, well, frozen yogurt?

Cherry Cheesecake.

Cherry cheesecake was the second flavor I tried, going as dessert focused as I could.

I was again blown away by how light and fluffy it was.  Magic.  I have no idea how they do it.  It really was a mousse!

I expected to taste, um, cheesecake though, a cream cheese flavor, some tang, and some cherry of course.  It did have cherry puree in it, but I didn't taste much cherry flavor.  I didn't taste much at all.

Great texture, but tasted like ... nothing.  I passed it off to my niece. 

Orange Crème.

A number of flavors of the Whips! are "crèmes", including vanilla crème and coconut crème, but I wasn't ever able to find those.  I finally settled on the orange crème.

Like the others, the texture was awesome.  Light, fluffy, airy, remarkable really.  And this one finally delivered on the flavor department.  Orange, cream, and yogurt seem to go great together.

It reminded me of a Creamsicle.  Or a Orange Julius.  But, as a fluffy yogurt mousse.  I actually pulled it out for a lazy breakfast one day, and after taking a bite, decided that I'd save it for a dessert actually.  It was sweet, and, well, it was tasty.

My favorite that I tried, I'd love to get my hands on a few more flavors to see if I can find another winner.

Oui by Yoplait

Oui by Yoplait is an entirely separate line of products.  While they do have the Yoplait name on them in very fine print, they are marketed as Oui, and are, well, entirely different.

"A thick and creamy, subtly sweet, fresh tasting yogurt made with non-GMO ingredients and poured and set in its own glass pot."

Oui tries to appeal to an upscale yogurt eater, each Oui product comes in an individual glass jar.  They are priced accordingly.

"The French approach to living and eating revolves around pleasure. That’s how our holistic approach to French style yogurt was born. It starts with simple, non-GMO ingredients, poured and set in individual glass pots for eight hours. This creates a satisfyingly thick, subtly sweet, fresh tasting yogurt. And that creates a moment of pure enjoyment in every spoonful."

Oh, and they are *French* style of yogurt.  

Unlike the Yoplait yogurt line, or most brands of yogurt, they do not offer low-fat or non-fat varieties.  All are full fat.  They make a wide range of flavors, but, all just classic, full fat, yogurt (and a few non-dairy ones).

And then ... there are the desserts.  Legit desserts.  Not yogurt-pretending-to-be-dessert.  Real dessert.  Two product lines, Crème Desserts and Layered Desserts.  The former I've never managed to find, but when my local store got a few varieties of the new Layered Desserts, I immediately grabbed one. 

Yogurt

I did start with yogurt, offered in 15 varieties, mostly fruity ones, with the fruit layer on the bottom, and plain yogurt, although the raspberry and blackberry feature flavored yogurts, and they also make a honey flavor.  All full fat, french style.  Four dairy free options also exist, which I did not try.

Yogurt Pot.

The yogurts all come in the attractive glass jars, per the brand standards, with foil lids, and, the branded cursive "oui".

Lemon: Top.

"Inspired by our traditional French recipe and made with simple ingredients like whole milk and real fruit, our Lemon flavor has a deliciously thick texture and subtly sweet, fresh taste that offers the perfect balance of flavors."

Inside the lid is a french saying.  They really play up the French branding.

The yogurt itself is not flavored in the lemon variety, so I was able to try the pure, classic, French style yogurt.  Whole milk, cultures, and maybe a touch of sugar? That is all.  

It is good yogurt.  Quite thick, the style I like.  Rich, as you'd expect from whole milk.  Not particularly tangy, certainly not very sweet, I'm not sure if the yogurt itself is sweetened.

Definitely a good yogurt, if you like the thick, rich style, and want full fat.  It still does not compare to any of my favorite yogurts found internationally, but, it is quite good.

Lemon:Side View.

The lemon, like most of the fruity flavors, comes in the bottom, a thin layer to dig for and mix-in as you please.

Nothing artificial here, just lemon pulp, lemon puree, and sugar (ok, plus turmeric, for color). The jar formation does make it a bit hard to dig for, and try on its own, but I was pleased with what I found - not a lemon curd (I dislike!) but just a light, tart, lemon puree with a touch of texture. I liked it, but was glad to be able to mix in just a little as I pleased.

Black Cherry.

"Inspired by our traditional French recipe and made with simple ingredients like whole milk and real fruit, our Black Cherry flavor has a deliciously thick texture and subtly sweet, fresh taste that offers the perfect balance of flavors."

I have no idea why I picked black cherry.  it sounded good in some strange way.  But, um, i don't really like fruity yogurt?  I think I was expecting plain yogurt, and ... cherry pie in the bottom?  I don't know.

Anyway, the yogurt was thick, and rich, but ... fruity.  Most of the fruit was concentrated on the bottom, but there was still plenty of light cherry flavor to it all.

So, sadly, not my thing.

**+.

Layered Desserts

"Inspired by our authentic French recipe, Oui Layered Desserts are made with Crème Fraîche, which is traditionally used in French desserts and cooking. 

Each Oui Layered Dessert includes a rich crème fraiche base and a crispy graham cracker crust. Cherry Cheesecake and Caramel Cheesecake also include a subtly sweet topping. All you need is a spoon.

Enjoy a decadent dessert that transports you to your favorite restaurant from the comfort of your home. "

Layered Desserts are the newest product line, not made from yogurt at all.  Instead, the base is crème fraiche.  Available in only 3 flavors right now:  Cherry Cheesecake, Caramel Cheesecake and Key Lime Pie.

Layered Desserts: Packaging.

All come as two-packs, and yes, in glass jars like all Oui products.

They looked slightly fancy, I'll give them that.  The cursive definitely adds flair as well, heh.

Caramel Cheesecake.

"Caramel Cheesecake Oui Layered Desserts are made with a French-inspired crème fraiche base, crispy graham cracker crust and subtly sweet caramel topping. "

I opted for the caramel cheesecake, because I wanted the most decadent one, and the cherry topping actually just didn't look that great.

As promised, this was a layered dessert, the layers all quite clear.  The pot is fairly small though, which made getting to the base layer rather difficult.  I wanted to try each component separately first!

The easy layer to try first, clearly, was the top one: the caramel topping.  I was excited for it, as I do like caramel.  The consistency was great, smooth, not runny but not too thick, but ... I really disliked the flavor.  I'm not quite sure how they made a caramel not taste great to be honest.  But, it just wasn't ... good.  

I dug deeper, reaching the "cheesecake" layer, which turned out to be, literally, just créme fraîche.  Wait, what?  Yes, no real cheesecake element at all.  It wasn't blended with anything.  Just créme fraîche.  Now, I like créme fraîche, but ... it somehow wasn't really tasty either.  Sigh.

It took work to get to the base, but I was determined to get a nice big spoonful of it to evaluate.  Once I did, I was pleased.  I did like that base, which is amusing, as I always find graham cracker crusts on cheesecake "throwaway" elements, usually dry, cardboard-like, and uninteresting.  I get grumpy at cheesecake with graham cracker crusts usually, but this was gritty in a nice way, crispy, and sweetened, blended with molasses and honey for sweetness, coconut oil, peanut oil, and palm oil to make it more firm, and strangely, cocoa?  I didn't taste the cocoa.  It was actually quite good, not just compared to the other elements.

I hoped that getting spoonfuls with all the layers would help round it out, and make the elements I didn't care for somehow come together in harmony.  It didn't work.  I just ... didn't like it, except that base.

The little jar was also really quite a small serving, if I had liked it, it wouldn't really be nearly enough to satisfy me, but it is a 300 cal / 20g fat item, so having both of the twin pack in one sitting might not be the best idea for most.

Definitely not a winning product for me, and when I looked into the other layered desserts and discovered that they are exactly the same, I opted not to try any more.

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