REVIEW: Halo Top Fruit Sorbets

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Halo Top Fruit Sorbet PInts

What are Halo Top Fruit Sorbets?

It’s the brand’s first foray into fruit sorbet pints. They’re made from real fruit and fruit juice and have at least 50 percent less sugar than sorbet from leading brands. There are three flavors — Mango, Strawberry, and Raspberry.

How are they?

They’re what I expected from Halo Top fruit sorbets. The flavors are good, their textures are hard to distinguish from other sorbets if they’re allowed to temper a bit, there’s something a little off about them in the aftertaste, and they have colon-pleasing amounts of fiber.

Halo Top Mango Fruit Sorbet

Mango is delightful and my favorite of the bunch. If a friend did a secret Folgers coffee-like switch of Häagen-Dazs’ Mango Sorbet with this Halo Top one, I’d probably not realize it, and I should probably be wary of this “friend.” Like all the varieties, it uses fruit puree, but this one was the closest to tasting like I’ve taken a bite of the fruit.

Halo Top Strawberry Fruit Sorbet

When I stuffed a spoonful of the strawberry one in my mouth, I instantly thought of strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups or Fruit by the Foot. I enjoyed the flavor, but I find it odd that it tastes like two kids’ treats that don’t have actual strawberries listed in their ingredients.

Halo Top Raspberry Fruit Sorbet

Finally, we have the raspberry one, which doesn’t remind me of another sorbet brand or a sugary treat beloved by middle school children that I have to unravel. Nevertheless, I did like this flavor. It’s a bit tart with a raspberry hit that reminds me of something I’ve had from Jamba Juice. I enjoyed it as much as the strawberry one, which is a little surprising because strawberries are well ahead of raspberries on my internal fruit rankings board.

All three have less than half the sugar of other sorbets in the freezer aisle. For example, a 2/3 cup serving of Häagen-Dazs Mango Sorbet has 44 grams of sugar, while the same serving of Halo Top’s has 17 grams. A combination of sugar and stevia allows that significant drop. While it doesn’t affect the initial flavors that hit my taste buds, the stevia might be the cause of the aftertaste oddness.

Anything else you need to know?

Halo Top Fruit Sorbet Soften

As with Halo Top ice cream pints, the recommendation is to leave it out for a couple of minutes to soften. It does make a difference, so I will create a catchy slogan off the top of my head. “Want your Halo Top with the right texture? Wait a few minutes to dig into your treasure.” Yup, that is the best I can come up with. Totally not a mouthful.

Also, these have no protein, so no gains!

Oh, “Remember to temper!” That’s much better!

Conclusion:

Halo Top Fruit Sorbets are off to a good start, and I’d like to use this space to request future flavors — lychee and pineapple.

DISCLOSURE: I received free product samples from Halo Top. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Received from Halo Top
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Mango), 7 out of 10 (Strawberry), 7 out of 10 (Raspberry)
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup) Mango – 100 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 10 grams of fiber, 17 grams of sugar (12 grams of added sugar), 3 grams of sugar alcohol, and 0 grams of protein. Strawberry – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 30 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar (13 grams of added sugar), 4 grams of sugar alcohol, and 0 grams of protein. Raspberry – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fiber, 15 grams of sugar (12 grams of added sugar), 2 grams of sugar alcohol, and 0 grams of protein.

SPOTTED: Elote/Mexican Street Corn Pringles

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Elote Mexican Street Corn Pringles

Update: We tried it! Click here to read our review.

Mexican street corn seems to be this year’s hottest flavor, probably thanks to the popularity of last year’s Mexican Street Corn Cheetos. I wouldn’t be surprised if Van Leeuwen offers a Mexican street corn-flavored ice cream. According to the Kellogg’s website, these Pringles are available only at participating retailers that include Meijer, HEB, SEG, Hy-Vee, and ShopRite. (Spotted by Robbie at H-E-B.)

SPOTTED: Limited Edition Banana Caramel Cheerios Cereal

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Limited Edition Banana Caramel Cheerios Cereal

Seeing this makes me wonder if there’s been a caramel apple Cheerios. Let’s go find out. Let me go to Bing. Type “caramel apple Cheerios.” And…nope. Well, I guess that’s something to look forward to. (Spotted by Lauren at Kroger.)

REVIEW: Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat

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Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat Wrapper

Whenever Kit Kat releases a new flavor, I think of someone who once asked me why consumers get so excited about “stuff that tastes like other stuff.”

Obviously, this person is not our friend, but I explained there are several reasons:

  • Candy is fun. The more varieties, the better.
  • Novelty breaks up the drudgery of everyday existence.
  • There is an artful and glorious alchemy involved in combining two perfect substances into one.
  • I don’t need a reason. Mind your business.

In the case of the Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat, all of the above apply. However, reason #3 is particularly apt because Blueberry Muffin Kit Kats are a beautiful representation of the bakery staple in candy bar form.

Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat Fingers

This limited edition bar is an earthy lavender-colored confection. (In real life, it looks a lot less sludgy gray than my best efforts at photography produced.) The wrapper describes the bar as “naturally and artificially flavored crisp wafers in blueberry muffin flavored creme.”

What makes a “blueberry muffin flavored creme?” This Kit Kat’s creme combines the flavors of blueberry and buttery cake batter, with strong undertones of brown sugar and warm cinnamon like you’d find in a crumble topping. I wasn’t expecting a touch of cinnamon, but that detail was exactly what my soul and taste buds wanted. The creme tastes delicious and complex, even if the sweetness is more reminiscent of cake than muffin. Because muffins let us brazenly blur the line between bread and cake at breakfast, this feels like a minor complaint.

Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat Wafers

What’s really cool is that the distribution of the realistic blueberry flavor is a little uneven, resulting in occasional strong pops of blueberry goodness. In one or two morsels alone, the Kit Kat recreated the experience of finding those especially juicy blueberries in a bite of the baked good. As I ate, I felt like Violet Beauregarde in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — before the severe physical and emotional damage.

Flecks of graham embedded in the creme support the wafers’ crisp texture. It is difficult to isolate their flavor, but they may contribute some of that crumble-like toastiness.

Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat Graphic

As fans of “stuff that tastes like other stuff” know, products can sometimes promise big flavors and deliver ho-hum results. (Public service announcement: lemon flavoring alone does not make something like lemon meringue pie, and it never will.) Happily, the Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat is not just blueberry flavoring dressed in a muffin’s wrapper. While Kit Kat reliably concocts delicious limited editions, the Blueberry Muffin variety is special for its inventiveness and complexity of flavor.

Because I would rank it within my top three Kit Kat flavors and because I can’t think of a reason not to, I am rating the Blueberry Muffin Kit Kat a rare 10 out of 10.

Purchased Price: 98 cents
Size: 1.5 oz bar (42 g)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 220 calories, 12 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 35 milligrams of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Jeni’s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream

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Jeni s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream Pint

What is Jeni’s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream?

Ever wanted to be able to sneeze while eating a jelly donut without spraying your countertop with powdered sugar? Jeni’s has endeavored to create an allergy season compatible version of the treat with vanilla custard, raspberry jelly, and a brown sugar donut crumble.

How is it?

Jeni s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream Top

From how easily my ice cream scoop glided through the top of the pint, it was clear this was going to have the same heavenly consistency as other Jeni’s ice creams I’ve tried. The custard was thick, creamy, and smooth with a slight chewiness, and there were big pockets of both jam and crumble to keep the texture interesting.

Despite the high quality of the ice cream and mix-ins, I was disappointed with how little it tasted like a powdered jelly donut. Each bite had an unfitting cream cheese-like tang, which I suspect resulted from using a salted custard but may have been from a natural flavor added to mimic the taste of powdered sugar. There was also a noticeable nutmeg flavor that, when combined with the sweet and egg yolky custard, made the ice cream taste like eggnog.

Jeni s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream Scoop

The donut crumble wasn’t quite right either. As far as I know, jelly donuts are usually yeast donuts, but the flavor and texture of the crumble led me to believe more inspiration was taken from cake donuts. The nutmeg flavor throughout strengthened that assumption since I associate the spice with plain cake donuts.

Jelly was spot on, though. So spot on that I wished there was even more of it since it was the only thing making the ice cream taste like a jelly donut.

Anything else you need to know?

This is premium ice cream and priced accordingly. If this flavor doesn’t sound 100% up your alley, it might be a bit too expensive to take a chance on. However, Jeni’s ice cream is so high quality and delicious that it truly is worth splurging on from time to time (I’m particularly fond of its buttermilk frozen yogurts).

Conclusion:

Jeni s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream Copy

I’ve still given Jeni’s Powdered Jelly Donut Ice Cream a decent rating because it’s a tasty ice cream that I’ll have no problem finishing. I don’t know that anyone could be unhappy with the flavors in this pint if they tried it name unknown. But, as a powdered jelly donut ice cream, it was unsuccessful. Seems my countertops (and floor, and pants, and…) will continue to live with powdered sugar on them.

Purchased Price: $8.99
Size: One pint (473 mL)
Purchased at: Whole Foods
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 Cup / 123g) 310 calories, 17 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 80 mg of cholesterol, 200 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of total carbohydrates, 33 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protein.

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