Dear lovers of fall: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte returns today, on Tuesday, September 4. Thus marks our descent into fall, the race toward Halloween, then Thanksgiving and the race to Christmas. Let the holidays begin!
I'm a chocolate person. Mocha, through and through. Occasionally peppermint or raspberry - but never pumpkin. I don't even like the pumpkin pastries, even though I've tried all the free samples. It is just too dense and tastes too "vegetably" to be something I'd want to eat on a regular basis.
Anyway.
The real treat of the fall Starbucks campaign is .....
.... drum roll please ...
SALTED CARAMEL CAKE POPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes. A reliable barista source informed me of this a week ago - and I've been dying to try them. I *saw* them on Saturday night when the shipment arrived, but was not allowed to taste them - plus they were frozen. Not even my begging worked - "But I'll pay for them...."
Tonight, two baristas and I popped open a package and waited for them to thaw. By 9:15 p.m., we did the taste test.
First, a description:
Starbucks Salted Caramel Cake Pops are comprised thusly: Moist chocolate cake, with a chocolate candy coating. Then, there's another smear of white chocolate icing, with caramel drizzle and a sprinkle of caramel salt.
This is easily the most complex cake pop since Rocky Road, which I rarely see in Florida stores anymore.
The cake tastes more moist, closer to the raspberry cake pop - not so much as crumbly as the old Rocky Road or as dense as the white cake in the Tiramisu or Birthday Cake Pops.
The chocolate shell is harder, more crunchy. It is not as ... "slick" ... I guess as the previous cake pops. You don't feel your teeth sliding when you bite - there's almost a crunch, like when you bite into an ice cream bar.
There are issues. The second layer of white icing detaches quite easily if you want to "savor" the cake pop. Mine popped right off - and I couldn't resist the urge to chomp it. OMG. A pure blast of caramel salt and sugar!
The remaining cake pop - chocolate cake and chocolate icing - is pretty good in its own right.
I predict strong sales!
I liked the salted caramel cake pop too - though I just wanted to eat the icing with the caramel and salt and frosting-like topping. Wonderful! I reviewed it too on my blog! And pumpkin spice is best as a steamer!
ReplyDelete~Melody