Talenti White Chocolate Raspberry Gelato Review

[By Nick, discontinued end of 2012] Out of all the products I have ordered from Ice Cream Source, this has to easily be the flavor I was the most excited to try. Be it the promise of white chocolate gelato, the minimal information I could find on it online or just my previous experiences with Talenti, this flavor is just calling to me. Heck, White Chocolate Raspberry isn’t even listed on Talenti’s website and after I made my purchase from Ice Cream Source, it disappeared from their inventory as well.

Now I was a bit worried that this flavor had been discontinued and I got an expired pint (it has happened before) but much to my surprise, this one doesn’t expire until the end of this year. I was able to find another website that carries this flavor so maybe it’s just in limited supply. We learned from Perry’s that making a white chocolate flavor can get very pricy so that could be the reason it’s so hard to find. Whatever the case may be, I feel like I possess the Big Foot of frozen desserts.

Finding information on this flavor is pretty hard but I was able to find a description of this gelato. It is  “White chocolate gelato with ripples of fresh crushed raspberries and a hint of cinnamon.”  White chocolate and raspberries is a classic combination but the addition of cinnamon has me a little confused. I can’t say I’ve ever had cinnamon combined with either of those two ingredients by themselves, let alone with them combined. I’m all for more cinnamon in frozen desserts though. I’m anxious to see how this will all work together.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Talenti’s packaging. The clear container prominently shows the ribbons of raspberry as well as the white chocolate gelato with little specks of cinnamon strewn throughout.

Untwisting the lid just further amplified that visual.

Digging in, I almost forgot how smooth Talenti is. Hmm, this flavor is very interesting to say the least. The cinnamon is the dominant flavor from the start. The slowly transitions into the buttery white chocolate flavor but then out of nowhere it switches back to the cinnamon. It’s as if the two flavors are competing against one another and the cinnamon ends up winning. Now this isn’t a “spicy” cinnamon as much as it is on the sweet side. The combination of the sweet cinnamon and the buttery white chocolate is delicious, almost even addictive.

There is one problem here and that is the raspberry swirls. They do add a bit of tartness but the flavor is pretty mute. When you do get some taste to come through, it just doesn’t seem to fit with the base. I like my raspberries on the sweet side and these are as Dubba would say “woodsy”. The flavor is just out of place when mixed with the cinnamon and white chocolate flavors.  Also, the swirls detract from the smooth gelato consistency because they’re a bit icy as fruit in ice cream tend to be. I kind of wish they weren’t there but their presence doesn’t hinder how much I really like the bases flavor. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of the combination of cinnamon and white chocolate before to be honest. They just seem to work together very nicely. Screw that white chocolate cookies & cream ice cream I want to make, let’s just make it a white chocolate biscoff cookies and cream ice cream. Yeah I like that idea a lot more.

Verdict?  Cinnamon and white chocolate is a surprisingly good combo but the raspberry swirls just don’t fit in.
Buy Again?  If I could find it, I would consider picking it up again