I’ve been on a peanut butter and chocolate kick lately, and I felt in order to cover my bases I should give Talenti’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup a try. They describe the flavor by saying “We blend our Belgium milk chocolate gelato with a rich swirl of creamy, organic peanut butter. Then, we add all-natural mini chocolate peanut butter cups for our take on a flavor everyone loves.” While I haven’t sampled much Talenti, their eloquent description ramps up my anticipation. I untwist the top and see what’s in store.
Well, there’s no peanut butter swirl or mini cups present on first glance. I table my mild disappointment and go for the light colored Belgian chocolate base. The base is easily scoopable and unbelievable smooth as expected. Unfortunately, the chocolate flavor is rather dull. It’s only mildly sweet and almost imparts more of a butter flavor than chocolate. Still, the milk chocolate flavor is there and I push on to find the much anticipated mix-ins.
A quarter of the way through the pint and the tiny peanut butter cups finally show themselves. While much later than expected, the initial layer is laden with them so I snag a few. The cups are of the high quality nature that one would expect in a Talenti pint. The chocolate and peanut butter filling are overly creamy and blend together to provide a singular flavor profile. I’m not overly impressed with them, but given my preference towards a less natural cup, such as Reese’s, this was expected. Regardless, the textural crunch of the cups combos well with the buttery base providing the contrast one looks for.
This is typically where I post another picture about halfway through the pint, highlighting the crazy amount of additions and the highly anticipated last mix-in I’ve waited to talk about. Unfortunately, neither of these things was achieved in this pint. The mix-ins were so scant I was actually physically unable to find a shot that would show any more than the mute brown base and a few mini cups. I counted 3 “chunks” of peanut butter in the whole thing, and I use the term “chunks” loosely as they were maybe the size of a quarter both in diameter and thickness. The amount of mini cups in the ladder half of the pint never matches that of the initial scattering of them. Having seen older reviews of this flavor I was expecting so much more. In fact, I was so disappointed I tabled this review to run out and buy another pint the next day from a different store. Regrettably, the exact same results were produced. This may be the saddest ice cream has ever made me. Given the quality of the product, I certainly can’t give Talenti a terrible grade, but I fear that the amazing pint this once seemed to be is no more.
Where Derek Found It: Giant Food
Derek's Grade: C