We've been on the hunt for Talenti's Pumpkin Pie for weeks and after we were tipped off that a pint had been spotted at The Fresh Market near our headquarters we headed that way. Quickly scanning the freezer section, we were disappointed to find an empty row above the limited edition tag where our sought after gelato had once been stacked. Ironically enough though, we walked out with a product boasting the same name. The Fresh Market had made their own version of one of our favorite themes for ice cream. Their version of Pumpkin Pie is comprised of pumpkin ice cream, spices & pie crust pieces.
Plenty of pumpkin pie ice creams have offered a pumpkin base with pie crust, but most are bland and fall short of living up to a real slice. The first layer of The Fresh Market's attempt looked promising with plenty of pie crust pieces pushing through the top. Our first bite contained just the pumpkin base, but the spices were what sat this foundation apart from others. While most pumpkin ice creams we've encountered are only mildly flavored, The Fresh Market shoves as much cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice as they can to really ramp up the intensity. As far as taste is concerned, this is one of the better bases we've seen.
The consistency of their Pumpkin Pie flavor, especially given that it contains only 160 calories per serving, is better than we anticipated as well. In addition, the rather short ingredient list suggests that this limited edition flavor isn't flooded with preservatives and stabilizers either. The plentiful amount of pie crust pieces make their way into nearly every bite and effectively completes the pumpkin pie theme. The sweet flavor and crunchy texture pairs perfectly with the heavily spiced ice cream. While we didn't find what we came for, we still walked out with ice cream worthy of our coveted grade A.
Where I Found It: The Fresh Market
Grade: A
