I have a friend who has a habit of asking every new acquaintance she meets, “What’s your thing?” I would have to say, my thing is food. But perhaps, having known her long enough that “food” would be too predictable an answer; I would probably say, my thing is peanut butter.
Yes, peanut butter. That dense, rich texture that’s both sticky and smooth at the same time; that lingering taste at the roof of the mouth that is reminiscent of its complex flavours; that intensity that borders on both sweet and savoury depending on its mood and setting.
Peanut butter snow pie
It is that near-obsession for peanut butter which makes dive into Gecko Gastrobar’s peanut butter snow pie with outright recklessness. The predictable vanilla ice cream and sweetened condensed milk steal no attention from the peanut butter crumble base that’s made in-house with Gecko’s own recipe. I can only aptly describe the flavour and texture as exactly like Reese’s peanut butter cups (if you’ve never tried any before, you don’t know what you’re missing) except less greasy. Decadent doesn’t even begin to describe this dessert.
Guinness ice cream
McCallan 12-year single malt whiskey ice cream
For evenings when a sugar overload just won’t cut it, alcoholic ice cream does carry a certain charm. Made in-house, the Guinness and the McCallan 12-year single malt whiskey incarnations of ice cream each delivers a duo of sins in a single serving. The Guinness ice cream is as refreshing and roasty as the original drink itself, with that same slight bitter aftertaste that’s contra-intuitively delightful. It’s texture is befittingly like a sorbet, yet somehow it’s subtle complexity doesn’t seem at all out of place.
The rich smoothness that one would expect from a fine single malt such as the McCallan renders well in the ice cream version of this whiskey. While it’s colours are masked deceivingly well in this form, its flavours are not as bashful.
Alcohol rarely fails to delight, especially when sugar join in the fun; but for me… perhaps only me… my thing will always be peanut butter.
