As you know, Mr. Gourmet has a major sweet tooth.
So when I heard that there would be an Ice Cream Festival town... I just knew that I had to go!
This Ice Cream Festival was held in a large hall (which is usually a farmer's market), where countless cafès, ice cream shops, bakeries and food trucks had little stands to offer their specialities.
And it wasn't only ice cream - there was a variety from all kinds of different desserts, baked goods and sweets!
As you can see, the location was quite big but it was still very crowded.
The walls were decorated with bunting, ice-cream cutouts, and all other kinds of pink decoration.
The first thing that caught my attention was the "Crunchy Banana Roll with Mango Sorbet".
I like fried banana which is often a dessert at Asian restaurants, but this looked even better:
It was like "Banana Sushi" - a piece of banana wrapped with sweet sticky rice, and then coated with batter and coconut flakes.
The whole banana roll then gets deep-fried - and it's so perfectly crunchy from the outside!
This was way better than any other fried banana, simply because the coconut flakes give the crunch a whole other dimension.
And let me tell you, this mango sorbet was out of this world! The flavour was so fruity and didn't taste artificial at all!
And when you take a bite of the hot crunchy banana and combine it with the cool mango ice cream.. it's a delight!
Next up: a cookie ice cream sandwich.
Now you already know that I love ice cream sandwiches, but these were special: the cookies were baked freshly, I can confirm that because they even had a little oven in their food truck.
The cookies were very soft and chewy, and had a texture that was almost closer to a muffin than to a cookie!
My choice was a chocolate cookie with almond-pistachio ice cream and sprinkles.. and although it wasn't easy to eat, the combination with the soft cookie and sweet ice cream was so worth it!
When I was strolling past the different food stands, I stumbled upon this one saying "Japanese Crepes".
"Japanese Crepes?", I thought. What's so special about these kinds of crepes?
I didn't know what it was - but all I knew is that I had to try it!
So I ordered a Japanese Crepe with peaches, blueberries, cream and CHEESECAKE!
The fresh fruits mixed in with the cream and cheesecake pieces, covered in soft, sweet dough.. it was a perfectly delicious mix!
Now what makes Japanese Crepes special?
They are thinner, the dough is lighter and then the crepe is rolled into a cylindrical shape which you then eat just like that.
On the left you can see the Japanese Crepe stand where I got mine, and on the right you can see how Japanese Crepes usually look.
Have you ever tried shaved ice?
Shaved Ice is something I had often heard of, but never got to try - so when I saw this stand offering shaved ice I absolutely had to get one (although I was already quite stuffed!)
The ice cream is shaved into little flakes that almost look like snow. It comes in different flavours like raspberry, cherry, mango, lemon, chocolate, caramel, hazelnut, and so many more!
I thought something fruity would suit this kind of consistency best, so I went for the mango shaved ice cream.
The taste was incredible realistic, very fruity and delicious and not artifical at all.
But the most curious thing about this ice cream was the texture!
First, it was like putting a spoonful of snow in your mouth - but then, all the little flakes lumped together and it formed the strangest kind of consistency in my mouth - a little bit more sturdy than sorbet. And that's also when the flavour really kicked in.
I definitely recommend trying out shaved ice cream if you haven't yet, it's a very unique taste and experience!
I've saved the best for last - have you ever heard of rolled ice cream?
Rolled ice cream is a new trend that emerged in Asia.
Liquid condensed milk and cream are combined with ingredients like oreo cookies. The liquid mass is then spread on an ice cold plate, where it begins to freeze.
Then, it gets spread thinly, and afterwards scraped into rolls of ice cream which you then eat!
What I got was black rolled ice cream with oreo cookies, active charcoal and strawberry.
As if the rolled ice cream itself wasn't fancy enough, the active charcoal in it definitely made me want to try it!
I'm a big lover of oreos and this ice cream really tasted like oreos, dipped in milk, and then frozen.
And actually, you couldn't taste the charcoal at all.
It was absolutely delicious, especially in combination with the fresh strawberries!
I had the best time at this Ice Cream Festival and although I went home quite stuffed, I absolutely enjoyed trying out all these different desserts and unique types of ice cream.
Which one of these dishes would you like to try?
© Sirwinchester