Frozen yogurt became the start of the “create your own dessert” trend, wherein clients should move into shops, dispense hefty servings of cold stuff into tubs and top it with any toppings they preferred. Then the fashion slowly faded, as all of us realized they had as a substitute just down a pint of ice cream alternatively.
So whilst Memoz Dessert Cafe opened earlier this 12 months, promising customers the danger to build their personal dessert, it turned into truthful to be skeptical. But upon coming into the crimson-accented, 28-seat cafe, it turns into clear this is a miles specific revel in.
The brainchild of Seattle local Aaron Allina and his spouse, Julie, Memoz does not emit the homogenous atmosphere of apparently every other eatery promising a custom designed enjoy. Instead, the space has a captivating intimacy and, on our go to, become packed with households eagerly indulging in sweets or waiting patiently for their creations over a sport of Uno.
The customizations begin by way of choosing from a variety of cookies or pastries, lots of that are gluten-loose or vegan and took simplest mins to bake. From there, two tablespoons’ well worth of mix-ins are added from a list of over 40 alternatives that consist of mint chips, caramel bits, blue cheese, black pepper and sweet corn. Finally, you may finish off your customized concoction with Baked Alaska, ganache or flat icing at a further price.
It’s a amusing method. But getting it right takes a few experimenting. So we decided to whip up three peculiar combinations, to see if we should come across Portland’s subsequent tremendous dessert.
Dessert 1: The Tamale Boy from Bedrock
The first dessert started as a uncooked scoop of what was destined to come to be a peanut butter oat cookie. It become ferried down the counter to the next section of the operation, wherein blend-ins are decided on. These blanketed M&M’s, Fruity Pebbles, smoked almonds and Hot Tamale sweets which were rolled into the dough, forming a vibrant mass that made its way to the oven. After taking simplest minutes to bake, ice cream was brought to the toasted cookie and caramel drizzle made for the final touch, if only as it got here at no similarly fee.
The Fruity Pebbles had grown soft and chewy inside the oven’s heat, and the M&Ms dissolved to shape a sticky confection most of the ice cream. The Hot Tamales, though a contentious preference within the second, complemented the candy structure with the aid of adding the slightest trace of spice to each bite. Structurally, the smoked almonds gave the cookie a reassuring foundation that ensured it would not melt right into a soggy heap.
Dessert 2: Sarah Palin’s Chocolate Explosion
The second dessert became crafted with more foresight, combining M&Ms and peanut butter chips with brownie batter. Poured in a mould and located in the oven, it become then topped with Baked Alaska, Memoz’s maximum popular topping, if simplest because of its ‘Gram-worthy look publish-blowtorch.
Unlike the cookie before it, the brownie held its shape and proved to be densely wealthy with chocolate, just as our servers expected. A conventional dessert of the Gilded Age in its personal proper, the dollop of Baked Alaska was a dessert in itself. The brownie disappeared in a flash.
Dessert 3: The Ice Cream Uni-Corn
Our very last creation consisted of cinnamon-and-sugar pull-aside bread. Contained within the bread turned into a mixture of candy corn, black pepper, orange slices and peaches, and it became topped with vanilla ice cream from neighborhood Heartbreaker Neighborhood Kitchen and a coating of coarse sea salt. The mixture of orange slices and peaches made for a saccharine taste similarly matched by means of the corn and ice cream, at the same time as black pepper stood out as an fragrant characteristic. The ordinary union of flavors proved that, at Memoz, you can’t go incorrect irrespective of what you choose.
