Raspberry Ice Goodness

 It was the husband's birthday a couple of days ago, so he got his favourite dessert as a treat. And I get yet another thing to write about. Yes, optimizing my time is important. 

We dropped by his favourite cafe, Cafe 44, which I have spoken about in an earlier blog here here. So we sat and ordered this - hot raspberry ice cream. 

Such an irony of description, isn't it? Hot, boiled raspberry immersed in ice-cold ice cream and splattered with hot raspberry sauce. And don't forget, topped with whipped cream and a crisp, fresh wafer. 

It sounds deceptively simple, and presumably, it is. Cafe 44 serves it with three generous scoops of vanilla ice cream, and under all that delicious cold freshness is an equally generous serving of piping hot raspberries. 

The combined textures of piping hot, gooey raspberries with the firm coldness of the ice cream is an absolute treat for the palate. Imagine that coldness and pure heat all mashed up, almost exploding in your mouth, then slithering down your throat. 

It's sexy and almost harsh, at the same time. But delectable, through and through. 

Then, just for fun, add a dollop of whipped cream into the mix. The smoothness is both an expectation and a surprise - an expectation because, well, everyone knows the texture of whipped cream (right?) and a surprise because its blandness is much welcomed after the sweetness of the raspberries and vanilla ice cream. 

The wafer is freshly crisp. I adore crisp wafers in my ice creams. They're not overly sweet and a great buffer for all the thick sweetness in the boiled raspberries and raspberry sauce. 

This little addition makes a perfect buffer for the hot-cold dessert. A wonderful balance of hard-soft texture, sweet-bland flavours and hot-cold temperatures. 

A smorgasbord of opposites, all sitting pretty in an elevated glass bowl. 

Oh, yes.