Saturday, April 11, 2009

Special Easter Treat

Gelateria Cremona
Shop 5/151 Baroona Road, Paddington 4064



Sometimes, you have to stay 'stuff you!' to your diet plans and just go with the flow. Today, Charlie and I were already full to the brim with pizza (I was even more full because I managed to blank out mysteriously and chomp down 4 choc-chip hot cross buns on my own).

Ignoring the tummy panes and guilt about weight gain, we chose to get dessert. It was another rainy day so rather than order sit-down dessert items from a cafe or restaurant, I came up with the genius idea of buying a take home container of gelato and eating it in the comfort of our lounge room.





I wanted to go to Gelateria Cremona in Rosalie, firstly because it's close to us and secondly because I've only had ice-cream from there once before (pistachio flavored) and I wanted to try more.


The little gelato store was extremely busy, despite the rain and considering how late it was. We didn't mind the queue because we needed all the time we could get to decide on what to order. The 1/2 litre take home box was the smallest they had - I asked if we could have 3 flavors but the lady serving us apologized and explained that they could only fit 2 in the box. Bit odd, since the box is quite huge but they do specify on the menu that 1/2 liter is only meant for 2 flavors so I don't mind all that much. It just makes it that much harder when you're as indecisive as I am.

In the end, we went for flavors that we've never seen anywhere else: honeyed fig and ricotta and (I was pleasantly shocked to see) hot cross bun flavor!

We got our box and drove home, eager to try the gelato.

I should say that the pistachio one I had in the past was really good. There are some pistachio flavors that just taste fake and sweet, the one at Gelateria Cremona has a real pistachio taste. I'm a huge fan of pistachio... trust me. I was 'this close' to choosing it again but I opted for variety.

Well the new flavors were definitely not a let down. I have an issue with gelato sometimes tasting awesome but leaving an overly sweet after taste. No problems with that today.

Texture - perfect, smooth and very creamy
Flavor - awesome, unique

The hot cross bun flavor was just like a hot cross bun. It wasn't overpoweringly spicy or sweet - it was in fact, just right. There was the occasional raisin and change in texture that suggests maybe they incorporated real hot cross bun into the mixture (?!? no idea, I'm just hypothesizing).

Close-up of honeyed fig and ricotta gelato

I usually hate fig but the honeyed fig and ricotta sounded appealing to me and it turns out that the flavors were great. We couldn't detect the ricotta but the fig flavor was prominent. There was a bit of chewiness to the texture and plenty of fig seeds - sounds annoying but it was actually my favorite feature of this gelato! It's what Ben and Jerry refer to as 'mouth feel'.

I thought I would get sick of the flavors before the end but I didn't. Eating top notch gelato in front of the TV with a blanket draped over the couch is just the perfect way to spend a night in, especially when it's raining outside.


Gelateria Cremona is awesome - I want to go back and try all the flavors. It's great that they have regular classics and favourites and also new flavors that are seasonal and constantly changing. Apparently they make all their gelato from scratch, to which I say: great effort guys and keep up the good work!

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