Frozen yogurt changed into the beginning of the “create your own dessert” trend, wherein clients ought to pass into stores, dispense hefty servings of cold stuff into tubs and pinnacle it with any toppings they desired. Then the fashion slowly dwindled, as every person found out they had alternatively simply down a pint of ice cream rather.
So while Memoz Dessert Cafe opened in advance this year, promising clients the chance to construct their personal dessert, it turned into fair to be skeptical. But upon getting into the pink-accented, 28-seat cafe, it will become clear that it is a mile distinct experience.
The brainchild of Seattle local Aaron Allina and his wife, Julie, Memoz would not emit the homogenous ambiance of reputedly each other eatery promising a customized experience. Instead, space has a fascinating intimacy and, on our visit, becomes full of families eagerly indulging in chocolates or ready patiently for their creations over a game of Uno.
The customizations start using choosing from various cookies or pastries, lots of which can be gluten-unfastened or vegan and took the most effective minutes to bake. From there, two tablespoons’ worth of blend-ins is introduced from a list of over 40 alternatives that encompass 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 an additional rate. It’s an amusing manner. But getting it right takes some experimenting. So we decided to whip up three atypical combinations to see if we ought to come across Portland’s subsequent top-notch dessert.
Dessert 1: The Tamale Boy from Bedrock
The first dessert began as an uncooked scoop of what was destined to end up a peanut butter oat cookie. It becomes ferried down the counter to the next section of the operation, in which mix-ins are selected. These included M & M&M’s, Fruity Pebbles, smoked almonds, and Hot Tamale sweets, rolled into the dough, forming a vibrant mass that made its way to the oven. After taking only mins to bake, ice cream changed into added to the toasted cookie and caramel drizzle made for the final touch, if simplest as it came at no additional price.
The Fruity Pebbles had grown smooth and chewy in the oven’s heat, and the M&Ms dissolved to form a sticky confection the various ice cream. Though a contentious preference within the second, the Hot Tamales complemented the candy structure by including the slightest hint of spice to each chunk. Structurally, the smoked almonds gave the cookie a reassuring foundation that would not soften into a soggy heap.
Dessert 2: Sarah Palin’s Chocolate Explosion
The 2nd dessert changed into crafted with extra foresight, combining M&Ms and peanut butter chips with brownie batter. Poured in mildew and located in the oven, it became then crowned with Baked Alaska, Memoz’s maximum popular topping, if handiest because of its ‘Gram-worthy look submit-blowtorch. Unlike the cookie earlier than it, the brownie held its form and proved to be densely rich with chocolate, simply as our servers expected. A traditional dessert of the Gilded Age in its own properBaked Alaska dollopka became a dessert in itself. The brownie disappeared in a flash.
Dessert 3: The Ice Cream Uni-Corn
Our final introduction consisted of cinnamon-and-sugar pull-aside bread. The bread became a combination of sweet corn, black pepper, orange slices, and peaches. It was crowned with vanilla ice cream from neighborhood Heartbreaker Neighborhood Kitchen and coarse sea salt coating. The mixture of orange slices and peaches made for a saccharine flavor equally matched with the aid of the corn and ice cream, while black pepper stood out as an aromatic characteristic. The peculiar union of flavors proved that, at Memoz, you could not move wrong no matter what you pick.
