Monday, June 15, 2015

La Pasticceria Italian Soft Nougat (Mascarpone) - Marshall's - Marlton, NJ

La Pasticceria Italian Soft Nougat (Mascarpone) - Marshall's - Marlton, NJ
Another weekend has come and gone, and another season of Game of Thrones has ended. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but the finale almost made me throw up. I've never had that kind of reaction to a television show, it's like every episode this season was a sucker-punch to the gut. I like dark and depressing story-lines, but this season? It was just too much for me.

To make a long story short, after that season finale, I deserved a treat.
The packaging is exactly the same as the one from my strawberry review, but it isn't as effective this time around. Without the fruit puree ribbons and dried fruit toppings, this stick of nougat is just various shades of off-white. It's not as appealing or interesting to photograph, but the flavor was too interesting to pass up. However, I don't think I would have given this flavor a second look if the strawberry hadn't caught my eye in the first place.



When I opened the package I could smell honey, vanilla and a hint of tangy cheese. The aroma doesn't immediately remind me of Mascarpone, but it's similar to a cream cheese frosting, so there's some obvious cheesiness in there somewhere. Overall it's very sweet and cake-frosting-like.



I sliced a few pieces off the slab and gave it a try. The little white chocolate chips on the top were super soft and melted in my mouth like a white chocolate ganache, but I don't think they were meant to be this soft and creamy. I'm pretty sure the lights in my photo set-up started making this stuff melt almost immediately. I liked the smooth and creamy texture from the melty chips, but I can't help but wonder if it's meant to have a different texture. Were these meant to be solid? Or are they supposed to melt this easily? Whatever the intended texture, I liked the smooth, sweet and creamy mouth-feel. (That sounded creepy, right?)

The chips on the top have a flavoring similar to the coating on the Rare Cheesecake Pocky I reviewed last summer. It's sweet with a slightly tangy cheesecake-like flavoring. Almost as if you had added a thick layer of cream-cheese frosting to a strip of nougat. Speaking of the nougat, it's light, fluffy, and filled with honey flavoring. The nuts added a nice crunchy texture to the smooth topping and fluffy confection, but the strongest flavor was the sugary sweet frosting-like topping.

I'm happy I bought it, but this flavor was too creamy and sweet for me. I liken it to a cream-filled doughnut. Whenever I go out to get doughnuts with my family it's their number one pick, but it's too much for me. I prefer jelly doughnuts because the sweet fruity filling still has a bit of brightness and tanginess to it that offsets the sweetness of the fried dough and sugar toppings. That's what this is to me. A decadently sweet cream-filled doughnut, but instead of dough, it's fluffy nougat. For me, the strawberry was the best. The berry puree added a tangy but fresh flavor to the sweet and sticky nougat, while this version just adds more creamy sweetness. I'm sure there are tons of cream-filled doughnut lovers out there who would love this nougat, but it just isn't for me. (I'll stick to strawberry.)
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3 comments:

  1. I love the Torrone mascarpone with almonds and topped with white chocolate chips! Where can i purchase in bulk? Why does Marshalls only store i can find it? And when they have it it's only one or two! San Antonio sweet tooth

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  2. Love all the flavor so! And they are gluten free!!

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