Sometimes Foodie: There's no use fighting it, it's PUMPKIN TIME

Pumpkin Cheesecake - Aldi $3.99

Pumpkin-pocalypse 2017 wasted no time taking over grocery store shelves. I was going to wait a little longer before dipping my toes into any pumpkin spiced products, but apparently stores have begun putting up Christmas displays?! It's insane how quickly stores cycle through holiday goods! There's no use fighting it, the seasonal limited edition product gods have spoken, it's pumpkin-time.

I won't be going full-force into the pumpkin product reviews like previous years where I did a new pumpkin product pretty much every day from now until Christmas (and sometimes beyond), because...well, I'm sick of pumpkin. (*collective, internet gasp*) I know, I know, a food blogger, sick of pumpkin? In the fall?! I used to live for this season, and I purchased every pumpkin product that came my way, but I've pumpkin'd myself out to the point where one full foodie-cycle through the year just isn't enough time for my taste-buds to recuperate. I over-pumpkin'd, and now these items that I was once so hype for, make me cringe a little. I'm sure with time I'll be back to my basic, pumpkin-loving, self, but for now, I am taking baby steps to get myself back into the fall-spirit.

Personally, my mind is still in summer mode. However, this was the last package of this particular flavor at Aldi, and it won't keep for very long, so my curiosity, practical nature, and frugality banded together to inform me that it's better to review it now than to let it slip through my reluctant fingers.

Enough rambling, let's eat some cheesecake!

I quickly want to touch on the product's design and it's packaging. Visually, it's nothing special. Just a triangle-shaped plastic package with a few stickers. The stickers are informative, and generic. This looks like it could have come from Trader Joe's, or a variety of grocery store bakeries. The thing that makes it special (to me) is the portioning. This is just 4 thin slices of cheesecake, and it's perfect.

Over the years I have bought a LOT of cheesecakes, cakes, pies, and desserts to review on the blog, but I am only one person. Try as I might, I just can't eat the whole thing myself, and if I try to spread it out over a few days, I eventually get sick of it and it spoils or gets freezer burn. I hate wasting food, so having the option of getting a portion of cheesecake is freaking awesome for me! My little household of three (four if you include Jack-Jack my little rescue Pomeranian) can knock this out with no problem! That is...if it's good.

The slices took a little bit of a beating before they made their way to the photobooth, but they're still looking (and smelling) pretty good!

Once freed from it's plastic prison, this pumpkin cheesecake smells like gingersnaps, creamcheese, and pumpkin pie filling. The aroma is more-so pumpkin pie than pumpkin cheesecake, but I've never been a huge cheesecake fan, so that's a plus in my book.

I scooped a fork-full into my mouth and you know what? It's good! Really good! The cheesecake portion is sweet and creamy, with a hint of tanginess, but it's much lighter than other seasonal cheesecakes I've had in the past. The crust tastes like it's been made with graham crackers and gingersnaps, and then we get the marbled swirls of pumpkin pie filling. All-in-all, this is a great grocery store cheesecake, and that's coming from someone who normally turns-up their nose at cheesecake when they see it on the menu. (I'm more of a pie or cobbler-girl.)

I gave some to my boyfriend and his daughter to try. My boyfriend and I really enjoyed this flavor, it was our favorite of the two cheesecakes we ate that night (Spoiler: there is another Aldi flavor being reviewed later this week), but his daughter was not a fan.

If you like pumpkin pie, and portion control, this is the cheesecake for you, and it's one of the best grocery store cheesecakes I've had in years. (Maybe because it was refrigerated, not frozen?)

On a Pumpkin Scale of 1-5 (5 being the most pumpkin-y) I’d give this a 3.5. It has a very authentic pumpkin pie flavoring to it that I really enjoyed, but if you get a slice without as many pumpkin pie swirls, it doesn't taste as pumpkin-y. Definitely recommend grabbing this before it disappears!