Sunday, February 10, 2013

Pop-Tarts Frosted Pumpkin Pie


Pop-Tarts adds to their autumn/winter seasonals with Pumpkin Pie.  This variety has been issued for a year or two now and it's worth picking up when you see it.

When you open the plastic, there's an immediate aroma of canned pumpkin.  Very nice.  The frosting is speckled with familiar autumn colors.

After a bite or two, flavors that you fully expect begin to come through.  Pumpkin hits you first, then brown sugar, with perhaps a bit of vanilla, nutmeg and allspice following faintly behind.  The sweetness is barely there, just enough to cover any bitterness from the spices.  The maltiness from the pumpkin and the restrained sweetness make for an almost savory experience.

Toasting the pastries brings out more sweetness than before, but still lower than what you would expect from Pop-Tarts.  The spices also manage to be more pronounced when warmed.  It's a different experience when warmed versus cold, but it's hard for me to recommend one over the other.

I usually eat my Pop-Tarts with a cup of unsweetened tea or coffee nearby so that I can counter each saccharine bite with a bitter counterpoint.  This method has made me realize why sweet pastries are a must for a traditional British tea time, with a beverage's bitterness cutting through a snack's sweetness that can sometimes linger a bit too long.  No such strategy is requires with Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts.  The experience is in a refreshing balance that isn't over-sweetened and, as it often is, causes me to recommend this product heartily.


Pop-Tarts Pumpkin Pie: - Great

Original Pop-Tarts(Strawberry, for comparison): - Good


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