Cayuga Lake Creamery – WCRT
WCRT Stands For White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
Checking out the area around Ithaca, I came to a creamery that lies along the side of the road, and if your eyes aren’t peel for ice cream, there is a fairly good chance you’ll miss this place. It’s in the middle of beautiful forests and fields, where there are likely farms less than five miles from here. It’s something of a blend between a B&B and bumpkin pit stop, offering a quaint touch of class to a common man’s ice cream shop, and it goes by the name Cayuga Lake Creamery.
Upon entering here, I was told two things. First is the ice cream here is made to be a little bit harder and thicker, so don’t go here expecting any gelato like consistency. Secondly, the WCRT is the one of the most popular flavors and sort of what they’re known for, so you have to taste it.
Alright then, I guess I know what I’m ordering. One medium WCRT (standing for White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle).
White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Ice Cream
As I stated before, the ice cream here is a little bit harder, and more closely resembles traditional ice creams that you may have been more accustomed to growing up. If you prefer soft serves and gelatos, it might not be the ice cream for you. That said, it in no way inhibits the flavor profile, and in fact in some ways, I am not so sure it would taste as good if it were soft.
Moving along to the actual taste of the ice cream, at first you’ll find it is more raspberry than white chocolate, and the white chocolate is barely noticeable as it serves to accent and support the raspberry. At this point, I’m thinking to myself, “Maybe it’s the ganache or the type of white chocolate used, but my first tastes were solely of the beautifully sweet raspberry flavor (no tart) with the lightest chocolate aftertaste behind it. I’m kind of hoping for a little more chocolate, but whatever, we’ll see how this goes.”
Then as the scoop goes on, my wish is granted and the flavor transitions away from the citrus of the raspberry and focuses more on the deeper sweetness from the chocolate. There is a very small window when the two are in perfect balance, before the white chocolate compounds and overruns the raspberry flavor. At this point, the fruit’s nothing more than a mere figment in this white chocolate ensemble. Now my line of thinking changes to, “Hey! What happened to the raspberry goodness?”
To put this another way, imagine you’re spending a lovely day at the pier watching the ocean in all its majesty. Out of seemingly nowhere, the silhouettes from a pod of whales becomes faintly visible below. You get excited because now this is majestic. Whales and the ocean scene is even better than just the ocean scene. You hope for a little more, maybe the whales will gently break the surface, and you’ll get that picturesque shot encapsulating everything- ocean, whales, and pier, in all their glory. The silhouettes are coming close to the pier and your excitement builds further- hoping for that beautiful soft surface from the whales.
But whales aren’t about that gentle surfacing life. They break the surface with great force, and spray you with the water emanating from their blowholes. It’s like you always knew there was a possibility it could happen, but didn’t realize how crazy it is until it happens. Then even though it’s majestic, you kind of wonder what happened to that calm day at the pier. Because now you’re drenched, and even though the whales are still cool, you kind of wish for the drier time just watching the ocean. That’s kind of like what happened here. We started out with a calm ocean scene (that’s the raspberry) on a beautiful day, and then the whales come along to make it better (whales represent white chocolate). Then you get too much of the whales, and even though it’s good, you just wish for a little more of the calm ocean scene.
WCRT Conclusion
In the PTQ rating, you have a medium price, above average taste to high taste, and a high quantity. This leads to a great ice cream. Sure it might be slightly harder ice cream, but for an experience like this, I wouldn’t have it any other way. You also have the transition from raspberry to chocolate that is somehow both subtle, and starkly outrageous. To combat the overpowering of the white chocolate, if you order a small, there is a good chance the transition will be lessened, and you will be able to find the beautiful balance of both better.
In the end, I appreciated both elements of the flavor, both raspberry and the eventual transition to white chocolate. I just wish they worked together more instead of fighting it out and one flavor eventually overtaking the other.
If you feel like trying this flavor out for yourself, you can find them at the Cayuga Creamery, located at: 8421 NY-89, Interlaken, NY 1484.
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you want to tell me how you would describe this flavor, I’m totally game! Send me a message on my contact page, and I’d be happy to read any other points of view about this particular ice cream flavor.
