Friday, March 1, 2013

Flavorless Epoxy: Smucker’s Cupcake Magic Shell Is Worthless!


The Good: None that I can find
The Bad: Expensive, Lousy taste, Separates even when shaken up vigorously
The Basics: After much anticipation, Cupcake Magic Shell Topping is an utter disappointment.


As my wife and I have now begun to treat ourselves to one ice cream topping a month, we have gotten into the habit of delaying our gratification some. After all, there are a ton of wonderful ice cream toppings out on the market, so at only two per month, we frequently see one that we have to put off until the next month before we pick it up at the store. That is what happened with the Cupcake Magic Shell Topping. After waiting a month after first seeing it, we finally picked some of this Magic Shell up . . . and ended up exceptionally disappointed.

Basics

The Cupcake Magic Shell Topping is part of Smucker’s ice cream topping line and if it worked, I am sure it would have worked just like any other Magic Shell ice cream topping. The 7.25 oz. bottle has a large flip top which allows one to squeeze the fluid out onto ice cream, whereupon it is supposed to solidify into a candy/frosting shell. This is a fun, clever idea, but the execution of it in this case is an utter failure; it remained separated even after ten minutes of vigorous shaking!

Ease Of Preparation

Shaking well is essential to Cupcake Magic Shell Topping, but even then the two parts of the fluid did not mix. Cupcake Magic Shell proved to me that the product is like an epoxy that then reacts with the cold temperature of ice cream. One needs to shake the product up quite a bit, then dispense it by flipping the top and giving it about a minute to set on ice cream. It should be that easy, but the Cupcake flavor never mixed its two parts. As a result, when we tried to dispense it, a thin, white, semen-like fluid was dispensed onto our ice cream and a hard block of opaque white and sprinkle-filled material remained in the bottle. The only way we could get it out was by cutting open the bottle! Even when we were sure not to refrigerate the bottle of Cupcake Magic Shell Topping, shook it for ten minutes and ran the bottle under hot water for several minutes, this fluid’s two components did not mix.

Taste

For all of my ice cream topping reviews, I am utilizing Blue Bunny Chocolate Chip ice cream (reviewed here!) as it provides a neutral flavor base.

On its own, the clear fluid that we could dispense was virtually flavorless. The generically, slightly sweet fluid was completely overwhelmed by the flavor of our almost flavorless ice cream. As for the block of crud left in the bottle, it was hard, dry, and surprisingly salty-flavored. It tasted liked the baked remnants of frosting. It was inedible and gross.

Nutrition

Cupcake Magic Shell Topping is a dessert topping therefore not the most nutritious things in the known world. I was shocked that there was nothing unrecognizable in the Cupcake Magic Shell Topping. The primary ingredients are sugar, coconut oil, and sunflower oil. It is not vegan compliant as a result of milk solids in it.

What is not a mystery is how high this product is in sugars. In each 2 Tb serving of Cupcake Magic Shell Topping, there are 220 calories, one hundred fifty of which are from fat. There are 8 grams of saturated fat, so one serving of this wipes out almost half one’s ability to enjoy products with saturated fat for a day! There are 5 mg cholesterol and a consumer gets 2% of their recommended daily allowance of sodium out of a single serving of this topping! There is a little protein, but not enough to live off this. In other words, this product is not a nutritious food product.

Storage/Cleanup

Even when one leaves the Cupcake Magic Shell Topping in its bottle at room temperature, it is unusable. While our bottle had an expiration date only a month away, the formula appears too unstable to actually work properly. Given that one 7.25 oz. bottle does not yield a single usable serving, it is basically throwing one’s money away to purchase it.

Overall

Cupcake Magic Shell Topping should have been an incredible taste experience, but it turned into an outright dud that was exceptionally disappointing.

For other ice cream toppings, please visit my reviews of:
Reese’s Peanut Butter Topping
Heath Shell Ice Cream Topping
York Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Sundae Syrup
Dr. Pepper Cherry Dessert Topping

0/10

For other ice cream reviews, please visit my Ice Cream Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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