I’m always on the hunt for unique seasonal products at Costco, so when I spotted this Gelateria Callipo PanGelato Ice Cake Dessert in the freezer section, I had to try it. It’s not entirely clear what it is just from looking at the box, but I assumed it was a cake with ice cream. It’s imported from Italy and the photo on the packaging looks really appealing, so I figured it had to be delicious. Keep reading to find out if it lived up to my expectations!
Location in Store
This is located in the freezer section at Costco, near the Haagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark Ice Cream Bars and The Cheesecake Factory Classic Cheesecake Selection. The item number is 1957744.
Taste
Both my husband and I really enjoyed this cake. The cake itself is a sweet vanilla/yellow cake with a mild flavor. Its texture is soft and light. The top and sides are a bit sweeter because there seems to be a glaze as well as a chocolate coating. There are also some almond pieces on top that add a nice bit of texture.
The ice cream has a pleasant hazelnut flavor, is creamy, and isn’t overly sweet. You’d never be able to tell it’s dairy-free. The quality of the ice cream is quite good maybe not at the level of Häagen-Dazs, but still very enjoyable.
When you eat the cake and ice cream together, it’s a nice combination. The ice cream flavor stands out but isn’t overpowering when eaten with the cake. Basically, it’s a mildly sweet, plain white cake with a hazelnut ice cream filling.
The only downside is that the chocolate coating and glaze on the top and sides are a bit too sweet for my taste. The quality of the chocolate seems high, but I would have preferred a little less sweetness.
Cost
The cake costs $19.99 Canadian which seems pretty reasonable. It’s not a huge cake though and probably can serve about 12 people a medium sized slice.
Convenience
The cake comes wrapped in a plastic bag inside the box. I like that the box has a handle, so you can easily carry it or even gift it. The best-before date is just under three years from when I purchased it. It needs to be kept frozen, and I recommend thawing it for a bit before serving.
The box suggests thawing it for 40 minutes before serving, but I think that’s too long, about 20 minutes is sufficient. This works well as a fancy dessert for Christmas or after any special dinner!
Nutrition
Calories
A 1/20th serving of the cake contains 180 calories, eight grams of fat, 23 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, three grams of protein, and 70 milligrams of sodium. A twentieth of the cake is not a realistic serving size to provide nutrition facts for. It would be very hard to cut this cake into 20 servings, and each slice would be extremely thin.
Ingredients
I always assume that foods imported from Europe are going to have healthier ingredients, but I’m finding that’s not the case. I appreciate that the cake contains butter, eggs, and whole milk, but I don’t love seeing unhealthy ingredients like glucose syrup, corn dextrose, soy proteins, artificial flavor, and vanilla-flavored syrup listed. This ice cake dessert contains mustard, peanuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts.
Scoring
Taste: 8.5/10
Cost: 8/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 0/10
Overall
Give it a try!
This is a pretty unique and delicious dessert. The ice cream is the best part, but the combination of the cake and ice cream is also very enjoyable.
Have you tried the Costco Gelateria Callipo PanGelato Ice Cake Dessert? What did you think of it? Leave a comment below!
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
