It sounds like a contradiction in terms. But ‘Hot’ Ice Cream has arrived. And its maker is hoping it will be the next blockbuster dessert and snack. Hot Mama owes its ‘heat’ to a generous dose of… Well, she’s not saying…
The purveyors of Hot Mama (the official name of the new ‘treat’), are going to great lengths and expense to hype its US launch. They’ve hired supermodel and TV star Tyra Banks (see photo, top of page) as their spokesface for the product.
In fact, Banks owns the franchise. She opened her first SMiZE & Dream ice cream shop in Sydney, Australia, this past summer featuring Hot Mama on its menu.
Something completely different?
Tyra calls her creation, “a delicious contradiction that challenges everything you think you know about ice cream.”
“I dreamed up Hot Mama after craving the comfort of ice cream and warmth on a winter night,” she explains on her website. “What started as a kitchen experiment in my New York apartment became a viral sensation—a brand-new dessert category the world didn’t see coming.”
The trouble – if it can be said to be ‘trouble’ – is that no two reviewers can agree on exactly what Hot Mama is.
Confusion among the masses…
Those who would comment on Hot mama are widely divided on its actual nature. Folks who’ve tried it say it’s not traditional ‘hard’ ice cream. Nor is it a soft serve. Nor is it a thick shake. Much less, a sort of Crème Anglaise.
“It’s ice cream reimagined — churned, simmered, and perfected to be served warm and sippable, poured into a couture 3D cup, and finished with signature SMiZE flair,” Smize and Dream said in a news release.
The team describes Hot Mama as, “the liquid version of your favorite ice cream scoop, […] a culinary contradiction that shouldn’t make sense, but somehow, deliciously does.”
My take
I’ll grant Hot Mama official ice cream status. Because its basic ingredients are more or less the same as traditional ice cream. But perfecting it also involved, “reworking ‘traditional’ bases and ‘rebalanc-ing fats, sugars, and stabilizers to maintain that melt-on-the-tongue sensation’,” Tyra’s techs told Business Insider.
It’s an Ultra-Processed Food (UPF), for sure. But not one you’ll eat every day, for sure. So when you next visit the Big Apple, veer a little out of your way and try a scoop of Tyra’s Hot Ice Cream. Let me know what you think…
~ Maggie J.