Yes, of course I have a second stomach just for dessert. What a silly question.
The first temptation came in the form of cookies at the Milwaukee Public Market. We picked up one chocolate chip and one flourless chocolate walnut cookie from C. Adams Bakery. The window display was just too enticing to resist!
These really were excellent cookies! The chocolate chip was, in my opinion, perfect. A nice crunchy rim, soft and crumby in the center, and LOTS of big chunks of chocolate chips! The flourless chocolate cookie was also wonderful. Rich in both taste and texture with a nice crunch from the walnuts. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like if these were always within my reach.
Wisconsin license plates call this state “America’s Dairyland.” As such, it seemed only fitting we sample the local ice cream. We had seen Purple Door Ice Cream on local restaurant menus and the flavor listed sounded so interesting (whiskey, black tea fig, absinthe) so we decided to give it a try.
I was first impressed by their door sign.
And then by their napkin holder.
They definitely have the appropriate mindset when it comes to the purpose of ice cream.
I went with the salted caramel and dark chocolate.
It looks picture perfect, but I must say . . . taste-wise this ice cream does not even come close to the Bent Spoon in Princeton. The texture of the ice cream was good, but I was honestly not that impressed by the actual flavors. I sampled the whiskey and blueberry before I made my selection, and neither of those really gave off a prominent flavor of their namesakes. I did sample the salted caramel and at first it tasted good. Then again, that was a tiny sampling on a tiny spoon, and when I had a whole scoop of it I soon realized how overly salted this ice cream was. The chocolate was okay, but I have definitely had better chocolate ice creams before. Perhaps I just did not pick the right flavors (then again, everyone else seemed to echo my opinion about their own scoops), but unfortunately I was not impressed and would not likely return. If anything, this experience made me crave Bent Spoon more than usual (which is hard to believe).
I had a substantially better dessert experience at Indulge, “Milwaukee’s Sleek and Stylish Urban Wine Room.”
The dark and elegant atmosphere inside is certainly sleek and fits the name of the restaurant perfectly. When you first walk in you are greeted by a window display of the most beautiful truffles I have ever seen. Past the entrance is a beautifully curved stone bar that offers a lovely view of many bottles of wine as well as the outside window. Behind this bar are more tables decked with low candlelight that truly inspires the visitor to indulge in wine and chocolates.
The menu also features cheese and charcuterie boards as well as several small tasting plates, but we had something more decadent in mind. The wines are categorized by names like “flirty,” “frisky,” “sassy,” “luscious,” “alluring,” “sensuous,” “voluptuous,” “fierce,” and “decadent.” My experience with dessert wines had up to this point been limited to Wine Club Tasting Nights at the University of Edinburgh. The sommelier suggested I try one of the less-sweet “decadent” dessert wines. I wish I remember which one it was because I loved it. Not too sweet, a bit dry with a lovely sherry flavor that seemed to incorporate undertones of hazelnut. My glass is the one in the middle of the picture here, with the deep reddish-orange color.
We also sampled several truffles. On the left, the “Exotic Spice,” in the middle the “Earl Grey Lavender” (mine and definitely my favorite), and on the right “Espresso” with a coffee bean on top. We also tried the “Caramel Grey Salt,” apparently a restaurant favorite (SO much better than that ice cream from Purple Door), one with orange blossom, and one more that apparently was so good that we ate it before I could record or remember what it was! I would LOVE to return here, whether for more wine and chocolates or even to try the cheese boards!
On to the next sweet treat . . . Kopp’s frozen custard!
A local Milwaukee favorite, Kopp’s offers two daily flavors in addition to their staples of vanilla and swiss chocolate. On this day, the choices were “Red Raspberry” or “Never Enough Chocolate.”
Here you can see the Red Raspberry coming down the chute . . . soooo much custard!
I went with the “Never Enough Chocolate.” The custard itself was very good, I really enjoyed the chocolate flavor. However, there was an excessive amount of chunks of something that seemed halfway between chocolate fudge and brownie batter. Despite the name of this flavor, I do think there was more than enough chocolate in this serving. The chunks almost took away from my enjoyment of the actual custard because there were just so many! I spent so much time chewing the chocolate chunks that it felt like I couldn’t keep up with my melting custard. Nevertheless, it was still a delicious treat.
Also, there were these cow statues behind the restaurant.
In case you forgot the whole “America’s Dairyland” thing . . .
Also, why is there one black cow on the right?