~ Curious Charlie ~

Ice-cream Appreciation Masterclass @ Helados Jauja @ Friday, May 20, 2016

Saturday 14th May

After three years we're back for another masterclass, the final one as a goodbye to Helados, as they're closing up to go travel the world. Tuesday is their last day.

Over the years the flavours have changed, though classic and favourites are still on the menu. Click here to read about our last visit in 2013, for the masterclass that is.

Fast forward to 2016 and instead of sitting behind the cabinet we're sitting upstairs in a small but efficient and comfortable air conditioned room.

Andrea our guide for this afternoon will be leading a masterclass on ice cream appreciation.

How is Helados different from the others? They focus on natural ingredients with none of that vibrant artificial colours and flavours, nor any pimping up (even if it's pretty). Served simply and with the tag line reading "Unadulterated simplicity". No cotton candy, wafers or food porn hashtags here. Keeping it real and simple. Using a traditional 'mountain peak scoop' rather than rounded scoops. It's not perfect, but it's simple like the whole concept of Helados Jauja.

With "each ice cream recipe to showcase only one or two feature ingredients,[as] a multitude of elements in ice cream distracts the human palate from distinguishing the true quality of the ice cream itself". Meaning a lot of food porn today is about all the things/elements put together, take it apart and it's not that impressive. Think of your fancy brunch waffles for example.

There's 23 flavours to sample, broken up into four segments.

The first segment was 'Timeless Classic'. Time after time these are the ones we love.

1. Lemon sorbet, w real juice and zest. Made with fruit, sugar and lemon.

2. Vanilla bean with just egg yolks and vanilla bean. The creamy pale colour reflects the true and natural colours, with specks of vanilla bean.

3. Mango Sorbet: water, mango and sugar. But oh so
so smooth and creamy! You wouldn't have guessed it was a sorbet. Mangoes from Australian Kensington Pride or r2e2 mangoes.

4. Salted Caramel. Helados was in the first carriage on that salted caramel train, one of the firsts in Melbourne to offer salted caramel. This one had intense flavours and was made the south american way.

5. Banana Chocolate Chips - Aussie bananas scattered with bittersweet choc chips. So real and light, not yellow at all and very different from our Chunky Monkey. Something else I love about Helados was the simple names that said exactly what is it.

6. Peanut Butter Blast - A favourite of the crowd. Deliciously rich and creamy. If you love pb this is the one for you.

7. Cafe Latte. Arabic abosta beans for the perfect balance and texture with coffee liquor for the finish, this one's very very strong! Espresso lovers, you don't need a coffee after this one!

8. Cookie n Cream - Mild we thought, not super creamy like Connoisseur.

9. Peanut Butter Nutella - A Light pb with nutella choc bits flakes like bits mixed in.

The next segment was 'Our Own Creations' which featured unique flavours, inspired by the staff and where they came from. Though there was no S'mores flavour. These ones were all about the nose, inhale their scents.

10. Honey Sea Salt - From the middle east, smells like honey.

11. Rosewater Pistachio - Very fragrant and smell just like my Jurlique handcream! Can be a good or bad thing.

12. Raspberry Sorbet

13. Durian - I Love it!!! Others said interesting... onion said one? "Interesting" in a bad way said the girls around me.

14. Pineapple Sorbet - A palette cleanser.

15. Lychee Sorbet - Another cleanser but from china, it reminds me of cocktails/candy. There's something very artificial about lychee as a whole, probably the fact that like baked beans it almost always comes from a can.

16. Spiced Apple Sorbet - With a secret spice blend with cinnamon. It was Icy. No. This is one of two I didn't like.

17. Salted Kiwi Chili - Tasted Very warm at the back of the tongue, includes chilli powder. For me one sample scoop is enough!

Part 3 - South American/Latino Segment. Inspired obviously by said region/continent. It's hot down there.

18. Yerba Mate - Slow-cooked Argentinean 'Mate' herbal tea leaves, slightly bitter, aromatic and refreshing. Very different and yet like but not exactly, green tea.

19. Dulce de Leche - A favourite, it means sweetness of milk and is very different to sugar caramel, with a much stronger aromatic taste. Made with milk and sugar boiled hours this one takes patience and time. Like Kaya is to Malaysia and Vegemite to Australian, this is South American's favourite spread.

20. Sambayon - A traditional Argentinian desert. Fresh egg Yolks and Italian marsala wine gently hand whisked over fire. As in on a stove fire? Or more like cauldron? Being a challenge to create as alcohol doesn't freeze, well a lot of research went into creating the perfect texture, hence this is a premium flavour.

The fourth and final part was 'Charlie Wonka's Factory'! With a chocolate theme.

All about the chocolate. Melt good quality choc
Warm milk. Real fresh milk with full cream. Add sugar. Add melted choc. Add egg yolks. Stir, but be careful with the heat not to make scrambled eggs!!
Move the pot into an ice bath. Add air (ice cream machines do this) or use blender. Freeze. Repeat.

21. White Chocolate & Raspberry - While I love white chocolate I found this a bit meh. It was a bit light for my preferences, I prefer something much richer and intense.

22. 80% Cocoa
Belgium choc mix balanced w cream, dark chocolate lovers you'll like this.

23. 67% Chocolate Sorbet
Created with Belgian coventure for vegans.

24. Salted Choc Peanut Butter Monster
A rich Belgian chocolate ice cream salted and swirled with peanut butter, very very rich! This tastes just like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!

I noticed there were more than 24 flavours in the cabinet, though these were the ones we tried.

The masterclass was great, unlike the company (the girls around me that is. The girls opposite me decided to "pace" themselves and judge, while I ate everything except that one flavour I really didn't like. They were also very chatty and disturbing the class regularly! So we had to ask for things to be repeated. The woman beside me highly regret sitting next to me, and was the only one very unhappy with me taking pictures, she's the type that dives straight in, acting like it's a competition. We were glad that is was presented differently from last time.

As you can see most flavours were presented in individual tea light candle sized cups (are they cups?), and only some as something for the group to share. I like the individual pots because it was easier, also you actually got to try more of each flavour, as oppose to in 2013 where we shared everything.

Since 2013 things have changed, with the location now being upstairs (more room) and individual serves. You used to get 3 scoops to eat after the workshop, ice cream overload, though that offer's no longer on the table. It is a bit much. And you still get to take home a small tub of ice cream, with up to three flavours. Ticket prices remain around the same, we paid $50 in Dec 2013, it went up to $55 in Jan 2014, though today May 2016 it's $50 again. Which as a surprise due to the overall price of food and life increasing over time.

Our picks to take home were: Durian, Pistachio, Salted Caramel, Dulce de Leche, Mango Sorbet and Banana Choc Chip. We bought a large $15 tub too.

It was a great experience, one we highly recommend (unless you're dairy intolerant). Alas this was the last workshop and we wish Helados all the best. Bon Voyage!

Did you get an opportunity to try Helados Jauja? What's your favourite flavour?