McFlurry International - Reese's® Peanut Butter Cups in the United States

McDonald's at SouthCoast Plaza has two additional flavors along with its standard Oreo and M&Ms: Snickers and Reese's® Peanut Butter Cups.

The Reese's® Peanut Butter Cups McFlurry is still $1.99 at a fun size. The flavoring mix is made up of ground up peanut butter cups. The server put a couple big spoonfuls of the peanut butter cup mix in the soft serve before whirling it through the McFlurry machine.

Most of the Reese's® mix is pulverized so there were not a lot of big chunks of chocolate or the peanut butter center, probably to ensure that it will be distributed evenly throughout the soft serve after mixing. When you look closely, it seems that most of the mix was its peanut butter center instead of the chocolate shell. Otherwise it may have tasted more like chocolate than peanut butter. I was slightly relieved they did not add chocolate syrup, which would then definitely overwhelm the peanut butter flavor. There were a few larger pieces of Reese's® Peanut Butter Cups in the McFlurry giving the overall result a varied texture.

KFC Egg Custard Tart

KFC is a popular fast-food chain that has penetrated the Asian markets for its delicious fried chicken. I have heard of Hong Kongese actually requesting boxes of KFC egg tarts brought to them. News of this is kind of a shock considering the egg custard tarts are coming from a fast-food chain and not a specialty bakery. However, someone was kind enough to share a piping hot box (6 in this one, each with its own tart holder) of these delicate KFC tarts saving face of self-imposed shame. The puff pastry on this egg tart is incredibly flaky and you can see the countless layers developed from rolling out a proper puff pastry at the crust of the tart. The egg custard filling had a caramelized top from the baking, but was wonderfully light in the inside being firm and not hard nor gooey. No part of the tart was undercooked or tainted with random bites of dough or runny egg custard. It is sugary enough to tickle your sweet tooth, but not so much to drill a hole in your molars. The best egg custard tarts in Shanghai are said to be at Lillian Cake Shop (Lì Lián Dàn Tà - 莉莲蛋挞), a luxury yet to be indulged.

Lillian Cake Shop. 868 Huaihai Middle Road (near Maoming Road) / 卢湾区淮海中路868号(近茂名南路), Shanghai, People's Republic of China