A popular Glasgow West End bagel shop has placed its own twist on a classic dessert and we are here for it.
The team behind the ever-popular Brawsome Bagels on Dumbarton Road has combined the traditional style baked cheesecake with tangy pickle brine to create what they say is a fresh summer treat.
Now, as big fans of pickles in nearly all their forms (we still aren't entirely sold on eggs sadly), some of the Glasgow Live team were pretty keen to try this out, while others were, let's just say, a little more sceptical.
As always we took up the challenge to see what we thought about the treat that owner Ian Brooke describes as the “weirdest guilty pleasure”.
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The pickle cheesecake
Arriving in what looked to be about cupcake size, the baked cheesecake had the baked brown top you'd expect, combined with what appeared to be a neon green centre (which some of us thought looked appetising, while others in the group thought it reminded them of something that might be mint flavoured).
The texture was as you'd expect from a baked cheesecake, with just the right level of softness and moistness, and when we cut into it with our spoon, more of that vibrant green centre was exposed.
The first bite was full-bodied and tart but with added sweetness, the flavour here was close to a key lime pie, with a real sharpness on the tongue which was zesty and refreshing – ideal on a warm day, making it feel felt very summery.
Though a few of the tasting team did screw their faces up while trying it ("too sharp" and "you can taste the pickle" being the derisory cries) most of us did enjoy it, and without the weird green colouring and the knowledge it had pickle juice in the recipe, you'd probably struggle to fully pick that out as a key flavour.
Overall, though it was pretty divisive, we generally think that most people will love this, provided they don't let the strange flavour combination put them off.
While we tried ours cold from the fridge, we can imagine it would be even better fresh and warm straight from the shop. Zesty and packed with flavour, those of you who love pickles, or that tangy, refreshing hit you get from citrus-style desserts will probably enjoy this. Give it a try!
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