Review: Magnum Temptation Chocolate

I had no photographs of this ice-cream, because I only thought of reviewing it after it was safety in my stomach. Unfortunately, prior to that, my mind was not in a state to think about the matter coherently. Simply put, this must be the ice-cream they serve in Paradise. Or possibly on first class flights aboard the A380.

(This post has now been updated with photographs. No confection can overcome my sentience.)

I came across this ice-cream by accident. I know of Magnum of course, ridiculously expensive in Singapore and significantly less expensive in Australia. I had vaguely heard that there was a new and very good chocolate flavour, so when I saw a box of it at the supermarket at a reduced price, I popped it in my shopping cart. And proceeded to forget all about it. It was only some hours after a satisfying lunch on a warm day (chicken porridge - I love porridge so much) that it occurred to me that I had something interesting in the freezer.

The first surprise was the packaging, which I admit I hadn't examined too closely before. Magnum ice-cream usually consists of three or four individual ice-cream bars on a stick, individually sealed in a plastic wrapper and packaged in a cardboard box. Instead I was confronted with a plastic-wrapped cuboid, which proved to be three separate rectangular boxes held together by the wrap. Each box was sealed with a strip of tape, with a little tab helpfully labelled with an arrow to indicate where the seal could be broken. And when you open it, you see this:

The ice-cream itself consists of high-quality Magnum chocolate ice-cream, mixed with chocolate brownie pieces and Belgian white chocolate bits, perched on a wooden stick and wrapped in dark Belgian chocolate. As if the edible part of the product was not decadent enough, it comes in a silver-lined box with a lid, atop a sheet of corrugated paper. The wooden stick holding up the ice-cream is etched with the Magnum logo and a decorative swirl. Even the shape of the ice-cream bar is not satisfied with a typical round-edged cuboid like the average Magnum - no, it flows about its support in a graceful S-shaped twist.

Magnum thought of everything. To paraphrase Sir Humphrey Appleby, this is the ice-cream Harrods would sell.

As for my recommendation, this is an ice-cream all chocolate-lovers should have once in their lifetime. There's also a caramel and almonds version, if that suits your preferences. Save up some spare cash, watch the supermarket carefully until a box of these goes on clearance, then grab it. Or, you know, just buy it. If you're one of those rich people who can afford Magnum ice-cream just like that.

(Of course I exaggerate - but consuming this ice-cream does make you feel like you ought to be incredibly wealthy. An advantage is that Magnum ice-cream is cheaper by weight than high tea at the Windsor.)