Product Reviews: Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Royal Shake vs Belmont Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

   We tried a Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Royal Shake a few weeks ago, but of course I'm only just now getting around to reviewing it. Actually, my mom and I tried two different pumpkin pie shakes from Dairy Queen--the Pumpkin Pie Royal Shake, and then another shake that cost a dollar more. I don't remember and can't find the name of it, but the only difference really was that the pricier shake was supposed to have pieces of pie crust in it. I say 'supposed to', seeing as that extra dollar bought us about 3 measly and small pieces of pie crust in the entire shake.
 For the 2 small shakes, our bill came to just over 7 dollars. Ouch. Adding insult to injury, I then found out that the Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Blizzard was debuting just a few days later. I would've much rather had tasted the Blizzard than the Shake, but I'm not about to go waste more money at DQ.
  Anyway, the Pumpkin Pie Royal Shake review: in a nutshell, don't bother. Details: First off, the shake was way better after being frozen a while, when it had more of an ice cream consistency. So why not just sell it as ice cream, DQ?? Secondly, while it did taste like pumpkin pie, it was just a store-made generic pumpkin pie taste, nothing to write home about. Definitely not worth the 3 bucks and change that Dairy Queen is charging. Especially when....I tried an off-label brand of pumpkin pie ice cream that was amazing! And it only cost $2.88 for the whole tub!
 I had just about given up on finding any pumpkin pie ice cream at all this season (I'd been on the lookout for Edy's Slow Churned Limited Edition Pumpkin Ice Cream, but apparently it's a bit TOO limited around here, seeing as nobody has it in stock)...when I came across some seasonal ice cream in Aldi's, of all places.
 For those of you who don't know Aldi's, it's a generic grocery store that has pretty decent deals on fresh fruits and vegetables, along with staples such as dry roasted almonds and of course Winking Owl White Zinfandel. Great wine, even better price. But back to the pumpkin discussion.
 The day after we tasted Dairy Queen's Pumpkin Pie Royal Shake disaster, I stopped in Aldi's for some veggies...and walked out with pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin ravioli, and pumpkin pie ice cream. Go Aldi's! Of course neither the cream cheese nor the ice cream were reduced fat, but they were both great. Way better taste than I was expecting for either one. The pumpkin ice cream was a perfect mix of pumpkin pie spices and creaminess, yum! And the pumpkin ravoli actually had pretty healthy stats, although it was sweeter than I expected. More like a dessert ravoli, if such a thing exists.
 I don't know if there's any of the pumpkin pie ice cream left at Aldi's this week (there wasn't any in our local store when I stopped by today) but keep an eye out for Belmont Pumpkin Pie ice cream. It's much better and much cheaper than anything from Dairy Queen, and I'm guessing it has lower calorie stats, too.


                                     Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Royal Shakes

 

 

Belmont Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream