If you’re wild about Flamin' Hot Cheetos, this wacky dessert is likely right up your alley. After all, it’s a little bit hot, a tiny bit salty and a smidge fruity. It’s also completely different from anything you’ve ever tasted.
The dessert was the brainchild of Sarah Mironczuk, a pastry chef in the kitchens at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, and it’s the first of an ongoing roll-out of inventive specials that will be featured each month at the casino’s Fire Pit Sports Bar & Grill, 1721 W. Canal St.
"What I like to do is really open things up to my team," notes Jessica Clark, executive pastry chef. "And Sarah was working on a dessert that evoked the idea of street food, so we decided to test it out."
The dessert – which features both a Flamin' Hot Cheetos sorbet and an ice cream with a topping of caramelized Fritos – is available through the end of April for $6.
"We normally put two specials on the menu every month," says Firepit Chef Dewon Steed, "And after I tried the dessert, I knew we needed to put it on the menu. It’s something fun for people to try that they can’t find anywhere else."
What does it taste like?
It’s the sort of thing that’s difficult to imagine unless you taste it. There’s a little bit of mango flavor and a subtle hit of chipotle (nothing too inflammatory) boosting the subtle heat of the Cheetos (which have been steeped in sugar syrup for the sorbet and cream to extract their flavor for the ice cream).
If you’re anything like me, you want to keep trying it – bite after bite – in an effort to determine what’s so mysteriously and interestingly good about it. After eating it a variety of ways, I found I liked it the best when I combined all three elements – the sorbet, ice cream and crispy, sweet-salty Fritos – all in one bite. It was the best of all worlds in terms of flavor and texture: creamy, sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy ...
More to come
The specials have the potential to continue indefinitely, notes Clark. She says the May dessert special will be a black sesame cheesecake with a tahini shortbread crust. From there, they will work their way down a list of ideas, which currently includes a frosted animal cracker ice cream cake and a "dessert using purple potatoes."
The Fire Pit Sports Bar & Grill is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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