Blush Desserts (Kearny Mesa)

Ever since I visited Yes! Pingo over a year ago and stumbled upon Blush Desserts next door I wondered how they were doing. That mall is a revolving door of restaurants with a less than friendly parking lot to boot. Now a year later Yes! Pingo isn’t there any longer and I believe Blush Desserts is under new ownership (just kidding, they clarified that it is in fact the same original owners!). 

When we first popped in they were just starting up and actually didn’t really have much of anything to offer. Their display was dessert-less. I believe they were experiencing some technical difficulties with their temperature and humidity control at the time. The inside was all white with no decor in place yet. I’m not sure if they were even open come to think of it now. “Sorry to intrude, but we have a good imagination so we can picture what tasty dessert treats will look like in this display.”  But times have changed and we don’t have to close our eyes and fantasize any longer. For they have achieved every kids dream and a dentists worst nightmare creating an inviting, bright, and shiny wonderland of cavity inducing pleasure. 

If you thought the macaron craze is over, Blush Desserts is surely extending its staying power with unique and tasty flavors like circus animal, churro, and mint oreo. And you best believe we snagged the last mint oreo. In dessert warfare, no mercy!

I came with family who happens to like sweets. Normally I wouldn’t splurge on so many different indulgences, but after looking at all the options it was a foregone conclusion we would be getting the 12 for $20 mix and match deal.  

On this evening there were plenty of cupcakes and macarons to mix and match with.

This is what we ended up getting. I split this with my niece and sister in law. My surprise favorite was the circus animal. Maybe because I haven’t had a circus animal in 20 years or maybe because it was just that good, I can’t quite put my finger on it. But it really doesn’t matter. With this flavor entering my life again brings the possibility of me dreaming about them while I sleep, which I happily accept.

It looked like their macaron shells for their ice cream sandwiches matched their regular macaron’s. When they brought out a new tray I totally was the guy holding up the line taking pictures of them all. Don’t hate. I do it for the blog. Blush Desserts has captured many flavors of my childhood with healthy cereals like Cap’N Crunch and Fruity Pebbles. My dad who used to be a dentist would be so proud that we are passing this along to his granddaughter.

That is my excited face and it doesn’t even enter the same atmosphere as my niece’s. Maybe she thought all three were hers. Silly girl.

Talking about trends, I’m still on a cookie butter high. I’m not as crazy as when I first discovered it, nor do I have a constant supply (spread or ice cream variety) of it at home anymore. Okay, that’s a lie. Right now I do, but a few weeks ago I did not. Here is a cookie butter macaron/coffee ice cream sandwich. I choose coffee ice cream to go with a cookie butter flavored shell with crushed speculoos cookies on top and on the ice cream. A winning combination if I’ve ever tasted one. The shells were delicate but with a nice chew. I could sense the cookie butter flavor right away and along with the coffee ice cream, I was a believer…that macarons and cookie butter would not disappear from the dessert scene as long as this place exists.

If you calculated the time of my obsession for cookie butter vs. mint oreo, mint oreo would win by at least 20 years. I’ve always been obsessed with mint flavored things. When I first discovered I could add oreo’s and brownies to my mint ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery in high school I almost collapsed. Ben and Jerry’s has a nice mint oreo flavor too. So when I found out my niece loved mint oreo too, I might have started to love her a little more. Okay, how much is infinity plus infinity? A lot! Luckily she is only six and didn’t mind sharing the little that she couldn’t eat with me. The flavor is about what you would expect. Minty with a little oreo flavor and crunch coming through each bite.

Last, my sister in law had the circus animal macaron shell with vanilla ice cream. This doesn’t happen often, but did we just order the three best combinations on the menu? All of them were outstandingly good. I’ve been to other macaron ice cream sandwich places in LA and in SF, and yes I loved them there too. But geez, every single bite was singing to my soul. And I don’t even like sweets that much. What is happening? Did all the random decorations, bright lights, and flashy macaron colors send subliminal messages to me? I will soon be coming back to verify my love of macaron ice cream sandwiches. Stay tuned…

Blush Desserts
4817 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
www.blushdesserts.com