I’m not sure how familiar the general public is with the purple yam called ube. Sure, Trader Joe’s has rolled out several ube-flavored products over the past few years, but for the most part I feel it’s still a little known flavor.
However, on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s a common option with pastries and desserts. Even our local 7-Eleven locations had an ube-flavored Slurpee. I guess you could say it’s ubequitous here. I apologize.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s sweet and a bit coconut-like. And it has found its way into Jack in the Box’s latest dessert, the Witch Please Shake. It’s an Oreo shake mixed with ube flavors and topped with more Oreo pieces and whipped topping. The ube gives it a pleasant lavender color, but it’s not dark enough to bring witches to my mind. It replaces the Basic Witch Shake that showed up on Jack’s menu board the past two fall seasons. That was a pumpkin spice shake with Oreo pieces.
The sweet coconutty taste is boldly there with every sip, but it’s the only flavor I taste. While I can see and feel the Oreo pieces floating in the ice cream, they only offer texture as I don’t taste their slightly bitter chocolate, even when I come across a decent-sized cookie chunk. This lack of cookie was also the case with the Basic Witch Shake. Although a little chocolate would’ve been nice, not noticing the cookie pieces is not a completely bad thing because it allows the ube to stand out, and that flavor is so delightful.
Jack in the Box’s Witch Please Shake is a delicious follow-up to the Basic Witch Shake. For those who have never tried ube, it’ll be a tasty introduction to the purple yam. For those who are familiar, I recommend sipping on this seasonal shake while you can because it’s witch-ed good. Ubetcha.
Purchased Price: $6.29*
Size: Regular
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 770 calories. Other nutrition number aren’t available on the Jack in the Box website.
*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.
I’m familiar with ube, thanks to the many Baking Championship shows on Food Network. And I’ve had ube potato chips and hummus in Hawaii, which are excellent.
Have you ever had ube pancakes? I’ve seen ube pancake mix online, and I really wanna try it. You know, for science. 😀