Powder Shaved Snow Food Truck, Mission Bay, San Francisco

Normally when I think of ice cream, images of dense, lush, creamy scoops come to mind. What this means is that I normally don’t go for shaved ice, or Italian ice types of treats. So, I was a little hesitant when I decided to try some of the shaved snow from the Powder food truck. Powder is located in the Spark Social food truck park in Mission Bay. It has a cute exterior and offers 9 flavors with 12 different toppings options. I would highly recommend adding toppings to your ice cream, as this is shaved snow and not ice cream, and therefore it has a much lighter flavor than the ice cream that most people are used to. Since I tend to like bolder, stronger flavors in ice cream, the toppings were pretty necessary for me to fully enjoy my shaved snow experience. The idea of shaved snow is pretty cool. It’s a Taiwanese dessert and consists of shaving frozen blocks of milk and cream into a snow-like powdery consistency. Because it’s mainly made of milk and not cream, shaved snow is fewer calories than normal ice cream (between 150 and 200 calories per cup).

Horchata Shaved Snow with Tcho Chocolate

I’ve been to Powder twice, and while I still prefer ice cream and gelato, the shaved snow is really great if you’re craving a lighter take on everyone’s favorite frozen dessert. It’s also a great thing to have after enjoying some spicy ramen from the Torraku Ramen food truck at Spark (my personal favorite truck at the park). My first time at Powder I opted for the Horchata shaved snow with Tcho chocolate crumbles. It was so light, but the horchata flavoring came through really well, especially after letting the snow melt in my mouth. That’s when the flavors really come through, since the snow condenses into a more flavorful bite. Along those lines, I found that toward the end of the cup, the flavors were a lot fuller, since the snow was starting to melt in the cup. I also found the shaved snow was almost too cold to eat when I first ordered it, so I would recommend letting it get to a more manageable temperature for a few minutes before digging in. Because shaved snow is made fresh each time, it’s impossible to taste the flavors before ordering (similar to liquid nitrogen ice cream). The Tcho chocolate was delicious and went perfectly with the light horchata flavoring.

Black Sesame Shaved Snow with Oreo and Sweet Milk Glaze

My second trip to Powder was even better than the first. I ordered the Black Sesame shaved snow with a sweet milk glaze and Oreo crumble toppings. The Black Sesame was perfect for me, since I normally can’t handle powerful sesame flavorings, and the shaved snow Black Sesame was characteristically light. The sweet milk glaze was fantastic and helped melt the snow to a perfect consistency. I would highly recommend getting a sauce (chocolate, sweet milk glaze, etc.) on the powdered snow if you’re like me and you prefer creamier, denser ice creams. All in all, Powder is a great shop with lots of tasty options. It’s perfect for a hot day or as a cooling dessert after a spicy meal.