Dirty Soda week is underway at Crumbl Cookie, and their lineup is stacked with bold flavor pairings and one-of-a-kind goodies to mark the introduction of their dirty sodas. Some options clearly appeal more than others, but with a creation as distinctive as a Dirty Soda Tres Leches Cake on the menu, we knew we had to sample it and see what’s up. This week, you can indulge your dirty soda fantasies to the fullest, too, because Crumbl is letting any app user claim a free dirty soda with a voucher.
This pastry is built on a chocolate cola cake base, drenched in a tres leches-inspired dirty soda soak. And true to the dirty soda theme, it’s topped with a lime and coconut whipped cream. But, at the end of the day, will it hold up under careful scrutiny or should it have remained one of their beverage offerings rather than part of the cookie lineup?
A Beverage Flavored Cake
Pros: There are some fairly clear positives to this dessert. For instance, I anticipated hating the whipped topping, especially since I adore coconut but loathe artificial coconut. To my delight, the whipped topping tastes like real cream and seems to be flavored with genuine lime and coconut. You can even spot flecks of lime zest within the whipped cream.
I’d also note that despite the somewhat odd flavor profile, the overall sweetness is surprisingly balanced. I attribute much of that to the cocoa’s bitterness in the cake, and I still find it impressive that Crumbl, a brand often criticized for cloying sweetness, produced something echoing the flavors of a dirty soda without tipping into being uncomfortably sweet. It remains quite sweet, but it far surpassed my expectations in this regard.
Cons: The primary drawback with this dessert lies in its texture. It’s fairly evident that the cake choice or the amount of soak could have been better calibrated to achieve a more cohesive result. It essentially comes across as disintegrated cake sinking in a pool of milky liquid. Tres leches, when perfected, yields a densely saturated cake, but this Crumbl version feels sloppy and mushy. The flavor also leaves a bit to be desired, tending to come across as an indiscernible sweet mush when all components are enjoyed together. Additionally, much of the soda flavor seems muted by the intensity of the chocolate.
And, yes, while this might stem from a personal quirk, I’m consistently puzzled and somewhat frustrated when Crumbl markets themselves as a cookie company and then adds non-cookie items to their weekly cookie lineup. If people wanted cake or brownies, Crumbl wouldn’t be the obvious destination, since that isn’t what they’re known for. So, while that may be a small personal grievance with the brand’s direction, it also feels like a valid point to raise when it’s clear that the non-cookie offerings Crumbl releases tend to underperform in comparison to the cookies that clearly receive more attention and development.
