HOWELL — It's no secret M Street Baking Co.'s milkshakes aren't your average dessert. The towering, filled-to-the-brim shakes have become an iconic part of downtown Howell.
Your favorite taste-test duo, Tess Ware and Jennifer Eberbach, decided to strap on our sweet tooth and grab two spoons. We ordered five milkshakes to see which we liked best: Cookies and Scream, Pumpkin Pie, Cinnamon Sugar Donut, Birthday Party and Reese's.
Here's the scoop:
Favorite Flavor: Pumpkin Pie
Description: A pumpkin pie-flavored shake topped with a sugar cookie shaped like a piece of pumpkin pie, a mini muffin, oreos and whipped cream.
Tess: Who doesn't love pumpkin pie? As someone who unashamedly looks forward to pumpkin spice every year, I really enjoyed this shake because it didn't just taste like cinnamon, nutmeg and the other spices that go into pumpkin pie — I could actually taste the pumpkin.
Jennifer: The best part of this shake was that it tasted like authentic pumpkin pie. I immediately grabbed the pumpkin pie-shaped sugar cookie and bit off the end. There was a pumpkin pie oreo, which was good, but M Street's pumpkin pie flavor was better.
Favorite Look: Birthday Party
Description: A birthday cake-flavored shake topped with animal crackers, a lollipop, rock candy, cotton candy, rainbow tape, an ice cream cone and a mini cupcake.
Tess: Aesthetically, this shake is the definition of maximalism — full of color and nostalgic favorites like cotton candy, a lollipop and rock candy. I was fully expecting the shake to taste like it looked, but it's a lot lighter than I expected and not overpowering at all.
Jennifer: Visually, this shake offers the full birthday party experience. The blue raspberry cotton candy and ice cream cone looked like smashed ice cream on top. When I was a kid, I probably ate too many animal crackers, so those were a treat for me.
Most Unexpected: Cinnamon Sugar Donut
Description: A shake made with real chunks of donut and topped with white chocolate pretzels, a mini cupcake, a cinnamon sugar donut and whipped cream.
Tess: I didn't think this one would surprise me, but the donut chunks mixed in with the shake caught me off guard. They gave it really nice texture and added to the donut taste.
Jennifer: I had the exact same reaction as Tess. At first, I thought the chunks could've been cookie dough. An employee told me its a mixture of bits of donut, cake and frosting.
Richer Than Rich: Reese's
Description: Reese’s-flavored shake topped with a Reese’s twist pretzel, Reese’s chocolate cookie, Reese’s pretzel rod and a mini cupcake.