Angling for a smoothie from Electrolux's tilted blender (pictures)

Supposedly, the angled bottom of the jar of the Electrolux Masterpiece Blender can help it intensify the taste of your smoothie. We put that theory and the rest of the features of this premium $350 appliance to the test.

The Masterpiece blender features a premium design.

It has three speeds, four presets and a boost button that pulses the blades.

The smoothie preset uses a preprogrammed variety of speeds optimized for creamy drinks over the course of a minute and 14 seconds.

The controls are easy to use and responsive. And the cord cleverly wraps under the base so as to not clutter your countertop with excess.

The LED counts down the time remaining in the program.

We used the ice preset to crush 2 ounces of cubes.

This snow was the result.

We also used the Electrolux blender to make whipped cream.

And the whipped cream held its shape and passed the flip test.

For a more stressful trial, we threw spinach leaves, walnuts, garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese into the blender and tried to make pesto.

The Electrolux blender succeeded, but did leave a few chunks of walnut behind.

It also had trouble pulverizing an entire 8-ounce block of cheddar.

The titanium blades provide a sizeable amount of power, and create a good flow by reaching to the bottom and the edges of the jar.

The lid forms a nice seal.

And you can add ingredients mid-blend by popping off the plastic cap in the middle of it.