Monday, April 19, 2010

New Flavors: Ben & Jerry’s Class of 2010

Boston Cream Pie – I have mental list of flavors I would like to create in my home kitchen and an incarnation involving Boston cream has long been on the list. With the arrival of this excellent flavor, I can keep being lazy and just let Ben & Jerry’s do the work for me. The eggy custard ice cream base has pockets of yellow cake and doughy/custardy goodness. A teensy bit of chocolate chunks makes the flavor not as chocolate-y as an actual pie—a welcome surprise given that my typical complaint about Boston Cream Pie is that the custard is overpowered—but offers a perfect kiss of sweetness in the aftertaste. 

Milk & Cookies – The most distinguishing feature of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is the obnoxious amounts of junk it crams into its flavors. Every chunky bite of one of their pints should contain most, if not all, of the features mix-ins. This flavor is no exception, including hunks of cookies and not just Oreos—the flavor takes the long-overdue inclusion of actual chocolate chip cookie pieces to the ice cream instead of its more oft-used larval form, cookie dough. 

Peanut Brittle – I was right: it is better than the Häagen-Dazs variety. The main reason is the caramel swirl. Another reason is that the ice cream base is peanut brittle ice cream, which is sweeter that the Häagen-Dazs peanut butter base. Both support the idea that peanut brittle is foremost sweet and nutty second. However, the better idea would be a toffee-flavored ice cream since the solidified corn syrup that makes up the majority of brittle does not taste in any way like peanuts. The peanuts chunks, however, are more glazed, like what you might find in a Cracker Jack box, and less brittle. As a child of Virginia, the land of peanuts, I would know.

I cannot find Hannah Teter’s Maple Blondie (Maple Ice Cream with Blonde Brownie Chunks & a Maple Caramel Swirl) and am not interested in Mud Pie (Chocolate & Coffee Liqueur Ice Creams Swirled Together with a Chocolate Cookie Swirl). Dulce Delish will be reviewed next week alongside Häagen-Daz's Dulce De Leche.


UPDATE: Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie was finally found and reviewed!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear Brad, discovering your blog (through Jasmine's forwarding of your apartment vacancy ad) has made my night complete. Although I do not keep up regularly with the latest flavor trends, ice cream is far and away my favorite dessert. (I'm usually a Moose Tracks type, although anything with chocolate pieces is a quick sell.) It's great to discover another aficionado. Needless to say, this will definitely not be my last read. :)

Brad @ IceCreamUScream said...

Thanks, Christa! While you're eating Moose Tracks try some Caramel Caribou or, even better, Bear Claw.

Unknown said...

WHILE I'm eating Moose Tracks? As in, at the exact same time? Totally for it!