What is chocolate and caramel and cheesecake all over? Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake. Yep, here we have an artery clogging pint of not only caramel cheesecake ice cream, but also swirls of chocolate cookies and actual chunks of cheesecake. Interesting side note, but this flavor was actually released in 2018 as part of the “truffle” line up, featuring several other flavors that included truffles in some way, such as Chocolate Shake it Truffles and Chillin’ the Roast Truffles. I was a bit taken aback at first, since I associate the word truffle with mushrooms, but the alternative definition reads as, “a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate, cocoa powder, coconut, or chopped and toasted nuts (typically hazelnuts or almonds), usually in a spherical, conical, or curved shape[1]”. Apparently, these candies earned this name due to the spherical resemblance to the truffle mushroom. Anyway, the 2018 “truffle” version had a slightly different description than the one produced now: “caramel cheesecake ice cream with graham cracker-covered cheesecake truffles & chocolate cookie swirls”. Compare this to today’s pint which reads, “caramel cheesecake ice cream with cheesecake pieces & chocolate cookie swirls”. See the difference? The “graham cracker covered cheesecake truffles” was replaced by simply “Cheesecake pieces”. Very subtle, but definitely there. The switch happened sometime around 2020, with them just dropping “truffle” off the title. After a bit of searching, I was unable to find any statements from Ben and Jerry’s media on the reason for the switch, or even a simple announcement that the switch was going to happen. They just silently started to release the new version as if they hoped no one would notice? I don’t know, but I never had the opportunity to try the original truffle version so I can’t speak to its quality or comparison to this one. None the less, caramel ice cream, cheesecake, and that chocolate cookie are three of my favorite things produced by Ben and Jerry’s so my expectations are set pretty darn high for this one. Let’s hope this pint can live up to its name. As usual, let’s start with the base ice cream. Now, as I have mentioned many times before, I am a lover of B&J’s caramel ice cream. Here, though we have B&J’s caramel cheesecake ice cream. I feared they might have taken their best ice cream flavor and disgraced it with sour cream cheese. Unfortunately, my fears were valid. No, it was definitely not their usual caramel ice cream, and truthfully, I think I would have rather they just used their regular caramel. It was a very subtle change, with the same caramel flavor, but a distinct cream cheese taste at the end. It is not your sour cheesecake either, but a much sweeter flavor. Honestly, it was just really bland. Maybe the caramel base works so well in the other pints because it is usually paired with a second flavored ice cream to add some contrast? I don’t know, but on its own here in this flavor, it kind of just doesn’t have much taste.
So from that disappointment on to the mix ins, then. Ben and Jerry’s chocolate cookie swirl is, in my humble opinion, their best mix in. It basically tastes like someone crushed up Oreos (though B&J does not actually use the brand), dumped them in the pint and stirred it up. I especially love it in their Boom Chocolatta, where it is just a solid core of cookie. But here, it again is a letdown. The swirl is quite sparce, and even when it does appear, it is difficult to really taste it because the swirl is so thin. Hopefully, I just got a poorly packaged pint, but I’m not impressed so far. Finally, we have the cheesecake pieces. This is where Ben and Jerry’s has hidden the punch of cheesecake flavor that was missing from the ice cream. Each little bite size hunk tastes like a chewy little block of cream cheese. Yeah, it is yangy, alright. But it is so sour and so chewy that it is actually a bit unpleasant. Geez, well that was an epic let down. I love cheesecake hunks in my ice cream, but definitely not these cheesecake hunks. I can only venture to guess from older reviews that this is where the “truffle” change took place, as there was definitely no graham cracker coating on these pieces. I’m curious as to why they did this. I gotta say, I wish they had put some graham cracker in here somehow, either a coating or a swirl. I mean, don’t most cheesecakes have graham cracker? Definitely would have elevated this flavor. Well, Jerry and Ben, hate to say it, but you let me down on this one. Maybe my expectations were just set too high with that lovely sounding description, but all in all this pint was just bland and pretty flavorless. It is rare that I don’t eat an ice cream that I have set out to try, but I’ll admit I only made it through half of this one before I got so bored and somewhat disgusted by it that I had to jump ship. Hopefully, Ben and Jerry’s will find a way to improve this flavor, or better yet, replace it with another caramel-centric flavor, but until then, I have to say I won’t be trying this one again. [1] Wikipedia contributors. (2021, September 17). Chocolate truffle. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:58, September 30, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chocolate_truffle&oldid=1044909212
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AuthorDoctor by day, baker by night! When I'm not at my doctoring day job, I love to be in the kitchen with my family baking, cooking, decorating and, most importantly, eating ice cream. Archives |