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.
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Spoiler alert, but guys, I feel I’ve been betrayed. For months I have suffered, reading reviews, watching videos, and hunting grocery stores for the seasonally limited edition pint that has been described as perfect by nearly all. Enter, Talenti Caramel Apple Pie: cinnamon gelato, with flakey pie crust, apple pieces and a swirl of caramel. I mean, it certainty sounds divine and the reviews were gold, so there was no way this could go wrong, right?? Before we go any further, let me go ahead and put out a stipulation here that I am not a fan of Talenti. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good gelato. But Talenti has consistently let me down time and time again. So far I have tried Vanilla Fudge Cookie Layers, Strawberry Shortcake Layers, the oh-so-famous Caramel Cookie Crunch, and each and every time, I have found a bone to pick with our dear friends at Talenti. I don’t mean to single them out or anything, but these pints just don’t deliver. So instead of giving multiple, individual blog posts of negative reviews, I’ll summarize my thoughts on my Talenti experience here. First, there is the base gelato. It is not creamy and smooth as it ought to be. Instead, I always get this very distinct, almost watered down consistency. Like it is some kind of light sherbet that is packed full of water and almost icy in texture. I have had gelato in actual Italy itself, and let me tell you, it is definitely supposed to be creamy, not watery. This is a consistent problem for me across all of the flavors I have tried, no matter where they were purchased, so I don’t think it is a one-off kind of thing due to poor store handling and thawing as I hoped after the first bad pint. Then there is the matter of mix-ins (or lack thereof). Talenti has this very trendy clear plastic pint going on that lets you view the gelato from the outside. The layers and mix ins always appear robust, like you will just dive into a mound of cookie crunch or gooey caramel. However, upon opening and digging in, you find the gooey caramel and crunchy cookies are just smeared along the edges where you can see it from the outside, with none in the middle, leaving it mostly just a boring base gelato for most of the pint. Additionally, those crunchy mix-ins that are supposed to be in many flavors… yeah well, you can throw crunchy out the window. Consistently, these have just been down right soggy with no crunch at all and very little flavor to contribute to the pint. To break it down by flavor attempted, here are my grievances:
To get back to our original review, we find much of the same disappointment. The only improvement was the base, though watery in texture, did have a pretty enjoyable cinnamon pop to it. The caramel swirl was minimal, and if there were supposed to be apple chunks and pie crust in there, apparently they were well hidden because I don’t recall coming across a single one throughout. To say that I am disappointed after months of looking forward to this seasonal- only flavor, would be an understatement in the worst way. While this post may come off as overwhelmingly negative, as an honest reviewer I just want to give my true opinion of the product. My only goal is to share my personal experiences so that others can make an informed decision before spending their time, money and calories on a treat. Obviously, as a popular, national brand, they are certainty being enjoyed by others. While I don’t particularly recommend the brand, by all means check out a pint or two for yourself when they are on sale. Maybe I just have really disturbed taste buds .
When the candy canes come out, you know it’s officially the holidays. All across the country, drive throughs start pouring peppermint milkshakes, stores set out the candy cane displays, and restaurants feature candy cane and peppermint topped desserts of every variety, from peppermint cheesecake to candy cane topped brownies. And of course, the market freezer isles feature the latest seasonal products, with a host of peppermint and candy cane ice creams waiting to be scooped up. For someone who will always pass up mint chocolate chip, I have a fairly strong affection for peppermint ice cream. Maybe it’s just its association with the joy of the season or maybe mint chip and peppermint really do taste totally different, but either way, when those pints start showing up on the shelves, I’m always the first in line to grab one (or several).
Sadly, in this strange post/(mid?) covid world, production lines are slow, and stock of products is low everywhere, resulting in a more than depressing selection to choose from. In fact, it was well into December before I could locate any seasonal pints at all. I’d given up on the season when I glanced down the freezer case one last time one day at Whole Foods, and there, on the very top shelf sat a single row of Graeter’s Peppermint Stick ice cream. Yes, it was $6. Yes, it felt sinful, and broke my rule to only buy fancy ice cream on sale. And yes, I bought it anyway. Lord forbid, I was not going to go through the whole holiday season without a single peppermint ice cream (the blasphemy of no fast food joints near me having a peppermint chip milkshake alone was hard enough to deal with, but that’s an entirely different post). Any who, I was most definitely excited. I had never tried the Graeter’s version of the flavor. I actually had never had Graeter’s. I’ve heard great things about its French Pot process and dreamy creaminess, but have always been unwilling to shell out $6+ on a pint that never seems to be on sale. Never the less, that very evening I found myself digging full spoon into Graeter’s Peppermint Stick limited edition seasonal ice cream. Wanna know the only thing better than caramel?
A legitimately solid mass of caramel. Sweet and Salty. Salty and Sweet. Either way you turn it, it’s a combination that is a classic for a reason. Salty flavors were destined to be paired with sweet ones, and the flavor Gurus at the Ben and Jerry’s factory were thankfully well aware. Before we dive into this pint, I’m going to go down a little rabbit hole for a moment and call this post a review and a half. Why a review and a half? Well, in addition to reviewing the Netflix & Chill'd, I’m momentarily going to veer off to give a brief review of another peanut butter from Ben and Jerry’s as a means of comparison.
Alrighty, on to CoolHaus pint number two! After the impressive introduction with their Farmer’s Market Strawberry Cheesecake, I have my expectations set very high for their Street Cart Churro Dough ice cream. According to the pint, here we have Brown Butter Ice Cream with Cinnamon Sugar Dough and a Chocolate Flake Swirl. I’ll admit I am a lover of all things cinnamon, so hopefully I won’t be too biased.
I’m pretty sure I get my love for ice cream from my dad. I have very fond memories from childhood of sitting perched on the kitchen counter watching the magical goodness unfold as my dad demonstrated how to concoct a perfect bowl of ice cream. This production usually began with your standard vanilla, and proceeded to be perfected by the addition of whatever candies, sauces, nut butters, cereals, chips, and occasionally even fruits lay within arm’s reach in the kitchen. Sure, there were some additions that went a bit too far (looking at those raisins, Dad), but it was always a (literal) treat to see just what concoction Dad would toss together next. So when browsing the Ben and Jerry’s selection for one I had yet to try, it was only natural that I immediately thought of Dad and our sundaes when I spotted Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby, ‘Vanilla Malt Ice Cream with Peanutty Fudge-Covered Pretzels with Fudge & Peanut Buttery Swirls’.
It has become a personal mission of mine to try all forms of cheesecake ice cream, particularly strawberry. So, fair warning, you will see many cheesecake-centric reviews on this blog. Oddly enough, as a kid I wouldn’t have touched cheesecake for the world. I think it had to do with the name “cheese”- cake. I mean, think about it.... As a kid it would only be natural to picture someone trying to make a cake out of a big block of smelly gouda or something, right? No? Just me? Well, that is the mental picture I had back then, and needless to say, I never had much interest in giving it a fair try. Now that I am an, oh- so- sophisticated adult (insert sarcastic laugh), I have been enlightened on the true meaning of cheesecake, and have since fallen in love with its many variations, though my favorite by far is the epic collision of cheesecake into ice cream.
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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 |