Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake and Impretzively Fudged (thanks for recommendations!)

Thank you everyone who recommended flavors on this request post I made yesterday asking for two Ben and Jerry’s flavor recommendations.

I ended up getting a flavor I hadn’t listed, Strawberry Cheesecake, as I saw it was recommended on this Ben and Jerry’s review podcast, The Flavorcast. I also checked out some of the flavors I had posted in my request post there, including Oat of this Swirled, Dublin Mudslide, Dirt Cake, etc etc. I agree with some of the reviews for flavors I already tried (Vanilla, Change is Brewing, etc). I recommend the podcast as it also begins each episode with a segment of the history of each Ben and Jerry’s flavor tested.

I would have gotten Pecan Pie as many of you recommended, but my store was out. I worry the flavor has been replaced by another limited time batch flavor, Marshmallow Sky. Hopefully not!

Strawberry Cheesecake

• Background: I love strawberry ice cream and I love cheesecake, and probably would have gotten this one sooner except I was burned by a poor experience with a Ben and Jerry’s fruit flavor and white ganache top. I think it may have been the discontinued Strawberry Topped Tart. Thankfully, this flavor is nothing like that.
• I also recently tried Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla and knew I’d probably like a vanilla based flavor because of it.
• Description: “Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberries and a Thick Graham Cracker Swirl.”
  > Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream: a natural but very muted strawberry infused cheesecake flavor. Take Haagen Dazs Strawberry (10/10 strawberry flavor) and mute it down 60% (4/10 intensity). Cheesecake is mild; not very tangy but pleasant.
  > Strawberries: not many pieces shown in the image on the container, and even less in the pint. What there is is natural frozen strawberry taste.
  > Graham Cracker Swirl: By far, the best and strongest flavor of the pint. Accurate and very flavorful Graham cracker pie crust crumble. Rich, buttery, salted. Probably the best pie crust I’ve tasted in ice cream.
• RATING: 8/10. I would repurchase, but I feel a bit skimped on with the strawberries. The Flavorcast (episode here) was right: the Graham cracker is everything.

Impretzively Fudged

• Background: this is a new flavor from Ben and Jerry’s, I believe released with PB S’Mores. I have been on a bit of a quest for a fancy chocolate ice cream. Does this fit the bill?
• Description: “ Chocolate Ice Cream with Fudge-Covered Pretzel Pieces and Pretzel Swirls”
  > Chocolate Ice Cream: actually a semi-sweet chocolate with a dark chocolate lean. Certainly chocolate-y, not bland at all. But also quite sweet. Does leave a sweet taste in my mouth after eating.
  > Fudge-covered pretzel pieces and pretzel swirl: the star of the show. Salty, definitely crispy, likely due to the fudge covering. An exciting, textural bite kind of like an avalanche of pretzel. Also with a bit of square shaped chocolate pieces that have the texture of brittle, but chocolate.
  > Overall taste: straightforward, chocolate, sweet, salt. Pared down Ben and Jerry’s which isn’t trying too hard with too many conflicting ingredients.
• RATING: 7/10. I like dark chocolate. I like salt. I like chocolate covered pretzels (growing up I ate a lot of Flipz milk chocolate covered pretzels). I think Ben and Jerry’s has a nice focused flavor here. But it’s just a bit sweet for me.
• Rating caveats: Still better than Haagen Dazs Double Belgian Chocolate (reviewed here) though which was very sweet and which I rated 6/10. Would not repurchase Impretzively Fudged, but I get why it’s a favorite for some. If you want a high brow chocolate ice cream, this could fit the bill, but it may be on the top end of sweetness (and saltiness) for some. It is however a balanced flavor probably worth the notice for Jeni’s ice cream lovers (she sometimes has salty elements in her ice creams).

Other recommendations:

If you like Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake:
* Haagen Dazs – Strawberry. Great natural strawberry taste. 9/10
* Haagen Dazs – Summer Berry Cake Pop. Strawberry and sweet cream ice cream, cake pieces, raspberry sauce. ?/10 (it’s been a while)
* Helados Mexico – Strawberry ice cream bars. Like Haagen Dazs. 8.5/10
* Tillamook – Marionberry Pie. Some pie crust pieces but sparser, lightly flavored, has cinnamon. My tub had some mix in issues (restituted however as Tillamook sent compensation coupons); would rate higher otherwise. 8/10
* Perry’s – Banana Graham or Key Lime Pie. Both have the same graham cookie I enjoy. Less buttery than Ben and Jerry’s. Banana Graham is probably the more similar dessert experience as it’s like banana pudding. 8.5/10

If you like Ben and Jerry’s Impretzively Fudged:
* Haagen Dazs Double Belgian Chocolate Chip – also a semi-sweet chocolate flavor. Has plentiful fine shavings of rich tasting Belgian chocolate chip for a nice, light crunch. Sweeter though (and Impretzively Fudged is already sweet). 6-6.5/10
* Private Selection – Mexican Style Hot Chocolate. A flavorful chocolate cinnamon base; chocolatey. Has marshmallow (not to Phish Food extent) and large pieces of cinnamon chocolate. For the intense flavor seekers. 7/10
* Private Selection – Extreme Denali Moose Tracks. Admittedly the chocolate base is a bit bland milk chocolate. But is an acceptable background flavor for the lightly salted and tasty fudge swirl. 6/10