Ice Cream Sundays - Peanut Butter Fudge Core

 

 

This week's flavor is another core donation from one of my ice cream investors -

Peanut Butter Fudge Core.

 

I liked the Peanut Butter Ice Cream half of this ice cream.  The rest was too rich/intense for me.  The core tasted really artificial to me and neither like chocolate nor peanut butter.  Although I know Ben and Jerry's uses only naturally ingredients.  Which means that my palette is now so unsophisticated that I dislike real flavors and prefer the flavors of a similar Target brand, where I'm sure everything is made in a factory.

 

But as you can see from the picture below, the core wasn't like the luscious caramel dookie of the Salted Caramel Core flavor.  This one was really fudgy, rich, and strange.  And apparently a little lopsided, now that I'm studying the picture.

 

 

 

In a nutshell, I was happy to try it but will be equally as happy to not be tempted to buy it again in the future, since it's highly caloric due to it's rich ingredients.  And because, assuming the world is not in fact a vampire, I have a baby by the time this post comes out and no longer have an excuse to eat copious amounts of ice cream.

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 47

Favorite Flavors  - Rockin' Blondies

Ice Cream Sundays - Salted Caramel Core

 

 

I finally have a new flavor to report!  Thanks to the support and reconnaissance of a friend and supporter of the arts (the arts being my need to eat all ice cream ever), I got my hands on one of the new core flavors.

 

And it was a good old fashioned fun experience.  Thanks in particular to this:

 

 

 

Looks like someone took a dookie in the ice cream.  But it's actually a big log of caramel.  Sweet, sweet, heavenly caramel.

 

Here's the full description of the ice cream:

Sweet Cream Ice Cream with Blonde Brownies & a Salted Caramel Core.

 

I would have preferred bigger chunks for the Blonde Brownies.  They were a bit small for my taste.  But when it came to the Salted Caramel Core, I could not have asked for more.  I kept getting scared it was going to disappear as I got down to the bottom, but it was the core that kept on giving.

 

I still don't like this whole "core" thing as much as the original flavors, but it was so fun and fitting to have a new flavor as I became the most pregnant ever.

 

Thanks Stuart for the new flavors!

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 46

Favorite Flavors  - Rockin' Blondies

Ice Cream Sundays - Peanut Butter Fudge

It's official --> I am out of Ben and Jerry's flavors to try.  There is nothing available in Wilmington that I haven't already tried.

So I'm on to bigger and better, but mostly bigger things.  Namely, cartons.  

While I do love Ben and Jerry's, the price, size, and calories per unit pale in comparison to other brands out there.  

For instance, I just happened to find the best ice cream I've ever had at Target for less than $4.  And you get a lot.  And it's literally half the calories of Ben and Jerry's even though it's not "low fat" and is positively loaded with chocolate and peanut butter goodness.

I present to you:

Market Pantry Peanut Butter Fudge Ice Cream

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The consistency is unbeatable.  You know how when you first open a container of ice cream it is sheer perfection from it's general virgin state and the fact that it has been thawing in the car for the 10 minute drive home?  Well this ice cream is always like that!  No need to heat it up in the microwave to loosen it up or jam your spoon with all your might into the rock hard carton.  It's just there for the taking, almost whipped, if you will.  It basically wants you to eat it.  Now.

And trust me, you will.

Sometimes I miss fun chunks in my ice cream if it doesn't have a lot of toppings.  This ice cream contains peanut butter chunk/swirls that are the best of all worlds: Surprise flavor pop, texture differentiation, no painful rock hard chunk to conquer.

This is it people.  The ice cream of 2014!  At least Q1 2014.  Or until I find something else to obsess over. 

Ice Cream Sundays - Peanut Butter Jam Session

 

 

I'm not sure what I was expecting, because this flavor is clearly called Peanut Butter Jam Session, but I was really surprised when it tasted like Peanut Butter and Jelly for some reason.

 

I guess I thought it was going to taste like Peanut Butter and Rock and Roll.  Not sure what that would be like, but I was intrigued.

 

That being said, it was really tasty, but I prefer my Peanut Butter and Jelly in the authentic form - on white bread so it can stick to the roof of your mouth and give you a fun, temporary lisp.

 

This one just made me confused.  Fun to try, but won't go in regular rotation.

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 45

Favorite Flavors  - Rockin' Blondies

Ice Cream Sundays - Pina Colada

I wanted to love it.  I really did.  But I just didn't. 

 

I have a pretty well documented love of all things Pina Colada.  When I got the heads up that this Limited Batch flavor was hitting stores, via my Ben and Jerry's Chunkmail, I practically ran to the store to pick up a pint.

 

I grabbed my spoon, dug in, and...immediately developed sad face.

 

It just wasn't special.  It wasn't really sweet or coconut.y  There were no interesting chunks.  And most importantly, it didn't make me feel like I was in the tropics.

 

All in all, not recommended by DivaSaysWhat.com.  It was bound to happen eventually.

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 43

Favorite Flavors  - Chocolate Peppermint Crunch!

Ice Cream Sundays - Coffee, Coffee, BuzzBuzzBuzz

 

 

This week's flavor is another new flavor!  It's coffee ice cream with Espresso Bean Fudge Chunks all throughout.  It is rich!

 

And it is wonderful.  I absolutely adore coffee ice cream so there was no way I was not going to love this.  I also love the espresso fudge chunks, but perhaps only in small doses.  Espresso be mad strong yo. 

 

Short and sweet recap - I thought it was wonderful but I'd rather just have plain old coffee any day of the week.  Perhaps slightly softened with a splash of milk!  That is how I used to eat my gallons of coffee ice cream after school when I was a preteen with the metabolism of a race horse.  Now it's one spoonful a day and my damn pants don't fit. 

 

Makes me think of this:

 

 

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 42

Favorite Flavors  - Chocolate Peppermint Crunch!

Ice Cream Sundays - Chocolate Peppermint Crunch

 

 

 

Ben and Jerry's just came out with 2 new flavors and I finally got to try them recently.  I say "finally" because they've been out for a couple of months but I wasn't in a position ass-wise to go buying 2 pints of ice cream.  Luckily my mom saved the day and bought both pints at her house so I was able to try both without being held hostage to them in my own house.  This is just a frightening glance into my complex mind when it involves ice cream.

 

Anywho...This flavor is AMAZING.  My new favorite as a matter of fact.  It has Chocolate Ice Cream with Peppermint and Fudge Swirls, with Mint Chocolate Cookie Balls.

 

So basically, everything that is right with the world.

 

Ok first of all, the peppermint and fudge swirls are to die for.  They are so gooey and tasty and so everything.  Then there's the mint chocolate cookie balls.  Do you like Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mints?  I'm assuming the answer to that was an astounding HELL YES.  In which case, go to the grocery store now and buy this flavor.  Because you are basically getting amazing chocolate/mint/fudge ice cream with a bonus of Thin Mints in it. 

 

Ahh hell yea.

 

If that isn't enough to justify a new favorite flavor, I don't know what is.  Try it this weekend.  The mint gives this ice cream the perfect refreshing flavor for a hot summer's day.

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 41

Favorite Flavors  - Chocolate Peppermint Crunch!

Hashtag Free Cone Day

Happy Free Cone Day to all you ice cream loving mothers out there.  Just in time for warm weather, you can stop by a Scoop Shop near you and grab a free ice cream cone!

 

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That should help take a little bit of the suck out of a Tuesday.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a Scoop Shop in my neck of the woods, but that's OK because I probably eat enough ice cream recreationally on my own.

 

Cones up!

Ice Cream Sundays - Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch

 

This week's flavor was amazing, obviously.  For some reason I thought I'd tried it so I hadn't bought it for all these months.  Then I cross referenced my flavor list with the options in the grocery store freezer and realized I had never had the pleasure of Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch!

 

(Yes I have a list.  Yes I bring it to the store.  Please do not approach me if you see me referencing it because I will spontaneously die of embarrassment.)

 

Blasphemous!

 

It was absolutely delicious.  Creamy vanilla ice cream, which is my all time favorite.  Plus big chunks of Heath Bars, one of my favorite candies of all time too.  I love how they get a little sticky between your teeth.  That's how you know they are totally sugar free ;)

 

What made this flavor even more outrageously delicious was adding this to it:

 

 

 

My friend's husband makes this fudge locally and it is sold in some stores in Wilmington.  It is out of this world.  Sometimes I eat it with just a spoon.  It's that fudgey and good.

 

I think they are pausing production temporarily, but I'll let y'all know when are where it's back on the shelves when it is.  You have to try it!

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 40

Favorite Flavors - Mint Chocolate Cookie, Creme Brulee

Ice Cream Sundays - Volun-Tiramisu

 

 

It's getting harder and harder to do, but I finally found a new flavor to try this week.  In case you can't read that description it reads:

Coffee Mascarpone Ice Cream with Cocoa Dusted Coffee Rum Lady Finger Pieces. 

AKA, Heaven.

 

This flavor was magnifico!  I love coffee flavored anything and with a little kick of rum in there, thank you Ms. Jackson!

 

I also loved the lady finger pieces.  They weren't too mushy as I'd anticipated.  They still had some body to them despite being crushed under all the sweet, tangy coffee ice cream since conception.  Way to stay strong, lady finger pieces!

 

I don't know what the deal is with these exclusive Volunteer flavors with Target, like if money goes to help anyone.  But I know that without this line I would've run out of new flavors available in my area long ago.  So thank you volunteers, Target, and Ben and Jerry's for keeping this fattening lactose train going.  Choo Choo!

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 39

 

Favorite Flavors - Mint Chocolate Cookie, Creme Brulee

Ice Cream Sundays - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

This week's flavor is a classic - Chocolate Chip Cook Dough.

 

This combines two of my absolute favorite things, Vanilla Ice Cream and gooey balls of yum that thwart the path of my spoon. 

 

The best quality of this ice cream is it's versatility.  It can stand up completely on it's own and be delicious.  But it is also mild enough to be a bed for a variety of toppings, such as Nutella, Hershey's Syrup, Magic Shell (blast from the past which I couldn't resist buying!). 

 

Thank you Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for being so many things to so many people.  You're the doughiest!

 

Summary:

Flavors Tried - 38

Favorite Flavor - Mint Chocolate Cookie, Creme Brulee

Ice Cream Sundays - Everything But the...

 

I can finish that sentence.  Everything but the...pizazz.

 

It turns out that putting so many flavors together, even if they are good on their own, might not result in dairy magic.  This just didn't have much flavor.

 

Putting a half-ass effort into a lot of things just doesn't have the same special result as putting all your focus on one thing.  Sometimes you just have to let one star shine for it to be bright.  Wait am I talking about ice cream or am I being philosophical?  Back to the lac (tose).  I just didn't like it.  Which was good because the G-man ate this one in record time, so I had about 2 blah bites for research purposes only.

 

Moving on!

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 37

 

Favorite Flavors - Mint Chocolate Cookie, Creme Brulee

A little Pepp in my step

I rarely venture outside of the world of Ben and Jerry's when I buy ice cream because I am determined to wrap this ice cream eating project up.  But can I just say, if I'm going to cheat, I'm going to cheat with this:

 

 

 

And I am not going to feel guilty about it because A) it is so delicious and creamy that you don't even have to strong-arm it to get it out of the carton (I actually have to microwave Ben and Jerry's) and B) it's only available once a year so you can only indulge so much.

 

 

If you have never tried Peppermint ice cream you simply must.  It's like Christmas in a carton.  Ho ho ho!

Ice Cream Sundays - Chubby Hubby

This week's flavor was Chubby Hubby.  I loved it!  My favorite "candy" of all time is a yogurt covered pretzel.  I love the combination of salty and sweet.  The best of both healthy worlds, right?  Needless to say the fudge covered peanut butter filled pretzels were right up my alley. 

 

Sometimes I wonder who originally thought to combine certain things.  Like who was the first person that said, "I think I need to stuff peanut butter into these pretzels....Wait, that's still not good enough.  I must slather them in chocolate."  Some sort of evil genius I'm sure.

 

Ironically, my chubby hubby did not like this flavor.  I guess he likes his sweets sweet and his ice cream uninterrupted by savory intruders.  To each his own.  His dislike of this flavor has meant that the pint has survived over a week in the freezer.  Simply unheard of in our house!

 

I don't know if I'd buy this again because I love a lot of other flavors so much more, but I would not say no to a spoonful mug cup bowl of it if someone put it in front of my face.

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 36

 

Favorite Flavor(s) - Mint Chocolate Cookie, Creme Brulee, What a Cluster.  What can I say?  I crave a variety of flavors depending on the day.  I'm very complex.

Ice Cream Sundays - Berry Voluntary

 

I didn't think I was going to like this flavor.  I'm just not a fan of any fruit that isn't just plain fruit.  Unless it's a smoothie.  But this was definitely the exception. 

 

The cheesecake aspect of the ice cream makes the flavor so rich and creamy and luxurious.  And I will never say no to a white chocolate chunk.  Why is white chocolate so underrated?  I love it so.

 

This flavor was truly spectacular on its on.  And as I alluded to last week, it paired beautifully with Chocolate Therapy.  Cheesecake + Raspberry + Chocolate = Hell Yes!  I will definitely be buying this flavor again!  I'm a non-fruit frut convert.

 

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 35

 

Favorite Flavor - I have decided it's a tie between Creme Brulee and What a Cluster.  They are both so amazing but so different.  I can't pick just one.

Ice Cream Sundays - Chocolate Therapy

After reading the name and description of this flavor I was sure it was going to be too rich and too decadent.  Surprisingly, it was not!  I think the presence of the chocolate pudding ice cream swirls really helped mellow it out.  And it's chocolatey and amazingy so I can't complain! 

 

This is going to sound fat, even for the person who is intentionally eating over 47 flavors of ice cream for no reason, but this flavor was especially good mixed with next week's flavor, Berry Voluntary.  You know, because one flavor of ice cream at a time isn't enough?  Right?  Right!

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 34

 

Favorite Flavor - What a Cluster

Ice Cream Sundays - Brownie Chew Gooder

 

This flavor was just delicious.  And I do mean just delicious.  It was a pretty simple flavor combination of vanilla, caramel, and fudge.  And I like all of those things so I liked this ice cream.  It just wasn't anything super special. 

 

But that's OK.  Sometimes when you are bouncing between Irish Cream liqueur ice cream, peanut butter explosions, and the upcoming chocolate mania, it's nice to have a something simple to munch on.  But probably not everyone is in that situation.  And by "probably not everyone" I mean no one.  At least no one in their right mind or in currently in their skinny jeans.  In which case I would only advise buying this one if you are in the mood for something basic, simple, and tasty.

 

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 33

 

Favorite Flavor - What a Cluster

Ice Cream Sundays - What a Cluster

This week's flavor is legen...what for it...dary!  It fact, it's my new favorite.  Sorry Mint Chocolate Cookie, but you've had a good run.  There's a new sheriff in town.  And that sheriff is a heavenly blend of peanut butter, caramel, and crunch.  Really, what more could you want from an ice cream?

 

The peanut butter ice cream in this flavor tastes more like Reese's Peanut Butter than regular peanut butter, which is a huge bonus in my book!  Reese's are my all time favorite candy, especially the Easter Egg edition. 

 

The Caramel Cluster Pieces in this flavor are to die for.  They are very reminiscent of toffee in flavor and texture.  Win, win.  I can't say that I specifically tasted the marshmallow swirls, but that could be because my mind was partially blown by the heavenly peanut butter explosions in my mouth.  Needless to say, I didn't miss knowing that the marshmallow swirls were present.

 

I think I'm going to stop now, lest you think I've fallen in love with an ice cream.  But hopefully you get the point.  To. Die. For.  The only place I've found this flavor is Target, so look there if you want to try it.  And trust me, you want to try it!

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried - 32

 

Favorite Flavor - What a Cluster

Ice Cream Danger

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum A dangerous thing happened at Target last weekend.

 

 

 

I hit the mother load of new flavors and couldn't control myself.  I bought them all!

 

DANGER

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's new flavor!

Ice Cream Sundays - Cannoli

This week's flavor is another Limited Batch - Cannoli

 

 

This flavor was really good.  The Mascarpone Ice Cream had a distinct tangy flavor that puts in a class apart from Vanilla.  They looks the same, but they don't taste the same!  I still prefer vanilla, by the by, but that's just because I'm old school.

 

The Fudge Covered Cannoli Pastry bites were had a nice sugary crunch throughout the ice cream as well.

 

I really don't have that many adjectives to describe this flavor.  It was just plain old good, creamy fun.  It's always nice to try something different!

 

By the way, with all of these Limited Batches throwing off my overall goal of 47 flavors, it is not lost on me that I could conceivably be eating Ben and Jerry's for the rest of my life.  All in the name of research!

 

 

Summary:

 

Flavors Tried: 30

 

Favorite Flavor: Mint Chocolate Cookie