Overpriced Ice Cream Newsflash

Ben & Jerry's currently £2 at both TESCOs and Sainsburys!

Häagen-Dazs - Cookies & Cream

"An ice cream to satisfy the milk-and-cookies kid in all of us pieces of your favorite chocolate cookies are dunked in delicious, creamy vanilla ice cream." according the blurb on the Häagen-Dazs website, so far, so good. Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough recipe was not the most palatable of premium ice creams, how would this vaguely similar offering fare?

The Ice Cream?
The creamy ice cream has Häagen-Dazs' typically thick, buttery consistency and texture. However, it has a substantial flaw which can be summed up in one word it tastes somewhat bland.

The Cookies?
To my surprise the issue with the ice cream is compounded by the surprising blandness off the cookie bits. Thankfully these aren't as sugary as B&J cookie dough, but try as hard as I could on two seperate tastings I couldn't divine anthing thing beyond the merest hint of chocolate cookies.

The Verdict?
In a single word bland. Cookies and Cream sets a new benchmark for bland premium ice creams. It's may not be as sickly as B&J Cookie Dough, but it is certainly not competitive with other B&J and Häagen-Dazs ice creams in the same price range. Again, it would probably be more satisfying and cheaper to settle for real cookies and cream or a DIY vanilla ice cream and cookies combo.

A bland and relatively inoffensive (not including the price!) 2.5 out of 5

Häagen-Dazs - Belgian Chocolate

Whilst the Ben & Jerry’s calculatingly project an eco friendly cool, hip and irreverent image, Häagen-Dazs cultivate a decidedly more cultured & adult image. This can be seen in their currently available range of ice creams and sorbets. There are no cute chocolate animals in sight, Häagen-Dazs pretty much mean serious business. They can also boast all natural ingredients with less air (whatever that means), while Ben & Jerry's have recently been forced to drop similar such claims from their own products.

The Ice Cream?
The chocolate ice cream is suprisingly, but pleasantly, rich with the firm buttery texture that befits a typical Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Furthermore, countless flecks of rich Belgian chocolate fudge are infused within ice cream itself. Interestingly, whether it is the fudge, ice cream recipe, or the combination of both the overall effect is surprisingly richer than chocolate ice cream in Häagen-Dazs' Chocolates, Caramel & Pralines.

The Verdict?
In the weird and wacky world of premium ice creams this is a relatively mature & unpretentious offering. Belgian Chocolate might not have the content and visceral heft of a Phish Food, and could be a bit too rich for some tastes, however, its solid, rich chocolate flavour has something to recommend for itself. It will also probably also gain something from being shared, or not being eaten in a single sitting, given its richness as I found one carton perhaps a little too much of good thing!

Overall a solid 3 out 5 (although it could gain an extra mark/half mark for its sharing potential)

Ice Cream Review: Ben & Jerrys - Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Chocolate Fudge Brownie is another 'eco friendly', socially conscious, fairtrade chocolate ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. Their website proudly states that in this case the brownies originate from a New York bakery which provides work and training for homeless people, which is kind of nice to know but rather superfluous to how good it tastes.

Much like Baked Alaska is the vanilla inversion of the Chocolatey Phish Food, Chocolate Fudge Brownie is the chocolate counterpart of the problematic Cookie Dough (see my earlier review here). Naturally, a comparison between the two recipes would be interesting. The result was pleasantly surprising.

The Ice Cream?
It's basically the same smooth chocolately goodness that one gets with Ben & Jerry's Chocolate based recipes such as Phish Food. Which is never a bad thing! The fine chocolate ice cream complimenting the brownies better than a sweet vanilla would.

The Chocolate Fudge Brownies?
This is very good, never being stodgy, whilst possessing a discernibly superior texture to the Cookie Dough and at times surprisingly large chocolate chunks! The socially conscious New York bakery did good!

The Verdict?

Chocolate Fudge Brownie doesn't have the qualifications that accompany Baked Alaska and Caramel Chew Chew, allowing it to take its place at amongst the front rank of currently available Ben & Jerry's. It is a simple, straightforward recipe, well executed and pretty much a bullseye for any chocoholics who dig chocolate brownies. No silly but endearing chocolate animals in sight this is mainline, if pricey, chocolate ice cream goodness (or badness depending on how calorie conscious one is).

A surprising 4 out of 5

Ice Cream Review: Ben & Jerry's - Baked Alaska

'Vanilla Ice Cream with marshmallow swirls and white chocolatey polar bears', Ben & Jerry's 'eco friendly' Baked Alaska is pretty much on paper the vanilla and white chocolate mirror of Phish Food. Given that I'm not a fan of white chocolate (as it technically doesn't have enough cocoa or flavour to be a true chocolate) and was disappointed by Ben & Jerry's vanilla infused Cookie Dough I didn't have particularly high hopes for this recipe. With this in mind, I had good reason to wonder how sweet, bland, or both Baked Alaska would turn out to be?

The Ice Cream?
The vanilla ice cream is surprisingly sweet without being too sickly, though I suspect that some will disagree. I liked it, nonetheless, and it makes a solid creamy & sweet foundation for the rest of the novelty contents.

The Marshmallow & White Chocolatey Bears?
Luckily these compliment the Ice Cream well. The bears in particular are larger than expected and thankfully not over sugared, whilst the marshmallow's neutral flavour absorbs some of the vanilla ice cream's sweetness whilst providing some additional heft to the proceedings. Overall the effect is thankfully not as vulgar as that of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough. Though both have a questionably sweet vanilla ice cream, Baked Alaska's content is simply better balanced.

The Verdict?
Baked Alaska is perhaps a little too sweet to be preferable over Phish Food, but is better executed than Caramel Chew Chew, and to its credit doesn't horribly overplay its sugary hand like Cookie Dough. Despite my initial reservations, Baked Alaska is a surprisingly satisfying, if expensive, confection. One very much for the sweet toothed.

A sweet 3.75 out of 5

Overpriced Ice Cream Newsflash

Häagen-Dazs ice creams are currently £2.50 at Sainsburys supermarkets for a limited time only. A veritable calorific apocalypse at a more sensible price!

Offer ends 07/12/10

Ice Cream Review: Ben & Jerry's - Phish Food

Phish Food consists of marshmallow caramel swirls and chocolate fish embedded within chocolate ice cream, and is as their website proudly proclaims Ben & Jerry's best selling recipe in the UK. There is a reason for this, and nearly all retailers of Ben and Jerry's will have it in stock. On first sight what seems an odd mish mash of chocolatey goodness, is in fact suprisingly effective provided you like chocolate ice cream or have a sweet tooth. A few months ago my very first Phish Food got me hooked me on this absurdly overpriced genre, and I subsequently resolved to try them all...

The Ice Cream?
The chocolate ice cream is lovely and smooth without being too sweet or overpowering.

Marshmallow Caramel Swirls and Chocolate Fish?
These ingriedients are novel & striking, particularly the first time one tries the recipe, and nearly every mouthful brims with a variety of chocolate fish or caramel marshmallow goodness which is never a bad thing!

The Verdict?
If you like chocolate ice cream and can afford it, or better still can find it on offer, Phish Food is well worth trying. Although it is perhaps a little too chocolatey and lacking a little extra in variety to brake into the elite bracket (4.5+), Phish Food is the benchmark by which I measure all Ben & Jerry's and has on every tasting proven itself a solid performer.

Overall Crunch Rating?

A satisfying 4 out of 5

Ice Cream Review: Ben & Jerry's - Cookie Dough

This popular and much imitated recipe is one of the warhorses of the Ben & Jerry's range and came highly recommended by my brother. As the blurb on B&J's website states, "vanilla ice cream collides with chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough". So given this promise, how was the proclaimed collision of flavours?

The Ice Cream?
The sweet Vanilla flavour is perfectly fine with the expected consistency of a B&J ice cream. However, the problems reside when the ice cream 'collides' with the Cookie Dough.

The Cookie Dough?
There is certainly no shortage of it, but I found it too dull, sugary and overpowering to the detriment of the ice cream. A collision this ain't! It's more like a rampaging beast let loose on the lanscape that nobody quite knows how to stop overpowering everything in its path. Maybe this is the point, but I found the overall combination overstayed its welcome by the third or fourth mouthful. Finishing the tub ultimately turned into an unexpected slog.

The Verdict?
B&J Cookie Dough is definitely an acquired taste and its enduring place in the B&J lineup is a testament to the fact somebody out there really likes this recipe. However, the whole experience could probably be repeated a lot cheaper by getting a handful of Nestle Milky Bars, putting them into a white bread sandwich mashing everything up and adding budget vanilla ice cream!

Overall Crunch Rating?

A not so refreshing 2 out of 5

Ice Cream Review: Ben & Jerry's - Caramel Chew Chew

Chocolate used be a major Achilles heel of mine, however, my changing taste buds and weight related health issues have forced one to move onto more occasional indulgences. One of these is the curious phenomenon of over priced premium ice creams.

I became ensnared within this calorific world of 'all natural ingredients' and Fairtrade goodness during the summer when my local CO-OPs retailed half price Ben & Jerry's at just a shade over £2. In a saner world this would be around the ideal price for such delicacies, but sadly due to high production and 'ethical' costs plus the requisite need to turn a healthy profit this isn't the case. Häagen-Dazs and B&Js at most retailers will set you back anywhere between £4.19 to £4.39 a tub! Expensive? Yes indeed, but probably not quite the epic waste of money that is a Doner Kebab or VUE Hotdog.

My first foray into this 'Brave New World' of Ice Cream Lifestyle (as if I have one) Brands was B&J's Phish Food which will be reviewed later. Obviously, I was to some degree impressed and my curiosity piqued when I discovered the bewildering variety of different flavours the aforementioned ice cream vendors and their competitors offer. Consequently, this is the first in an ongoing series giving my opinions and reflections on whatever overpriced ice creams come my way and edge me back towards oblivion.

Caramel Chew Chew
This 'Fairtrade' recipe consists of caramel ice cream with caramel filled chocolate counters and a 'golden' caramel swirl. The question with all this 'caramel' is just how rich is this all going to be?! Not as much as one would expect...

The Ice Cream?
The Caramel Ice cream itself is pretty nice, and whilst possessing a pleasing creamy consistency, is neither too rich or sugary. This tends gives the ice cream an unexpected mellower, light toffee character. Nevertheless, I would have expected and preferred it to be a little richer.

The Golden Swirl?
The caramel swirl was present, pleasant, but relatively anonymous in the proceedings. It doesn't quite capture the attention, WTF style, like a chunk of marshmallow or Chocolate Phish does in B&J's Phish Food. Whether it was actually 'golden' is beyond me since I was in a darkened room watching Supernatural at the time.

The Caramel Filled Chocolate Counters/Cowpatties?
The counters are a nice touch, but could do with being a tad larger. Reservations of scale aside, there are a decent number of counters in a carton. There is also a novel and subtle sensation when the caramel inside the counters escapes and hooks up with the ice cream already in your mouth. Again, slightly larger counters would probably enhance the effect and add a bit more mass to the recipe beyond the vaguely underwhelming caramel swirl.

The Verdict?
Overall, I enjoyed this recipe but not quite as much as I initially anticipated given the concept. Caramel Chew Chew is good but not quite at the Phish Food level of concept and execution, whilst curiously inhabiting a middle ground that Häagen-Dazs' formidable caramel infused Chocolate, Caramel and Pralines doesn't.

Overall Crunch Rating?

3.5 out of 5