Ben & Jerry’s NEW Peanut Butter Me Up and Blondie Brownie Core Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s have an extensive range of exciting flavours, many of which never see beyond America. The UK has been somewhat sheltered when it comes to flavours of international food, whether this is from Hershey’s, Arnotts or even Coca-Cola.  Ben & Jerry’s look to change this by bringing some of their much loved core flavours here to our British shores and I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to try them!

Both ‘tasting’ sessions took part on consecutive Saturday nights while Sam was out with ‘the lads’. You can picture it now; 20 something lone woman in dressing gown,  spoon in one hand, camera in the other.  Both instances involved a non-stop ice cream indulgence lasting all of ten minutes, which unsurprisingly left me stuck to the sofa for quite some time. Don’t say you haven’t been warned, these flavours are to be approached with caution and repeatedly telling yourself “I’ll just have a bit” will fail miserably.

First up was Peanut Butter Me Up which seems to be tailored to suit American tastes so I question how well this will go down here in the UK but it appears to be flying off the shelves. Like all core flavours the 500ml tub was split down the middle with half made up of rich peanut butter flavoured ice cream and the other half with creamy vanilla ice cream with chocolate peanut butter cups. A big fan of peanut butter, I loved this ice cream but it did lack variation as it contained no chunks at all!  The vanilla ice cream was lovely and light and offset the sweetness of the peanut butter when the sugar rush became too much. The peanut butter cups were scarce and I only found three in the whole tub which was a little disappointing!

 A thick raspberry core filled the centre of the tub which was both plentiful and flavoursome. It was almost a little too much and took the taste away from the peanut butter but it did provide that all important compliment to the vanilla ice cream to resemble something similar to a raspberry ripple. This ice cream was nice and I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase it but it needed many more peanut butter cups for a little more texture, to turn this flavour into something special. 

 I’ve always been one to save the best till last and this was no exception. Blondie Brownie, which I tell no lie, is the best (mass produced, on-the-high-street) tub of ice cream I have EVER tasted. One half of the tub contained vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate brownie and the other, chocolate ice cream with blondie brownie pieces. Both ice cream flavours were smooth and creamy and I really enjoyed the chocolate flavour which was surprising as I’m not overly keen on chocolate ice cream (apart from La Gelatiera’s dark chocolate sorbet). Both the blondie and brownie pieces were HUGE and there certainly wasn’t a shortage of them which turned this flavour from good to great.  The blondies reminded me of the cookie dough pieces but twice the size whilst the brownies were similar to that found in the original Chocolate Brownie flavour but again, were bigger.  A mind-blowingly scrumptious salted caramel core separated the two flavours and provided a gooey sauce adding to the richness. Unlike other core flavours I have previously tried, the core went on forever without being overpowering.  Blondie Brownie is truly irresistible and I guarantee will be loved by all.

I’m really impressed by Ben & Jerry’s new flavours, even after my over indulgence. These ice creams are to be enjoyed so I do recommend eating them from a bowl rather than the tub so you are less likely to succumb to their additive qualities.  I hope Ben & Jerry’s consider launching these flavours in miniature tubs as these would make a great after-dinner dessert! Whether you’re an ice cream lover of not, you MUST try these new flavours, especially Blondie Brownie which I’m still dreaming about now. Ben & Jerry’s core flavours can be found in the majority of UK supermarkets including Sainsbury’s where it is priced at £4.99. Hats off to Ben & Jerry’s for bringing something different to the UK, I hope there is more to come!

Living life, loving cake,

H x