If you buy your ice cream by the pint as often as I do, you might often find yourself playing a game I like to call: “Good Pint or Bad Pint?” Basically, it’s that exciting moment when you first pull the lid off your freshly acquired pint and the visual gives you a sense of whether you’ve got yourself one of the good ones or one of the bad ones. Pints do vary, after all. Ladies and Gentlemen of Junk Food Land, I present to you the best Good Pint I’ve ever encountered:
Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core
You wanna talk food porn? This pint of Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core looks like Old Faithful just lost its virginity to Count Chocula. The brownie batter core is a first for Ben & Jerry’s, and it appears to be legendary judging from whatever the hell is happening in that photo.
Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core features half chocolate ice cream and half vanilla ice cream with fudge brownie mix-ins and the aforementioned brownie batter core. In theory, it is Brownies a la Mode meets Lava Cake meets Fat Bastard. In my other experiences with their core line, the core has been a little sloppy and inconsistent throughout the pint. Not the case with this Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core… a Good Pint:
The Best Pint.
Let us build up to the main event. Here are my thoughts on each component of Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core, and then I will follow that up with heaping spoonfuls of everything combined:
Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Ice Cream: Simple. Straightforward. Effective. Though it’s a mild chocolate and not too decadent, it satisfies on its own. This base does sometimes overpower other components in a pint – a problem I encountered when it masked the unique flavor of the cheesecake core in Ben & Jerry’s Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Core. We’ll see how it fares here.
Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla Ice Cream: Similar description. I’ve always been a fan of vanilla ice cream over chocolate, and I’ve consistently enjoyed Ben & Jerry’s version. It’s a smooth and sweet vanilla that isn’t going to smack you in the face; it’s neither that bold nor that complex. It works as a solid complement to most B&J mix-ins, contributing its own flavor without stealing the spotlight. Definitely has more flavor than the bland cheesecake ice cream in Ben & Jerry’s Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Core.
Ben & Jerry’s Fudge Brownie Mix-Ins: Something this company routinely does right is their brownie mix-ins, and that’s no exception with Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core. These brownies are dense and chewy and fudgey and wonderful. Ben & Jerry’s sources its brownies from Greyston Bakery out of Yonkers, NY. This bakery produces over 4.5 million lbs of brownies a year, and it’s safe to assume they know a thing or two about making delicious brownies. Excellent stuff. My only complaint is that they were small and not as abundant as they were in, oh I don’t know, Ben & Jerry’s New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale (click for actual brownie porn).
Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core: In case you forgot…
This brownie batter core is appropriately named. Its salty and fudgy profile puts it in the brownie arena more than the chocolate syrup one. And oh my, they give plenty of it. What I really liked here is you can enjoy this two different ways. If you eat it the moment you take it out of the freezer, it remains thick with a sturdy chew… more like brownie batter. If you let your ice cream temper, it erupts and spreads like syrup on a sundae. Your move…
Putting It All Together: Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core is perhaps the best example of what the core line is capable of. You’ve got two classic flavors surrounding enough chocolatey filling in the center that you can spoon some into each bite as you work down the pint. I prefer some chew factor for textural contrast in my ice cream, and the brownies are a fine fit. The choices of chocolate and vanilla ice creams are safe but appropriate.
That said, I could have gone for more of the brownie mix-ins to emphasize the brownie experience. Once the ice cream softens, the brownie batter core will start to bleed into “good not great” chocolate and vanilla ice creams, and then it operates much like chocolate syrup. Some of the subtle nuances of the brownie batter core are diminished, but the end result is still a damn tasty one. Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core is like a hot fudge sundae in a pint. Well… cooled fudge. It’s a cool fudge sundae!
How Cool This Blog Is Rating: 2 out of 10
How Cool Brownie Old Faithful Is Rating: 9 out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 out of 10
To keep up with all of our products finds and Junk Bantering in real time, follow us on social media at the links below!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/junkbanterblog
Instagram: www.instagram.com/junkbanter
Twitter: www.twitter.com/junkbanter
