Ben & Jerry's

My first choice for premium ice cream - if I can't have homemade - is definitely Häagen-Dazs. And my favorite flavor? Strawberry. Plain strawberry. Which is not sold anymore. It's re-named Strawberries & Cream (at least in Sweden) and sorry, it's not the same. Still good, and still my favorite.

Ok, I got that out of the way. Because this post is not about that, it's actually about the three (well, two) new flavours that Ben & Jerry's just released here. Jesper hooked me up with three pints, and I've been happily slurping my way through them.

One is not really new - it must just be re-released - but that doesn't mean it's not good: Chunky Monkey. This is a lovely banana ice cream with walnuts and dark "chocolatey" bananas. And while I'm at it, let me tell you how annoying I find the fact that they don't use real chocolate in their ice cream. They have great organic ingredients, it's fair trade certified, they obviously care about getting the best flavour - so why settle for "chocolatey" instead of proper chocolate? I don't get it. Anyway, rant over. It's a great flavor combination. If I could change another thing, I think I'd have lightly caramelized the walnuts. (So I think I'll do just that, this summer!)



Then, we have Baked Alaska. This is pretty funny. They have the tagline "If it melts it's ruined - take it from the ice cream guys" and that's a pretty amusing way to put a serious message. Again, the company obviously cares. This ice cream is apparently completely climate neutral, and the proceeds go to Climate Change College. And what's more - it's actually really tasty. I didn't expect to like this all white ice cream, but it's really quite lovely - vanilla, with marshmallow swirls, and white "chocolatey" (again!) polar bears. I love the polar bears, by the way. But be forewarned - this is very, very sweet.



Third, Bohemian Raspberry. Amusing name - and the proceeds here go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, in memory of Freddie Mercury. It's vanilla ice cream with raspberry swirls and brownie bits. I don't particularly like cakey stuff in my ice cream, so this wasn't up my alley. Nice flavors, but the textures didn't quite work for me. It was Per's favorite of the three though, and I'm sure many will love it.

It does seem like Ben & Jerry's have pulled my favorite from the Swedish market though - Cherry Garcia! And my second favorite as well - Vermonster. Sigh. Which one is your favorite?