Ben and Jerry's - Triple Caramel Chunk Ice Cream - July 31, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
Triple Caramel Chunk Ice Cream
Good
Weight: 1/2 cup (85 g.) / 1 Pint (473 mL) in total container
Calories: 270 calories in 1/2 cup serving
Cost: $4.39 (estimate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Safeway, (missing info on location/city), CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chilled Chocolate Theme Week.

I feel like a hypocrite. Most of the time, I find less sweet chocolate items to be far more likeable. However, occasionally sugar has its place, and sometimes that involves caramel or toffee flavors blended with chocolate. It takes a deft hand not to overplay the sweet, but today's entry managed to defy the odds.

Today's Triple Caramel Chunk Ice Cream from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream (South Burlington, Vermont) had wonderful ribbons of authentic-tasting caramel running through a base of super creamy caramel ice cream. The rich (high-fat content of the) ice cream helped to balance out the first two aspects of sweet caramel.

The third "caramel" element in this triple play involved small fudge-covered "caramel chunks" that helped boost the caramel flavor, and introduced occasional bursts of chocolate texture and taste.

A small serving of today's ice cream will satisfy most sweet teeth.

Safeway Peanut Butter Cup ice cream - May 29, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Safeway Select
Super Premium - Peanut Butter Cup ice cream
Good - Good+
Weight: 1/3 cup oz. (78 g.) / 1 Pint (473 mL) in total container
Calories: 264 calories in 1/3 cup serving
Cost: $2.99 (estimate)
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Peanut Butter Theme Week, and I celebrated with two different ice creams that incorporated peanut butter and chocolate. The Safeway Select ice cream (shown in dish at right) contained broken up chunks of peanut butter cups, evoking childhood memories of favorite chocolate candy.

The second ice cream was "What a Cluster" ice cream from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream -- a company known for its clever product names. And, while What a Cluster did have a smidge of cocoa in it -- qualifying it as a chocolate item -- I chose this cold, sweet treat for its clever title. What a Cluster ice cream was a melange of peanut butter ice cream, caramel cluster pieces, marshmallow swirls and "peanut buttery swirls."

ChocolateBet: September 28, 2006

Chocolate of the Day:

Ben and Jerry's
The Gobfather ice cream
Good - Very Good (with added nuts)

While I have thought that it might be good to save the ice cream-related chocolate entries until next summer - so I don't run out, I decided this just is not possible or practical. There is no certainly, after all, about what tomorrow might bring. Eat dessert first, and all that...

So, in keeping with that thought, today I had some Ben and Jerry's The Gobfather ice cream. This I rated Good-Very Good - especially with some extra nuts on top. Ben and Jerry are based in Vermont (or at least their ice cream headquarters are as far as I know). My daughter and I, while on a school scouting trip recently, traveled to Vermont, and I had hoped we would have time to stop in and pay them a visit. However, it was not to be. (We did, however, discover Lake Champlain Chocolates on this trip in the hotel gift shop, and I'll write more about them later.)

One bit of excitement on this trip, we parked next to a long, black chauffer-driven limousine -- a stand-out at the fairly modest hotel where we were staying. Sure enough, movie starlet Scarlett Johansson popped out of the limo to kiss a young man good-bye (who was probably her brother or cousin) while we were dragging our suitcases into the hotel lobby a few feet away. So, this was a small consolation for not being able to visit some local ice cream celebs.