Flavor review: Ben&Jerry's Peanut Brittle

   My quest reached great heights this week with the consumption of a very tasty ice cream. Because I made my own peanut brittle flavor for the Fourth, I decided to grab B&J's version to compare.


   Peanut Brittle - Peanut Brittle Ice Cream with Peanut Brittle Pieces & a Caramel Swirl.

   First off, this ice cream is super creamy. I'm going to hit each of the aspects of this ice cream separately.

1. Peanut Brittle ice cream: this was a flavor that, when first tasted, made me blink, and take another look at the pint label. Yep, it said 'peanut brittle ice cream'. I don't even know how that's possible. But it tasted exactly like peanut brittle, the old fashion good stuff that my grandpa used to make. They could have infused the cream mixture with peanut brittle candy, but I doubt it. It's more likely that they just added the right combination of ingredients to emulate the peanut brittle taste. Now, this is something that my brothers and I at Shireshack ice cream try to do with our flavors. This, however, is not something regularly seen in B&J flavors. Usually they just add things in that they think tastes good without trying to truly replicate a flavor's flavor...
   Peanut brittle is made by caramelizing sugar, corn syrup. This is what they would have had to put into their base to make it taste the way it does. It's brilliant. One of the best bases I've had by B&J.

2. Peanut Brittle pieces: these were of decent size, but not large chunks as seen in other B&J concoctions. They are literally small bits of hard peanut brittle, and their taste is powerful just as the candy is. They add a nice crunch to the creamy ice cream, which creates a world of differing textures; this is a great way to please the consumer.

3. Caramel swirl: for a long while I wondered why B&J put this in peanut brittle ice cream because I thought, "caramel has nothing to do with peanut brittle, and it tastes way different." I came to two conclusions--
   1. B&J puts a caramel swirl in an ice cream every chance they get. I'd boldly wager that 50% of their ice creams have a caramel swirl in them.

   2. I came to my second conclusion when I personally made my own batch of peanut brittle. As I said up above, the main source of that sticky mixture that comprises the molding for peanut brittle is sugar that is boiled into caramel. Ahhhh, that is why they did that. It works great. It's very smooth and sweet. Caramel is one thing B&J do extremely well...maybe that is why they use it so often.

   If you haven't had this flavor, then you are missing out on something spectacular. I guarantee that after you have eaten this flavor, you're life will be better for it. This flavor has been the best I have yet to encounter on my quest for gourmet ice creams. The way B&J did their peanut brittle base absolutely scores one for them in the gourmet column. Later this week (maybe tomorrow) I will be venturing to another realm of flavor. Stay tuned.















(It's worth every frightful calorie)


-Reese O'Shirey Esq.