Ben & Jerry’s Week – Salted Caramel

Some people feel that the salted caramel trend has jumped the shark.  It’s everywhere and if you’ve got a line of snacks or treats and you don’t have a salted caramel flavor, then you’re probably working on one. 

Personally I don’t have a problem with the trend.  I’ve found that, as a flavor, salted caramel tends to be one that’s nearly impossible to mess up.  The spectrum generally bottoms out on “good” and maxes at “stellar.” 

So where does Ben & Jerry’s new Core Salted Caramel line up? 

Well the first thing Ben & Jerry did to distinguish themselves from the pack was to use a different base flavor for the ice cream.  The majority of the salted caramel ice creams on the market use vanilla as the ice cream flavor.  Ben & Jerry tossed a curveball by making the base sweet cream.  It’s a wise move. 

Salted Caramel also benefits from using blonde brownie bits.  They are crunchy and plentiful enough to really add something to every bite.  Also, they don’t get overwhelmed by any of the other components.  They actually work quite well with the sweet cream ice cream and the salted caramel core. 

Words can barely describe how perfectly this flavor works.  The sweet cream ice cream is mild enough to let the salted caramel really shine.  It’s not sweet enough to send you into a diabetic shock, but really just sweet enough to balance out the salted caramel.  And the blonde brownie bits really bring that perfect crunch. 

Out of all the Ben & Jerry’s Core flavors Salted Caramel is by far my favorite.  There’s no chocolate involved (the other three have both chocolate ice cream and some sort of fudge.)  And while it’s a pretty ubiquitous flavor, it still brings something new to the table. 

Another great thing about Ben & Jerry's Salted Caramel Core is that because it’s a single flavor base (the others have two flavors) you don’t have to worry about balancing your bite.  It’s the only Core flavor that works equally well out of the pint or out of a bowl. 

Ben & Jerry’s Salted Caramel literally has no strikes against it.  It might be my new favorite flavor.  I have nothing but praise for this flavor.