Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie Ice Cream

[Jan 2017 Update: this has been removed from the Ben & Jerry's website]

[2015 Update] Just a quick note that this flavor did finally make the transition to Non-GMO status, but it was a little hairy there for a bit as this was basically the last flavor I saw switch over. That said, the review below still stands for the most part. It's a nice flavor with a strong swirl, dense cake bits.... and a surprising lack of chocolate still. Just one of those things I guess.

Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie Ice Cream

Boston Cream Pie ice cream with yellow cake pieces,

fudge flakes & swirls of pastry cream

Scooped shot circa fall 2015

[and now for the original review]

First came the pie...

Next came the donut....

And now we have the ice cream!

Behold the brand new [for 2010] Boston Cream Pie flavor from Ben & Jerry's. We have Boston Cream Pie Ice Cream with Yellow Cake Pieces, Fudge Flakes & Swirls of Pastry Cream. Living in Mass means Boston Cream Pie is available in every grocery store bakery, but to be honest, I'm not sure how popular it is outside of New England (or even Mass for that matter). Basically it's a thin layer of yellow cake, a layer of somewhat tangy pastry cream, another layer of yellow cake, and then a heavy (but thin) coating of fudge frosting on top. It's quite tasty if the right person makes it but I will admit that I have burnt out on it over the years. My boston cream experiences are now limited to my occasional consumption of the mighty boston cream donut, which is just a chocolate frosted donut with the same flavor cream inside.

Ok, here's a nice close up of what's in store. The base ice cream is an off white color. We have a nice scattering of some fresh looking yellow cake chunks. These bits could have easily gotten mauled in the ice cream process yet they look fresh and fantastic. That's a real nice touch and a great way to start things off. You can't really see the pastry cream swirls, but those are the shiny yellowish spots in the bottom right part of the picture. They are gooey, but not ooey gooey. Funny, I was expecting more fudge chunks ...I mean, the fudge is one of the best parts of a Boston Cream Pie, so I thought there would be a lot of fudge. Maybe they are further down.

I couldn't help myself --- I took a whiff and yup, it sure smells like Boston Cream Pie (if you've never smelled BCP, it basically smells like a very sweet cake batter)

I dig in and YUP! this tastes like BCP alright! In particular, it tastes like the filling and the cake ...but where's the fudge coating? Uh oh, I wonder if I got a bum pint. This ice cream nails BCP on the money ....if said BCP is lacking it's fudgy frosting on top. Bummer.

Now, let me give you a little warning. The filling in BCP is quite potent. It's not some mild filling that's happy to just flitter by your tastes buds on the way to your belly. No, BCP filling is a mighty thing that contrasts very well with the equally strong fudge frosting on top. The beauty of BCP is this contrast. Now you can't just have cream and a fudge frosting (mmmmm, sounds tasty actually). Instead, we add in some yellow cake to balance the whole thing out and you have a nice dessert.

So, we have a potent filling flavored ice cream here. The nature of the filling also messes a little bit with the normal B&J texture, so be prepared for that as well. I think the cake pieces add to the presentation, and they are fun to scoop, but I'm not sure how much they add to the flavor. The filling vibe is already so strong that the pieces didn't seem add a whole lot flavorwise.

Even if this pint hadn't been lacking in the fudgy factor, I still don't think this flavor is anything more than a once in a great while buy for me. If you like party cake flavored ice creams or really sweet ice creams, you will definitely like this. I'm thinking everyone else will just try it once and move on.

One last thing, like any real cake, you might want to wash this one down with some milk when you are done, otherwise you might be tasting it for awhile.

On Second Scoop: It's not often that I go and re-review a flavor, but the chance came up to test this one again and so I went for it. The good news is that I still get struck by that strong Boston Cream Pie flavor. I don't remember the cream filling being so prevalent before, but as you can see the puddle above, it's hard to miss. The bad news is that there still is barely any chocolate in this thing. How has this not been fixed by now? It's got a good flavor, I just can't condone the purchase of this one 'til they add more chocolate flakes.

Verdict?  Where's the chocolate?
Buy Again?  No