Ben and Jerry's Fan Favorite Cannoli

I've had this review queued up to post for a few days, but after the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing riots and protests, it felt frivolous to talk about ice cream in the midst of so much grief. I've talked about it on the blog before, but one of the big reasons I love ice cream is because it almost universally makes people HAPPY, and it feels like no one is happy right now. Instead of just posting a review without mentioning what's going on in the world, I'm hoping to make this a little bit of a fundraiser - donate $5 (the cost of a pint of ice cream) or more to Black Visions Collective (scroll to bottom of page for donation link), Reclaim the Block, or Northstar Health Collective. These three organizations are called out by Minnesota Freedom Fund as being in need of supplies and support. Or find and donate to your local Freedom Fund. I will match up to $500 in donations split evenly between the three organizations (will donate this amount regardless). If you feel comfortable, share or message that you have donated. If that's not something you feel comfortable with, that's OK too!

Typically at the beginning of a new year, Ben and Jerry's introduces a collection of three new ice creams. For example in years past they've released their cores and cookie cores. This year, instead of new flavors, Ben and Jerry's resurrected three flavors from their flavor graveyard: Peanut Butter Half Baked, Gimme S'more, and Cannoli.

I was honestly underwhelmed by this selection of flavors. Gimme S'more was good, but didn't read as a S'mores flavor. I don't really remember Peanut Butter Half Baked, but in my original review, I seemed ... whelmed. I enjoyed it but didn't rave about it.

I hadn't tried Cannoli in about 8 years, and I remembered it being very boring. So overall, I was lukewarm about the reintroduction of these flavors.

I didn't bother to pick up Peanut Butter Half Baked or Gimme S'more, but did decide to grab a pint of Cannoli. Cannoli is

Mascarpone ice cream with fudge-covered pastry shell pieces & mascarpone swirls.

Either I have a terrible memory, or my ice cream taste has massively changed in over the past eight years because Cannoli is great! Ben and Jerry's really excels in dairy-flavored bases. What, you might ask, exactly is a dairy flavored base? Aren't all ice cream bases dairy-flavored. I mean things like a sweet cream base or a mascarpone base, as used in Cannoli.

The base was very smooth, creamy, and rich, with more pull than is typical of Ben and Jerry's. It was almost reminiscent of a gelato. There was a perfect balance of sweetness from the base and richness from the Mascarpone.

The fudge-covered pastry shell pieces were unfortunately a bit soggy. I wish they had retained more of their crunch. I also found myself wishing for more chocolate than just the fudge coating. It would have added some needed bitterness to the flavor.

I was initially doubtful of adding a mascarpone swirl to a mascarpone base, but it actually worked quite well. The mascarpone swirl had a much more concentrated and pungent flavor than the base so it was a nice reminder of the mascarpone flavor when your tongue starts to get used to the base flavor.

Overall I give this 🍦🍦🍦/4 - I would definitely pick up another pint.