Red velvet cake is everywhere. Red velvet ice cream, red velvet filled chocolates, red velvet Pop Tarts; next we'll be seeing red velvet Oreos and red velvet Twinkie knock-offs. But I digress. Ben & Jerry's and Blue Bunny already worked their magic on me with their own red velvet ice creams, and now Blue Bell are playing a bit of catch-up. Though my exposure with Blue Bell has only peaked with their Gingerbread House and Homemade Vanilla flavors, both are at the tip-top of my favorites list. Needless to say, my expectations were fairly high for this little pint.
The aforementioned brands had a bit of distance between their respective executions. Where Ben & Jerry's seemed to value a more conservative approach (for once) with the amount of cake mixed in, Blue Bunny poured enough blood-red goodness to make any pre-Twilight vampire blush. Each result was solid in its own way, with the gravitation likely coming down to whether you want cake in your ice cream, or a helping of ice cream in a whole lot of cake. For the sake of comparison, Blue Bell's take is closer to the former. Pulling the lid off my pint reveals, first and foremost, a trench along the rim that makes me feel a bit short-changed. The relatively innocent color wasn't a massive reassurance either, what with a fairly pink base. Digging in reveals a tame amount of red velvet bites which, though not plentiful, appear nice and chunky.
Even if it's fairly basic, Blue Bell once again prove they know how to handle a good ice cream base. It's a nice vanilla flavor with faint traces of cocoa lingering about. Like Homemade Vanilla, it feels silky and tastes creamy, a combination that brings me to scoop up and savor every little lick. The actual pieces of cake feel a bit less like said dessert and more like red velvet brownie bites, which I'm sure someone will jump at the opportunity to release. Though enjoyable, the ice cream-to-bite ratio is a bit wary for me, especially after the eccentric bliss of something like Gingerbread House. Blue Bell have proven they know how to make quality ice cream. And make no mistake, this is another solid offering. But as far as replicating the effect of red velvet cake in ice cream, I think it falls a bit short. More cake and maybe even just a few hairs worth of swirls could've really brought this ice cream to life. As it stands, this is a decent flavor, but definitely not a frequent go-to product, even for the red velvet fiend inside of me.
Where Kenneth Found It: Walgreen's
Kenneth's Grade: C
