Ben & Jerry's - Banana Split

Banana Split - Banana & Strawberry Ice Creams with Walnuts, Fudge Chunks & a Fudge Swirl

Growing up, I always liked to get a banana split at either Dairy Queen or Bridgeman's so I was excited to see what Ben & Jerry's would do with this flavor combination.  It has most of the ingredients that I remember.  Instead of a split banana, they put banana in the base ice cream.  And in addition to chocolate and strawberry, sometimes the sundae would have a third topping (often pineapple) but since everything here is swirled together perhaps chocolate and strawberry is enough.

Opening the lid I see the yellow and pink flavor of the banana and strawberry base ice cream.  Looking very close, I see the two flavors are very tightly swirled but not quite completely mixed into a strawberry-banana base.  There are still noticeably distinct yellow and pink sections.  Also visible are some of the fudge chunks.  Eating into the pint, the strawberry and banana flavors in the base are very flavorful.  Strawberry-banana is a favorite shake flavor of mine and it reminded me a bit of that.  The rest of the fill-ins were good for the most part.  The fudge chunks were small and thin -- they could almost be called fudge flakes -- but they were flavorful.  The fudge swirl was small so as not to dominate the pint but it provided additional chocolatey flavor when it was there. The walnuts were peeled so they gave a crunchy texture without the strong bitterness of a walnut peel.  One thing that surprised me was the occasional presence of a small strawberry slice.  In theory this is a welcome addition but the slices were frozen.  Frozen strawberries are not that pleasant to bit into.  If I saw one I my spoon I could such on that spoonful a bit to warm it up and then the strawberry piece was delicious, but I often wouldn't see it ahead of time and I'd bit into a frozen piece.  Perhaps a minor quibble but it is worth noting.

A fairly successful flavor.  It would be a winner even if it was just a strawberry banana swirl and the chocolate and nuts provide a bit of accent without distracting too much from the base flavors.  The frozen pieces are a minor issue but not a dealbreaker.