REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff (What A Cluster)

Ben & Jerry's Clusterfluff and Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake

Update: Ben & Jerry’s changed Clusterfluff’s name to What A Cluster.

Almost every time I eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, I break down and cry with tears mixed with sadness and happiness. It’s been the case with two of Ben & Jerry’s latest flavors, Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff. It’s as if the dairy in their products have the ability to turn my tear ducts into lactating cow udders.

I remember the first time I ever tasted Ben & Jerry’s. It was their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. I couldn’t get enough of that creamy vanilla ice cream with those chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough. It was as if Ben and Jerry were consoling me and giving me a giant group hug from inside of me. Every spoonful I took made the hug tighter and I never wanted them to let go. I closed my eyes and just let Ben and Jerry hold me.

When I opened my eyes, half the pint was gone. It was at this exact moment that I started to weep because I knew Ben and Jerry couldn’t hug me forever. Although I wanted Ben and Jerry to give me a never-ending hugjob, I knew it wasn’t possible because if I continuously ate their ice cream, my body would blow up to the point where it would look like Ben and Jerry were actually in my body giving me a hug.

So that’s why Ben & Jerry’s ice cream makes me cry with mixed emotions; happiness because I’m eating damn tasty ice cream and sadness because I can’t get Ben and Jerry to give me a hugjob forever.

These latest Ben & Jerry’s flavors look good on paper and in the paper containers they come in. Red Velvet Cake is made up of red velvet cake batter ice cream with red velvet cake pieces and a cream cheese frosting swirl. While Clusterfluff has peanut butter ice cream with caramel cluster pieces, marshmallow swirls and peanut buttery swirls.

Ben & Jerry's Clusterfluff and Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake Innards

Red Velvet Cake had a lot of red velvet cake pieces mixed in, which was surprising because in previously reviewed Ben & Jerry’s flavors I complained about not having enough of the featured ingredient (See Hannah Teter’s Maple Blondie and Chocolate Macadamia). At a quick glance, the pink ice cream and red velvet cake pieces look like what would happen if Huckleberry Pie left hickeys all over Strawberry Shortcake’s skin during a romp in the strawberry field.

Yup! I just ruined the 1980s for some of you.

The red velvet cake pieces are slightly chewy, but damn, they make the ice cream tasty by amplifying the red velvet cake flavor of the ice cream base. However, I thought the combination of the red velvet cake-flavored ice cream, red velvet cake pieces, and cream cheese frosting swirl became a little too rich for my taste buds after a few spoonfuls. This made it difficult to plow through the ice cream like I usually do with other Ben & Jerry’s flavors. But overall, Ben & Jerry’s did a solid job with their Red Velvet Ice Cream.

Clusterfluff is based on the fluffernutter, a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. But as I ate the ice cream, I thought it ought to be renamed Clusternut because, while I could see the marshmallow swirls, peanut butter was all I could taste. Also, I think it rhymes better with the word that influenced the flavor’s name: clusterfuck.

For some reason, the ample caramel cluster pieces enhanced the flavor of the peanut butter ice cream and provided a crunchy texture in the ice cream. If I ate this ice cream and didn’t know they were caramel clusters, I would definitely think they were peanuts. While it tastes more like a Clusternut than a Clusterfluff, I did think it was divine for a peanut butter-flavored ice cream and I could see myself accidentally eating through half a pint in one sitting.

Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff are both really good flavors, and I’d place them on my list of top 12 Ben & Jerry’s flavors. While both are creamy and delicious, they also make me feel like Ben and Jerry are giving me a hugjob.

And, for me, that’s all that really matters.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – Red Velvet Cake – 250 calories, 120 calories from fat, 13 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Clusterfluff – 320 calories, 170 calories from fat, 19 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 31 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of protein.)

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff
Price: $3.50 (on sale)
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Red Velvet Cake)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Clusterfluff)
Pros: Both make me feel like Ben and Jerry are giving me a hugjob. Clusterfluff has a divine peanut butter flavor and is easy to eat through. Lots of red velvet cake chunks mixed into the ice cream. Caramel clusters were plentiful. Hugjobs.
Cons: Red Velvet Cake might be too rich for some. Can’t taste the marshmallow swirl in Clusterfluff. Not being able to have Ben and Jerry give me a hugjob forever.

8 thoughts to “REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake and Clusterfluff (What A Cluster)”

  1. These both look really tasty, especially the Clusterfluff variety. I love that name, it’s right up there with “hugjob.”

  2. Hahahaha that strawberry shortcake comment was priceless!!!! LOL!

    I recently tried Clusterfluff. It was delicious. I ate as much as possible in a short amount of time. I neared the bottom of the pint, then just threw the rest away. That is some amazing ice cream, but they must add crack to it! I’m addicted, man, I’m fluffin’ salivating as I type this.

    I won’t try the Red Velvet because I have an unhealthy fear of Red#40. Food coloring is gross! I wish they used beets to color it…

  3. Their Red Velvet flavor is my favorite of theirs in ages. I’m in love with anything Red Velvet. Being a Southerner, I was surprised they did a Red Velvet cake flavor. The cake is delicious, so is the ice cream. Good job on that one. I saw Clusterfluff in the store, but didn’t pay attention to what was in it since I was in a hurry. After reading the review, I think I might try it based on the peanut butter part alone. PB is a weakness of mine. My fitness regime was going so well until I got lured back in by the ice cream freezer. 🙁

  4. I shouldn’t be searching google for Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet icecream at nearly 1am. That being said, I was hooked into your review at “lactating cow udders”.

  5. I just did a google search on reviews and loved yours. I think Ben & Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake ice cream is the greatest thing to ever happen to ice cream. I have managed to stay away from B&J ice cream for quite some time and was perusing the ice cream aisle at the grocery store when I saw this and just had to get it. Needless to say the pint was gone within 1 hour after getting home – every time I put it away I’d think about eating it again and then I’d give in. Now I need to try Clusterfluff!

  6. Sorry, clearly you have not tried Blue Bunny Red Velvet Cake. While I’m a big Ben and Jerry’s fan, their Red Velvet Cake clearly misses the mark. They try to explain the lack of actual Red Velvet Cake flavor by calling the ice cream Red Velvet Cake ‘BATTER’ flavor. The bits of cake are not cake, they are rather pinkish, and gummy…much like what they put in the cheesecake flavors. This ice cream will not conjur up any image of Red Velvet Cake if you close your eyes and take a spoonful. Rather, you’re left thinking ‘interesting flavor….I wonder what it is?’. This needs to go back to the drawing board (and I hope their flavor developers have had a chance to try Duff’s Red Velvet Cake for Blue Bunny so they’ve got an example of how Ben and Jerry’s should taste, when all is said and done.

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