It’s no secret that Jimmy Fallon and The Roots love their Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. They love it so much that they even formed a group called Ladysmith Snack Mambazo to sing about it. So when Ben and Jerry wanted to team up with the Saturday Night Live alum and Late Night host, Fallon jumped at the chance. And “Late Night Snack” was born — vanilla ice cream with swirls of salty caramel and fudge covered kettle-cooked potato chip clusters. Um, yum.
“So you get the crisp, you got the salt, you got the sweet, and you got the chocolate. It’s like the best ice cream flavor I ever had!” Fallon raved during the flavor’s official launch at the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon set in New York on Wednesday.
Not only was Fallon excited about “Late Night Snack,” which he swears is way better than Stephen Colbert‘s AmeriCone Dream, but the comic was also happy to promote a good cause. Two of the main ingredients — vanilla and cocoa — are Fair Trade products, a business model the Burlington, Vt., company wholeheartedly supports. In fact, you shouldn’t feel guilty getting a few pints, since proceeds will go to support Fair Trade Universities.
“That’s kind of our goal, too, as a show,” Fallon explained. “We’re all about kind of being positive and putting out a positive message to people and getting things moving in the right direction and make you feel good about what you’re doing. So I totally support Fair Trade, and I think it’s totally cool that you [Ben & Jerry] are doing this.”
“Late Night Snack” isn’t the only collaboration on the market. Brush up on the other socially-responsible varieties available at Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops and in your grocer’s freezer:
- Cherry Garcia pays tribute to late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Made up of cherry ice cream, cherries and fudge flakes, it has been the brand’s best-selling flavor for more than 20 years.
- Phish Food combines chocolate ice cream with marshmallow, caramel swirls and tiny fish-shaped fudge. Inspired by the rock band who also calls Burlington, Vt. home, this flavor’s proceeds go toward environmental efforts in Vermont’s Lake Champlain Watershed.
- Country Peach Cobbler was inspired by Willie Nelson‘s foundation, FarmAid. Ben and Jerry combined peach ice cream with cinnamon-sugar shortbread pieces and peach swirl to honor the legendary musician as well as raise money for a worthy cause.
- Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownies was supposed to be a limited-edition flavor, but high demand brought it back for an “encore edition” that is now sold in pints. The sweet cream and black raspberry ice cream swirl with fudgy brownies makes this flavor irresistible. What makes it even more enticing is that Dave Matthews Band and Ben & Jerry’s have partnered with LickGlobalWarming.org to stop global warming.
- Maple Blondie is another special edition flavor that is making its way back. Inspired by two-time Olympic medalist, snowboarder and Vermont native Hannah Teter and her nonprofit, Hannah’s Gold, this maple ice cream, blondie chunks and maple-caramel swirl is a concoction that will not only satisfy your sweet tooth but help children in Africa.
- Imagine Whirled Peace was created because of Ben & Jerry’s desire to promote peace. They thought that John Lennon‘s “Give Peace a Chance” was the best source of inspiration. Partnering with the John Lennon Estate and Peace One Day, the combination of sweet cream and caramel ice creams swirled with toffee cookie pieces and fudge peace signs could have the ability to stop the fighting and inspire ice cream socials in the West Bank.
- Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream was created in 2007 with the proceeds going to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Its combination of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl can give Fallon’s “Late Night Snack” a run for its money.
- Bonnaroo Buzz premiered last year to honor the annual music and arts festival held in Manchester, Tenn. Ben & Jerry’s captured the essence of the south with a combination of coffee and malt ice creams with toffee chunks and a whiskey-laced caramel swirl. Proceeds from the flavor go to the Bonnaroo Works Fund, whose goal is to further the organization’s community investment and philanthropic endeavors.