One Underappreciated Häagen-Dazs Flavor Is A Luxurious Rival To Ben & Jerry's

Americans have been enjoying cherry ice cream for centuries, and in that time, it has become one of the nation's favorite flavors. It's no surprise, then, that fans hold it to a high standard. Ice cream fiends may therefore be interested to know there is one luxurious yet underappreciated flavor we feel rivals Ben & Jerry's famous Cherry Garcia – Häagen-Dazs' Dark Cherry Truffle. 

A blended cherry vanilla ice cream featuring cocoa truffles and swirls of cherry sauce, Dark Cherry Truffle was launched in early 2026. Since then, we at Tasting Table have been repeatedly impressed by this decadent delight. It scored high on our ranking of nine store-bought cherry ice creams, beating Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia for third place. Lest anyone wonder whether there's much difference between Häagen-Dazs' Cherry Vanilla and Dark Cherry Truffle, Tasting Table's tester set them straight, writing: "Although I enjoyed both, I think this one is infinitely more interesting than the vanilla variety." 

This was partly due to Dark Cherry Truffle doubling down on the fruit component. The combination of cherry sauce and cherries blended into the ice cream elevates the texture and provides a more concentrated cherry flavor. "But what really makes this ice cream flavor stand out are the little pieces of chocolate truffles in the mix," our critic enthused. "They're there for their rich, chocolatey flavor, of course, but also for the slight, subtle crunch they offer." Dark Cherry Truffle also made our list of five Häagen-Dazs flavors we think deserve more love, with our correspondent describing it as the "more grown-up cousin" to Cherry Vanilla.

Dark Cherry Truffle has also won admirers on social media. In a Reddit thread devoted to the flavor, the original poster argued: "If you crave a Black Forest vibe, this one delivers ... The three flavors are pretty evenly matched here, so you get to taste all three in harmony." Replying to one of the respondents, the commenter added that the ice cream's swirl would benefit from the larger chunks of cherry found in Cherry Garcia, saying: "B&J usually wins on mix-ins, H-D on the base quality. Now if they could team up ..." However, others remained loyal to Ben & Jerry's, with one Redditor writing, "I tried this a while back, I was severely disappointed. Cherry Garcia will always be superior."

Nevertheless, the flavor was popular enough for Häagen-Dazs locations throughout the U.S. to unveil a Dark Cherry Truffle collection from April to the end of June this year. This range included the original ice cream itself, a Dark Cherry Truffle Shake, and a Dark Cherry Truffle Dazzler Sundae featuring hot fudge, whipped cream, and cocktail cherries. If you were unable to grab any of these at the time, check out our old-fashioned vanilla milkshake recipe. This could be easily adapted to include Dark Cherry Truffle or the cherry ice cream of your choice.