Is there anything more divine than late summer fruit condensed into an icy sweet treat? I just have to spread the word about some incredible fresh sorbet I got at the Phinney Farmer's Market recently. Can you believe that rich color?
As part of the wave of fresh, local, seasonal food flourishing here in the Pacific Northwest, ice cream carts are now part of the scene at farmer's markets. At the Ballard Farmer's Market where I usually shop, you can get Empire Ice Cream and Whidbey Island Ice Cream (you've got to try their chocolate-dipped ice cream bars). So when I stopped by Phinney Ridge on a Friday afternoon, I allowed myself the indulgence of a small dish of Half Pint ice cream.
With an intriguing array of flavors, I opted for Earl Gray chocolate and blackberry sorbet. After blissfully savoring the creamy sweet explosion of flavors on my tongue, I splurged on a pint of the hand-packed blackberry sorbet to take home.
As a girl whose favorite ice cream was raspberry sherbet because of its rich pink color, of course I was a sucker for the deep magenta blackberry sorbet. But the flavor and texture have to also shine, which they do. Not overly sweet but sweet enough, creamy with a touch of ice like a good sorbet should be. Perfect.Owner Cle Franklin whips up weekly batches of four different flavors using mostly local and fresh ingredients. To see what she has whipped up this week, check Half Pint on Twitter.
Find Half Pint Ice Cream in the Seattle area at the Columbia City Farmer's Market on Wednesdays, Lake City Farmer's Market on Thursdays, Phinney Farmer's Market on Fridays, and Broadway Farmer's Markets on Sundays while the season lasts.
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5 comments:
Lately we've been quite partial to the traditional gelato served up at D'Ambrosio in old Ballard (right where the Sunday market sets up). It's a different experience from American-style ice cream - a little less fat, a cleaner, more intense flavor, and served slightly warmer so that the flavors come forward. Not that I'd turn away from anything you've so beautifully described....YUM!
(And too bad that autumn has arrived so quickly - my interest in frozen desserts diminishes as the weather cools.)
Hey Barry,
Yea, D'Ambrosio is also wonderful but boy the word is out - I had to wait in line over 20 minutes on a recent Friday evening to get some gelato there.
As far as the sorbettos/sorbet, I actually prefer sorbet to fruit and dairy-free gelatos because I like a bit of icy edge and not totally creamy.
Alas, my interest in frozen desserts does not diminish in any season!
I tend to like fruit sorbets better than ice cream too. I had some very good tart cherry sorbet in Washington, D.C. However, genuinely great gelato(like D'Ambrosio which reminds me of gelato in Italy) can't be ignored. Sorry again you had to wait 20 minutes the other day at D'Ambrosio-I think anymore you have to be there before 7:30 on weekend nights to beat the lines. I hope that didn't sour your experience
WOW - the Earl Grey chocolate and berry sorbet sounds incredible -- I went to the Half-Pint twitter page that lists today's flavors, and they aren't quite as adventurous. But I'll check it out again in a few days... The goat cheese and fig flavor I like may not be your style - you might find it a little cloying. Sounds like you enjoy the brighter, fresher flavors of fruits. I go more for the rich, creamy, nutty flavors.
Hi Jill,
Wow! Thank you so much for that awesome blog post! The photo is great and I really appreciate all of the kind words about Half Pint. :)
Please introduce yourself the next time you're at a market!
Thanks again (going to Tweet about your post right now!).
Best wishes,
Cle
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