Soft serve 101: fior di panna, sorbet and the swirls
The soft serve board is short on purpose: four flavors, two swirls, two sizes. Here is what each one is, so you can walk up knowing what you want.
Fior di Panna is the one people ask about most. The name is Italian for "flower of cream", and it is the plainest flavor in any Italian gelato case: sweet cream, with nothing added to flavor it. No vanilla bean, no extract. If you like the taste of cold, fresh milk, this is the one, and it is the best base for toppings because it does not compete with them.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter are what they sound like. Peanut Butter is the one to pick if you have ever eaten peanut butter straight from the jar with a spoon.
Strawberry Sorbet is the dairy-free option, and it is marked vegan on the menu board. Sorbet is made without milk or cream, so it is lighter and sharper than the other three, closer to frozen fruit than to ice cream. If you are avoiding dairy, ask at the counter about toppings and cones too, since some of them contain milk.
The swirls twist two flavors together, so you get both in every bite. As the names suggest, Strawberries n' Cream is strawberry with cream, and Peanut Butter Cup is chocolate with peanut butter.
Sizes are Lil' Sis (4 ounces, $5.50) and Big Sis (6 ounces, $7.50). Both come in a cup, a sugar cone or a cake cone at no extra charge, or a waffle cone for a dollar more.
Toppings are 50¢ or $1. The 50¢ list: chocolate, butterscotch, caramel or strawberry drizzle, fresh strawberries or blueberries, Fruity Pebbles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, toasted marshmallows and Oreos. The $1 list: olive oil and sea salt, Nutella, peanut butter and macadamia.
Olive oil and sea salt on Fior di Panna sounds strange until you try it. It is an Italian way to finish sweet cream gelato: the salt sharpens the sweetness and the oil makes it taste richer. If you only try one new thing, try that.
A few combinations that work: Peanut Butter Cup with Oreos; Chocolate with toasted marshmallows; Strawberry Sorbet with fresh strawberries and blueberries for a dairy-free cup that is mostly fruit; Fior di Panna with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and caramel.
The soft serve is poured every day we are open, in Strawberry Village by the Safeway, with free parking in the lot. Every flavor, size and topping is on the soft serve page.
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