TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Sorbabes Gourmet Sorbet | The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures - The Nibble Webzine Of Food AdventuresTOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Sorbabes Gourmet Sorbet | The Nibble Webzine Of Food Adventures
It looks like ice cream, but it’s sorbet: amazing peanut butter banana sorbet with a fudge swirl. Photo courtesy Sorbabes.
You’ve never tasted sorbet like this before,” says Sorbabes. And they’re spot on.
The Sorbabes (as in sorbet babes) are two friends who met in New York City and followed their calling as specialty food entrepreneurs. They founded the Gourmet Sorbet Corp. in 2012.
They may not even know it, but they have taken sorbet to new heights.
By using creamy, nondairy ingredients such as coconut milk, peanut butter and fudge swirls, they’ve created a sorbet texture and complexity that’s entirely new to us.
These flavors have the creaminess of ice cream, while remaining dairy free, cholesterol free and very low in fat (flavors with coconut milk and fudge ripple contain a small amount of fat; some flavors are fat free). Some are vegan.
Flavors very seasonally, but here’s what we’ve been enjoying this summer:
Juicy Orange Passionfruit With Lychees. This flavor is classic sorbet style—no added creamy ingredients. But it’s brilliant. Orange juice and zest take a bit of the edge off of the naturally tart passionfruit, without detracting from intense passionfruit flavor. The chopped lychees add joy of flavor plus great texture: a perfect pairing of fruits. If they only made this one great flavor, Sorbabes would be our Top Pick Of The Week.
But there’s more greatness to come.
Creamy Coconut Chai Sorbet. With a base of coconut cream and hints hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, this flavor could evoke Indian chai. But to us, the crunchy slivers of coconut and the crumbs from the fresh-baked coconut macaroons evoke Biscuit Tortoni, our childhood passion. The coconut milk replaces the Tortoni’s whole eggs and heavy cream, although vegan should note the macaroons contain egg whites.
Organic Peanut Banana Sorbet with Chocolate Fudge. An astounding flavor: lusciously creamy peanut sorbet with chunks of banana, a ripple of dark chocolate fudge and large chunks of peanuts. It’s so ice cream like, people won’t immediately think that it’s sorbet. Use it to fill a chocolate cookie pie crust: You’ve got instant frozen peanut butter banana pie.
Organic Pistachio With Sea Salted Caramel. The Sorbabes say that this flavor put them on the map. Whole organic pistachios in a water base are laced with a French sea salted caramel sauce. It’s a beauty, and so creamy it’s hard to believe it’s dairy free.
Raspberry Fudge. Red raspberries combine with fudge sauce to emulate a frozen raspberry truffle—actually a classic raspberry sorbet generously spiked with chocolate fudge. A slight problem here: All the fudge sauce was on the bottom of the pint. We needed to soften the sorbet and then churn up the fudge with a spatula.
We’re still on the hunt for a pint of Organic Pistachio With Sea Salted Caramel. Photo courtesy Sorbabes.
Summer Cucumber White Wine Mint. Called “summer in a jar” by the Sorbabes, this flavor has a cult following. The combination is fresh cucumber, fresh mint and Wolffer Estate white wine. Alas, we have not yet tracked down a pint. We’ve got a few more stores to visit until we can joint the cult.
And there’s the rub.
As a new company, Sorbabes has limited distribution in the Metro New York area. We hope that their participation last week in the country’s largest specialty food trade show has gotten them clients nationwide.
Until then, you’ll have to petition the best food store in town to bring the Sorbabes to you.
