Ms. GF Guide’s Summer Soft-Serve Summary

40 Carrots Yogurt, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

Yes, Bloomingdales even has expensive Frogurt. You, the readers, demanded it – so I was forced to deliver. After my reviews of the gluten-free soft serve options at Tasti D Lite, Pinkberry, and McDonalds, I was asked to investigate the gluten-free status of “forty carrots” frozen yogurt at Bloomingdales. Good news for everyone looking to spend even more money satisfying your sweet tooth – forty carrots’ frogurt is gluten-free.

After following the many signs necessary to navigate oneself to the forty carrots restaurant tucked away on the 7th floor of Bloomingdales’ 59th Street location in Manhattan, I found only a short line of customers waiting to be served (nothing compared to the throngs of people currently crowding Pinkberry). When my turn came, I asked if they had ingredient or allergen information. Yes, he nodded, and delivered to me my very own nutrition and ingredient flyer. I stepped aside and read furtively ……………. yes, I could indulge.

The regular toppings are in a cross-contamination minefield, so I didn’t bother with the yummy sounding coconut or goji berries. The fresh fruit toppings are in an entirely different area, so I felt relatively comfortable with my choices.

I ordered a plain small with fresh blueberries. $4.50 for a small plus $2 for the single fruit topping meant my total with tax was…choke…$7.04!!! Man I hoped it was good. I let it get a little melty before digging in – I enjoy SOFT ice cream or froyo. It is quite tasty. It has a bit of the tang sought out at Pinkberry, but it’s a little more mellow and creamy. It was delicious, though for me I don’t know that it is worth the price or the hassle of navigating the halls of Bloomie’s.

The famous forty carrots dessert is made by a company called The Wards Ice Cream Company in Paterson, NJ. It is branded as “Frogurt” which coincidently is served at a bakery right by my apt (I will have to investigate pricing outside of the luxe Bloomingdales environs).

Probably the best tasting soft-serve I had this summer was after the Gluten-Free BBQ in NJ. We went to Applegate Farm, where I enjoyed a vanilla soft-serve that rivaled the Frozen Dairy Bar Ice Cream I had during my childhood summers in Virginia. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a photo of the creamy deliciousness.

But given price, convenience and calorie considerations I still have to give top billing to McDonald’s. Yes, this Gramercy Tavern loving, jicama eating, quinoa making, GF Guide LOVES McDonald’s ice cream. What is your favorite soft-serve?

McDonalds Ice Cream with Peanuts, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

Bloomingdales plain low-fat frogurt contains: Yogurt cultured Grade A milk, sugar syrup, yogurt cultured nonfat milk, corn syrup sodium citrate, mono and diglycerides, carbohydrate gum, locust bean gum, polysorbate 80, guar gum and diocityl sodium sulfosuccinates. A 4 oz serving contains 100 calories, 2 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, and 20 grams of carbohydrates.