The Soft Serve Fruit Co.

It's unclear to me when cream became the enemy (it will always have a soft spot with me), but it seems transforming simple frozen fruit into an ice cream-esque treat is all the rage these days. In the August edition of Whole Living magazine there is a recipe for "Whipped Sorbet"- 3 frozen, peeled bananas and 1 cup frozen berries puréed in a food processor until smooth; Target recently began selling the $50 Yonana, a machine that turns frozen bananas into something that looks and tastes like ice cream without any added cream or sugar; and on June 30th, the rebranded Soft Serve Fruit Co. (formerly Simply Peeled) expanded to a location just off Union Square, bringing hordes of people willing to wait in a line that extends out its door.

Soft Serve Fruit Co.'s soft serve is made with just three ingredients- fruit, filtered water, and a small amount of cane sugar. It is dairy, gluten, fat, sodium, and cholesterol free- does it get any better than that? There are typically 4 seasonal flavors available at any given time, save for when one or two runs out (like today when there was no pear and the banana came with a wait as it was being made), and each hovers around 75-85 calories per serving. Of course the option for mix-ins in categories like hot toppings (all-natural peanut butter, maple syrup, etc.), fruit (blackberries, kiwi, etc.) and dry goods (carob chips, organic granola, etc.) will add a few calories, and if a solo cup of soft serve doesn't suit your fancy, you can eat it in a pretzel cone or make it into a smoothie or sundae for a few dollars more.

Soft Serve Fruit Co.'s nutritional information and philosophy are proudly on display

4 simple steps to ordering

Today's 4 flavors- pear was unavailable and banana had a short wait, so I sampled mango (delicious) and ended up with blueberry (even better)

Employees will let you taste as many of the 4 flavors as you'd like before deciding

A smoothie will set you back $7.50- for an additional $1 you can add protein powder, a vitamin boost, or flax and fiber

The Very Berry smoothie

Sundaes are served in a large cup and cost $7.00- the Crunchy Salty looks like a winner to me
I left with a kid's (small doesn't exist) blueberry in a pretzel cone- complete with flecks of salt