* First Drop: Charcuterie Ice Cream Board Flight and Caramelized Garlic Toffee Pint
Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia’s award-winning 1900s-inspired ice cream parlor and soda shop has exciting news heading into spring and summer season. The Franklin Fountain, located on Confectionery Row at 116 Market Street in Old City, announces a blitz of super-limited-edition, experimental new ice cream flavors. Starting in April, and each month moving forward, ice cream lovers are invited to try six new flavors monthly: four will be sold as an ice cream flight, and two additional flavors will debut in pints. These six new monthly flavors will not be available by the scoop. They will be sold on a first come first serve basis. For the first month, look for 15 Charcuterie Board Flights and 32 Caramelized Garlic Toffee Pints to debut Friday, April 3rd at 11:00am, with 32 Elderberry Goat Cheese Pints to debut on Friday, April 17th at 11am. Other monthly drops will include Tea Flights and Pints, Baked Goods, Herbs and more. With this weekend’s debut, The Franklin Fountain announces their summer hours, opening at 11:00am daily. Pints and flights will also be available at Franklin Ice Cream Bar (at 112 Market Street) once it fully opens for the season. Follow @franklinfountain on social media for the exact dates, times and quantities for the new flavors and for season opening information for Franklin Ice Cream Bar. For general information, also visit franklinfountain.com.
The Franklin Fountain is one of America’s most well-respected ice cream parlors and soda shops that is like stepping back in time into the early 20th century. From period decor and design, to servers being dressed up as authentic “Soda Jerks” from the early 1900s, to the high-quality, old-fashioned ice cream, to the theme sundaes and old fashion sodas, The Franklin Fountain is a top spot for when visiting Philadelphia – especially during America 250.
For their new small batch, exclusive flavors, Chef Franny Zehmer and her lead ice cream maker Ryan Feldman spent the long, slow winter brainstorming, steeping, churning, and tasting – emerging with twenty-six new flavors ready to debut.
The first flavors being offered are a Charcuterie Board Flight, consisting of Moliterno Cheese, Fig, Olive Olive and Brie. It will be accompanied by a Garlic Toffee Pint on 4/3 and an Elderberry Goat Cheese Pint on 4/17.
“A few years back when I was working in our candy kitchen I was tasked with making caramelized garlic toffee for our Halloween chocolate box. I was thoroughly surprised at how it turned out. A playful combination of savory and sweet that I couldn’t get out of my head. For this Ice cream I used that very same toffee recipe and used the butter I caramelized the garlic in for a brown butter garlic base,“ said Zehmer.
The anticipated launch schedule and flavors are as follows:
4/3 @ 11:00am Charcuterie Board Flight (Moliterno, Brie, Fig, Olive Oil)
4/3 @ 11:00am Caramelized Garlic Toffee Pint
4/17 @11:00am Elderberry Goat Cheese Pint
5/2 Tea Flight ( Hydrangea, London Fog, Chai, Honeysuckle)
5/9 Bastani (Saffron, Rose, Pistachio) Pint
5/23 Caprese Pint
6/6 Baked Goods Flight (Pomegranate Scones, Blueberry Cobbler, Banana Bread, Lemon Bar)
6/6 Peach Scone Pint
6/20 Box ‘o Chocolate Pint
7/3 Smokey Cherry Wood
7/18 Black Sesame Amaretto Pint
8/8 Herb Flight (Thyme, Rosemary, Sage and Basil)
8/8 Plum Pint
8/22 Prickly Pear Passionfruit
About taking on this project, Zehmer said, “Ice Cream is meant to be fun. Through my years managing the ice cream department my staff and myself have had so many what-if moments. What if we made this? What if we combined this and that? It got to the point where I asked myself ‘What if we actually took these ideas and made them a reality?’”
The flavor inspiration ranged from traditional flavors like Persian Bastani, expanding on past successes like the Baked Goods flight, and from personal memories.
When asked what’s one flavor she was most excited about, Zehmer said the Caprese Pint for sure. “In my childhood one of my favorite dishes in the summertime was a Caprese salad using fresh tomatoes and basil from my parent’s garden. When my staff and I were brainstorming flavors for this project we had this idea to recreate this classic dish in Pint form. There were many different ways we could have gone about it but we settled on making our own mozzarella from scratch to make the ice cream base, creating a sweetened basil sauce (similar to how we make our mint sauce for our mint chip ice cream,) and roasting tomatoes in sugar until they are caramelized.”
If you purchase one of these very limited edition ice cream flavors, The Franklin Fountain wants to hear from you. Each purchaser will be given a QR code linked to a survey to provide them with your thoughts and feedback on the ice cream. Flavors that are received exceptionally well, may be brought back as a seasonal option.
Make sure to mark your calendar and come out for the first Flight and Pint Drop at 11:00am on April 3rd – and watch social media for details, descriptions, times, quantities and other teasers for flavors coming this spring and summer. To stay up to date on when each special flavor hits the shop, follow them on @franklinfountain on Facebook and Instagram.
Look for new spring and summer flavors also at Shane Confectionery next door for candy lovers, and stay tuned as The Franklin Fountain, Franklin Ice Cream Bar, Shane Confectionery, and The Cacao Pod gear up to celebrate America 250 and Philly 250th.
ABOUT THE FRANKLIN FOUNTAIN
Owned and operated by brothers Eric Berley, The Franklin Fountain is an authentic re-creation of an American ice cream parlor and soda fountain, circa 1915. Ice cream made on-premises is scooped and served in cones, sundaes and floated upon ice cream sodas drawn from a 1904 bronze & onyx soda fountain. Hot fudge, caramel and other toppings are made using fresh, local ingredients. Soda jerks are dressed in period attire, serving customers an authentic early 1900s experience in a historic building with ornate tin ceilings, marble counters and mosaic penny tile floors.