Girl with a Teacup visits The Creamery

Yip, Monday ended on a very sweet note indeed! I had the pleasure of being invited for an ice cream tasting with Kate and Marianne- Cape Town’s artisan ice cream queens. You can read all about these ladies here, and here and here!

Having a wine industry background I’ve come to know what to expect from a tasting but I must be honest and say that I’ve never been to a real ‘ice cream tasting’ so I was a little apprehensive as to what I was supposed to do. Does one comment on the colour? Do you smell it? Swirl it around your mouth??!

Thankfully both Kate and Marianne are the most unpretentious gals around and there was none that poncy stuff! Instead, we literally just sat around the table chatting and eating. Now, that’s my game. There was no shortage of things to talk about and I love spending time with like-minded people so it was a real treat for me to be able to receive their undivided attention for a good hour and a half.

The ice cream

First of all the ice cream that Kate and Marianne produce is the real deal. All natural ingredients make their way into the creamy deliciousness that has help establish them as a household name in market/foodie circles. The keywords being local and seasonal. Marianne is looking forward to a beetroot ice cream (how amazing does that sound?!) but has had to fervently wait for the right time when the beetroot is at its very best. ‘You can’t hide anything’, she says. Meaning that if the flavours of the natural ingredients aren’t up to scratch, then you will pick it up in the final product.

The tasting

As we sat around the small table surrounded by freezers overflowing with ice cream tubs, Marianne presented us with the cutest little tasting plates filled with all sorts of exciting and interesting flavours. I struggled to get my mind around the fact that this is actually work for her! and when I asked if they ever go tired of tasting ice cream, Kate’s reply was, ‘More than three back-to-back tastings is a bit much for me’. Well, taking into account we made our way through a total of 8 different flavours in one tasting… I sort of understand where she may be coming from!

Our first ‘flight’ consisted of:

*Vanilla and quince

*Cardamom and ginger

*Lime Curd

The highlight for me was most definitely the cardamom and ginger- it was so flavourful and had me really  scraping my teaspoon into every little corner! I’d tasted the lime curd before at the Earth Fair Food Market and am a big fan but on this day I felt it almost got lost in amongst the other amazing flavours.I suppose it happens when you just have too many favourites to choose from!

The second lot came and I could see that Kate, Vanessa and Marianne’s plates were all empty. There I was lagging behind with still some ice cream left from the first three scoops. Clearly I wasn’t used to this. Haha.

The next ones were simply phenomenal…

*Darling Brew Christmas beer (soooo good- and definitely very very beer-ish!!)

*Hot cross bun and brandied currants (loved the great brandy kick in this one)

*Roasted banana (JUST like banana bread in every.single.way!)

Obviously by this point i was starting to hit ice cream ecstasy- how could one not?!

But… there was still more to come!

*Coffee (They use the Yirgacheffe single origin Ethiopian from Rosetta Roastery in Woodstock, for this flavour)

*Peanut Butter (Let’s not go here- we all know about my PB addiction)

*Chocolate (a true classic that will forever remain in my top five!!)

As you can see there were a LOT of flavours going on here, each so different and unique in their own special way. We all agreed that NOTHING compares to homemade ice cream and seriously in my opinion if you’re going to spend all those calories, might as well be on something good, no?

I had the best time at The Creamery! Not only getting to taste the great array of wonderful ice creams but also just being able to take time out of a (normally) busy day to sit down and enjoy the company of very humble, down-to-earth, free-minded and inspiring people.

Kate and Marianne, you guys rock!

PS. Did I mention you can join their ice cream club?

xxx

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