I said I was going to blog about food all month and on the menu today is ice-cream. Let’s face it, if you are going to treat yourself then it is a good idea to make that treat count and have something fabulous. I appear to have raised a gang of ice-cream connoisseurs, yes it is genetic and they get it from their parents. We spent the past few summer months checking out the best of the rest of ice-creams all over Cape Town and the store we kept coming back to again and again… was our local, Kristen’s Kick Ass Ice Cream…
All the Details
You can find the store in Noordhoek Farm Village, open from 9-5 every single day. It doesn’t matter what time of the day you visit the team are always thrilled to see you and happy to serve you. You will have to make a decision or two or three.
There are the regular faves and then seasonal tastes flow through, all together 60 flavours… you can buy tubs to take home, or scoops and cups, and sprinkles an optional extra.
The Back Story
It’s really quite simple, be careful what you get as a wedding gift. When Kristen received an ice-cream machine it was somewhat life changing. Battling to get a work permit, to work in her field as a trained nurse, she turned to ice-cream. Who wouldn’t. And she started churning out flavour after flavour and posting her stunning ice-cream treats on instagram. That’s where I discovered her. Anyway, one thing led to another and she was invited to open a store, not one to back down… she googled “How to Open an Ice-Cream Store” and dived in. It’s a wild ride and from making a tub a day, to tubs for dinner parties… to opening a store. The learning curve was vertical, but nothing is impossible for this E.R. Nurse… I asked her how she felt about the crazy silly summer season, that is Cape Town over New Year, and she loved it… there is no emergency she can’t handle… when stocks are low she works through the night, and when the crowds are crazy she just serves away.
The Ice-Cream
Oh my, the ice cream, it’s rich and creamy and delicious. I had to ask how do they make it and so much of it, so consistently good… and her reply, “They churn it out batch for batch, using fresh, natural, seasonal ingredients.” I had to persist, and ask about the hassle factor of making endless egg custard, because that’s how we create our own ice-cream? They don’t make endless egg custard, her ice-cream has a cream cheese or marscapone base… and from there on I was hooked. Because this gal can talk about food. It’s cream cheese that carries the flavour, and the higher fat adds different layers of flavour. The mixture is made and infused in a myriad of flavours. From mint, to basil, to coffee grounds, only the best and steeped in cream. The following day the ice cream is churned…
And then churned a little more…
And then popped into the blast freezer…
From the freezer, to the storefront and the process begins again.
The Kitchen
I went for a wander upstairs and a tour of the Kitchen… there was tons of goodness, all over the show…
And you clearly can’t do this without a team effort…
The Ingredients
All as close to locally sourced as possible. While I was sitting there, some fresh figs wandered in… No fake flavours, no alarming additives… just genuine flavours, from beautiful looking ingredients.
And the next time I looked they were smothered in cinnamon…
The Treats
When she adds treats to her ice-cream there is no holding back and everything is made from scratch: marshmallows, honeycomb, oreos… all from scratch. Not to mention cookies. I had to try one and honestly, just the cookies are to die for, slightly crunchy on the outside and squishy on the inside.
Next time you find yourself in the Deep South, traveling past Noordhoek Farm Village, do yourself a favour and drop in for an ice-cream… she is already branching out into waffles, and when I asked about hot chocolate for the winter time and all her flavours and ideas spilt out… it may have been the first time ever that I thought it might be nice if winter were to speed up a little.
Huge thank you to Kristen of Kristen’s Kick Ass Kitchen for the fabulous fun interview. This is not a sponsored blog post, I was not paid to write it and opinions expressed are as usual, entirely our own.
So lovely to know the story behind this yummy ice cream!
favourite part of your interview?
when I asked about hot chocolate for the winter time and all her flavours and ideas spilt out… it may have been the first time ever that I thought it might be nice if winter were to speed up a little.
HAHAHA – I can’t WAIT for winter. In fact, I’m making a list today of things I like about summer, just to keep me focussed on the good, and not the heat!
Oh wow – what a story! And what delicious treats!