KEEPING IT REAL: THE NICE COMPANY

'It's simple. I make the ice cream that I like to eat," laughs Cherylle Cowley. And, with her ice-cream enterprise The Nice Company churning out goodies for more than 15 years, it seems as though Capetonians have taken a fancy to it too.

"In the beginning, it was hard to convince people to pay a premium for fresh dairy ice cream, but that's definitely changing," says Cowley from her small factory in Westlake. "You get a lot for what you pay - our prices are pretty old-fashioned and our recipes haven't changed since the day we started. We've added some flavours along the way, but our philosophy is that there's nothing newer than old-fashioned food."

Cowley doesn't take herself too seriously, but it's clear that there's no room for funny business when it comes to her range of ice creams and frozen yoghurts.

"We always keep things natural," she says. "We don't use anything mass-produced or processed, and we use absolutely no artificial flavourings. All our lovely flavours come from real ingredients, because I like my ice cream honest."

Cowley is refreshingly honest about what goes into the ice-cream churns at The Nice Company, where local is most certainly lekker. "Our frozen berries come from Hillcrest Farm in Franschhoek, the cream from a dairy in Darling, and our milk and yoghurt from Fair Cape. Only our chocolate is imported. We've tried other chocolate, but the 70% Belgian couverture has simply been the best."

Her range of ice creams and frozen yoghurts extends from good old-fashioned chocolate to more creative cassata with crystallised ginger, but there is a definite sense that simple is best.

"I like classic stuff, so I love our vanilla ice cream. The theory in the trade is that you can judge an ice-cream maker by their vanilla, and I'm happy to say that vanilla is our biggest seller. No surprise, chocolate comes in second."

And while a bowl of ice cream is the ideal treat on a hot summer's day, there's no reason to stop with just a simple scoop and spoon.

"There are hundreds, thousands, of ways you can eat ice cream," says Cowley. "Split a few meringues, add a dollop of vanilla and spoon over some whipped cream. Then purée some frozen raspberries with caster sugar and drizzle that over the whole lot.

"Or," she adds with obvious excitement, "get a decent croissant, split it in half and spoon some vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis over the top. You'll never look back. In winter, try bread-and-butter pudding with our apricot cheesecake ice cream on top. Yum yum!"

THE NICE COMPANY

46 BELL CRESCENT DRIVE, WESTLAKE BUSINESS PARK, CAPE TOWN

0217016037

nicecompany@mweb.co.za

A SCOOP FOR ALL SEASONS: THE CREAMERY

It's a rare chef that isn't all hot-under-the-toque about cooking seasonally at the moment, as fresh local produce reigns supreme on restaurant menus across the land. But seasonal ice cream?

"Absolutely," says Kate Schrire, owner of Cape Town's newest artisan ice-cream factory, The Creamery.

"The Creamery is all about handmade seasonal ice cream," says Schrire, "made as far as possible with local ingredients from Western Cape family farms. We talk to our farmers based on what's in season and they deliver directly to us each week. Depending on what's available, we decide which flavours to make and then we just churn."

The notion of sticking to seasonal ingredients may seem restrictive, but Schrire and her manager Marianne Visser seem to get ever more excited by what flavour combinations may be lying in wait around the next corner.

"It's actually quite seamless, moving from one flavour to the next," she says.

A trained chef with experience in sustainable agriculture, Schrire has an infectious passion for supporting small-scale farmers.

"Our strawberry farmer is done for the season, but the organic nectarines from Citrusdal have started coming in, so we'll work with those instead.

"All our milk and cream comes from free-range Guernsey herds on Langrietvlei Farm up the West Coast, which has been in the same family for a few hundred years. The cream is so thick, you can stick a spoon in it and it stays upright."

The milk has been churning in this compact factory kitchen for just three months, but the Creamery is already gathering a loyal cabal of customers, who keep coming back for the inventive selection.

"We obviously sell a lot of chocolate, but we try to find a balance between the classics and something slightly different. Our fresh ginger ice cream has done really well and, because lemons grow year-round in the Cape, our lemon ice cream is always available and popular.

"We've also churned something simply called 'Natural'. It's like vanilla, but without any vanilla. It's just the usual custard base that gets heated and then churned. When we do side-by-side tastings, most people prefer the natural to the vanilla."

With quality ingredients and a small, ever-changing product line, these two are certainly not looking for a quick buck.

"We give out tasters at markets to get people to try different flavours," says Visser. "The beer ice creams are really popular."

"Cost isn't the bottom line for us," adds Schrire, scooping a ball of ginger and roast-plum ice cream onto my plate. "The bottom line is: does this ice cream taste amazing? We're trying to make it an affordable luxury."

THE CREAMERY, WAVERLEY BUSINESS PARK, MOWBRAY, CAPE TOWN

www.thecreamery.co.za