I was asked by Khashifah, from Pastry by Hatice, to test out her homemade ice cream. Next to chocolate, ice cream is my other weakness. I steeled myself for this daunting task and accepted the job of taking one for the team. As tough a job as this would be, somebody had to do it…
Excuse my facetiousness, but this was literally my dream assignment. When I first moved to Johannesburg, 5 years ago, I struggled to find great quality ice cream. Eventually I found Paul’s, which wasn’t bad, and more recently Baglios has been quite impressive. Also, it’s great to see the Gelato Mania has finally made it to Joburg. I have always been a fan.
But artisanal small batch ice cream can really level up. Khashifah is a Pastry Chef by profession, and ice cream is her latest passion. She offered me 6 flavours to try before going for Umrah and left me for 2 weeks to mull over my thoughts.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t need 2 weeks… I went through all those flavours in once session and to be honest it’s hard to pinpoint a favourite. But it’s also about the texture and quality. I’m fussy about ice cream so this had to tick all the boxes.
Let’s start with Texture
This may be the creamiest ice cream I have had to date. It is quite rich and you don’t need much to satisfy the ice cream craving. Some of the flavours have pieces in and there is no skimping on the fillings. I did find in some cases it was maybe even too much but I’ll break it down on the flavours.
The Flavours
The first tub was an unusual but delicious Orange and Cardamom. One of the smoother options without pieces. The combination of zesty and spicy for me was a winner.
The Caramel Macchiato is a dream for coffee lovers. The coffee flavour is strong without being bitter and the surprise of the caramel ripple is a sweet delight.
The Turkish Delight with its beautiful pink hue, had actual chunks of Turkish Delight and chocolate. The flavour was on point, but I felt the chocolate chunks were a bit too much. Can you believe I’d say “too much chocolate….”?
The Persion, has flavours of Rose, Cardamom and Saffron. A creamy and luxurious flavour to savour on your own. It’s the kind of flavour that makes you feel like you’re spoiling yourself.
The Ginger Macadamia is another favourite with generous chunks of glace ginger and Macadamia nuts throughout with a ginger flavour is not overwhelming. Personally I would have liked a stronger ginger sting.
The one sorbet is the Mango and Passion Fruit. This too felt quite luxurious for a sorbet and the flavours were punchy. It includes the seeds from the passion fruit which makes it authentic but for me could have been less.
The Packaging
The ice cream is packaged in an earthy brown paper tub with a subtle sticker denoting the flavour. I love the simplicity. It looks like an understated artisanal product that is great quality but not commercial.
The base of the ice cream is full cream and buttermilk powder which provides that rich texture. Khashifah uses only natural ingredients to flavour her ice cream. No flavourants. So there’s actual ingredients and spices to make up the flavour profiles. She will soon be adding an Ajwa flavor as well as Mango & Chilli and Carribean Chilli.
I love the unusual taste combinations in her ice creams. And I’m looking forward to more exciting ice cream combos and sorbet flavours as we head into summer.
Make sure you get your hands on a tub starting from R130 per litre. They are worth every penny.
Contact Khashifah at 082 940 0480.
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