Trending: The Brioche Ice Cream Sandwich
Milk Ice Cream with Cornflake Crunch served in a pillowy homemade brioche - ice cream sandwiches are the next big dessert trend, and can be found for a brief, magical period of time each weekend in Christchurch...
Story by Johanna McCord
Photography by Johanna McCord
It's hard to find an ice cream that doesn't taste good, even your middle of the pack ice creams are quite delicious. It takes a special recipe to stand out from the pack, and there is now a limited window each week in Christchurch to experience one of these marvels.
Fresh Press Ice can be found at the Christchurch Farmers' Market, which takes place during the hours of 9am to 1pm on a Saturday, rain or shine. Since Fresh Press Ice showed up late last year, any weather is now ice cream weather. Fresh Press Ice was created and is single-handedly run by the indefatigable chef Aliesha McGilligan. She offers an ever-changing array of ice creams and sorbets, the softest and most buttery brioche you might ever eat and cold brew coffee.
Ice cream and sorbet flavours vary based on what's fresh that week. In the past this has meant sensuous Sea Salt Caramel Popcorn Sorbet, Cereal Milk with Cornflake Crunch, Sour Rhubarb, Sweet Cherry and Strawberry Sorbet and Chocolate, Marsala and Fig Sorbet. Standard cone and cup options are on the table but, and this is important, ice cream and sorbet is also available IN or ON a brioche. Need I say more?
One would assume the laws of supply and demand would make Aleisha's wonderous ice creams extortionate, but they're remarkably affordable at just $4 for a cone, and $8 for a brioche ice cream sandwich.
With Aliesha at the helm, every single ingredient, piece of equipment and every other ancillary detail has had more than a bit of thought applied to it. One conversation with her is guaranteed to get you excited about food as her unwavering commitment to the best quality, most ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients is driven by an infectious passion.
It's important to note that Aliesha does all this on top of a full time job, as a chef for the successful Taste group who run not only the Farmer's Market, but well known establishments Passengers & Co, Town Tonic and Local. She preps all the ingredients for her ice cream on a Friday and churns well into the night around her shifts in their bustling kitchens.
Not only this, but on Sundays she sells pizza too! You can find Fresh Press PIzza at The Commons in Christchurch for Sunday lunch, where she adds her signature authentic and honest style to another perennial favourite - but that's a story for another day.
Fresh Press Ice can be found at Christchurch Farmers' Market at Riccarton Bush (16 Kahu Road) on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. For more information, visit the Fresh Press Ice Facebook page.
Fresh Press Pizza can be found at The Commons, 70 Kilmore Street, Sunday Lunch (specific hours vary). Visit the Fresh Press Pizza Facebook page for more information.
Johanna McCord
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