Here at Taste Gourmet, we’ve been a big fan of Sydney based Serendipity Ice Cream since we opened our doors. We feature their ice creams and sorbets on our café menu and we sell them (and take them home to enjoy as well!).
Now that the weather is warming up, we thought it was the perfect time to taste ..no I meant learn about Serendipity.
Reading their list of exotic ice-cream and gelato combinations is enough to make you lick your lips with delight. And know that they come our with even more flavors each year is even better.
We caught up with CEO (and daughter of the founder of Serendipity) Sarah Mandelson and asked her about what must be one of the world’s great jobs, running a gourmet ice-cream business!
Who is behind Serendipity Ice Cream?
Serendipity Ice Cream is headed by me, Sarah Mandelson as CEO. I’m the daughter of founder Alix Mandelson. Richard Single, my husband, is Sales and Logistics Manager. We have a dedicated team of 15 to produce and deliver our award-winning products right around Australia.
We’re on Enmore Road, in Marrickville, an inner west suburb of Sydney. All our products are made on site here.
Why did you start making these products?
Serendipity was started in 1966 by my mother Alix Mandelson, a former US diplomat. Alix started making gourmet ice creams at home because the most exotic ice cream available in Sydney at the time was Neapolitan. Allergic to chocolate, Alix found the lack of choice unacceptable and set out to change the situation at least for herself and her dinner guests. Once her guests tasted the fruits of her labour, Alix soon found herself in unexpectedly business – hence the name, Serendipity, meaning: happy discoveries by accident.
Tell us about your ice-creams and sorbets?
We make a huge range of super premium ice creams, sorbets, frozen desserts and dessert sauces. Over 100 flavours are in stock at any given time, and we are constantly developing new ones.
Serendipity’s super premium ice creams are made with fresh milk and cream (not reconstituted dairy products) resulting in better flavour and smoother texture. We blend ingredients carefully to create our own unique recipes using finest natural ingredients sourced locally (where possible) and from around the world. Our super premium sorbets are made with a very high fruit content which gives these products the lusciously rich taste and texture they possess with zero fat - in other words, they don’t taste thin and icy like most sorbets. Richard & I still make our products in small batches and use the best natural ingredients. We are constantly re-inventing the wheel in terms of flavours, but always with exacting standards in mind. Our products are generally denser than most commercial brands, and are lower in sugar, but the main criterion is taste.
What is your favourite product?
My personal favourite is our Belgian White Chocolate ice cream, teamed with Passionfruit & Chili sorbet. This combination has everything: the rich smoothness of white chocolate ice cream, the tangy fragrant flavour of fresh ripe passionfruit, and just a little kick from chili.
What’s the best thing about being an ice cream maker?
The best thing about making our fabulous ice creams is the pleasure such a product brings to the people who eat them. I love watching people drift off in a daydream eating our Death by Chocolate ice cream, or regressing to a second childhood eating Hokey Pokey ice cream.
We have won over 300 medals and now 20 trophies for our range of products. All of our products are made using 100% green energy, reducing our carbon emissions to zero for electricity, and Serendipity is committed to being a sustainable business.
IN STORE NOW!
Spring 2009 flavours which Taste Gourmet has in store now are:
ICE CREAM
Caramel Fudge
Dark Rum & Raisin
Death by Chocolate
Espresso
Hokey Pokey
Mangoes & Cream
Vanilla Bean
SORBET
Blood Orange
Fresh Lime
Lemon
Passionfruit
Wild Berry
And, on the menu we have:
Raspberry Sorbet & Cointreau Ice-cream Pyramid
Fig Honey & Pistachio Ice-cream Pyramid
Coconut & Kaffir Lime Sorbet
DID YOU KNOW?
MOST SERENDIPITY PRODUCTS ARE GLUTEN FREE!
Serendipity ice creams and sorbets are gluten free (Super Fudge Brownie & Tiramisu excepted, both of which have bakery products containing wheat flour). The sorbets are suitable for vegans, and are fat-free, egg-free, dairy-free, soy & nut-free!
SARAH’S SUGGESTIONS FOR SERVING SERENDIPITY ICE-CREAM
“In my view, ice cream is best served on its own or accompanying another dessert – especially hot desserts in winter. So, a simple tarte tatin is transformed into a wonderfully rounded dessert with the addition of either our classic Vanilla Bean ice cream or nutty Macadamia ice cream. In summer, I like serving a scoop of sorbet (like Blood Orange) in a martini glass with a splash of Champagne or a dash of vodka.”
