It was a perfect day for frozen yoghurt - it was sunny, hot, summery, but not disgustingly so. I was looking forward to attending the event that I was invited to by Cherrypick Yoghurt to sample and learn about their yoghurts. I got off the train with a hungry tummy...
...And maps on my phone decided to send me to the other side of Darlinghurst. So I had to trek all the way back down Oxford St in a heat that was becoming more and more disagreeable by the minute, and arrived at Cherrypick Yoghurt out of breath.
Which, didn't seem like such a bad thing after all. This cute little shop decorated with bright candyland colours instantly cheered me up. Candy cane stripes in a cherry red were everywhere, and really added a feel of whimsy.
But that didn't mean at all that the owners Winnie and Daniel were at all capricious. It was quite the opposite. I could feel their passion for the product when I was instantly engaged in a conversation regarding the intricacies of yoghurt flavour development. Quite unlike other yoghurt shops that I've seen where the base mix for the frozen yoghurt is a runny milky liquid much like a soft serve mix, Cherrypick Yoghurt actually has real, thick, creamy yoghurt at its core.
According to Winnie, a lot of research and thought went into this base yoghurt. Chocolate is a popular flavour, and they wanted to make sure that chocolate flavoured yoghurt didn't taste odd, as the luxurious taste of the sweet chocolate can sometimes clash with the sour after taste of the yoghurt. So they worked with yoghurt suppliers in the states to develop a recipe that would complement the other flavours that they wanted to build on top of the base flavour.
And hand in hand with this particularity about flavour, is a fastidiousness about quality. Winnie and Daniel first fell in love with frozen yoghurt in the US, when they went on a holiday with their daughter. A trip to Yoghurtland in the States ignited the imagination of both Winnie and their daughter, and started a pilgrimage to start their own shop with all of the wonder and whimsy, while still retaining the quality and dignity of the yoghurt.
Now, they have a family owned shop on Oxford Street, where their four year old daughter can invite her friends from kindergarten to visit 'her shop' (how cute is that?). That base yoghurt is truly delicious, and Winnie and Daniel - both of whom quit their day jobs in the financial sector to put all their effort into this - brought the recipe that they developed in the US and are supplied by an Australian owned yoghurt company.
Adamant about not adding extra cream or having their mix watered down, the quality of the yoghurt really stands out to me in the original flavour. I usually pick a fruity flavour of frozen yoghurt, but I'd happily eat buckets of Cherrypick's original flavour. I really like that they are not about trying to imitate ice cream or other frozen treats, but they are trying to carve out a niche - it's all about the yoghurt, and a quality yoghurt at that. I also really enjoyed my conversation with Winnie about the health benefit of frozen yoghurt - yeah it might have some health benefits, but at the end of the day it's a dessert, and should be eaten in moderation as well. Winnie happily shared every single detail regarding calories and sugar, and was very candid and transparent about the nutritional facts about her yoghurt.
Oh, and just to add to the whimsy, they are also selling cupcakes supplied by someone their know really well.
How cute is that? Besides the fact that I was invited, I really loved the transparency and research that is going into Cherrypick Definitely a yoghurt shop worth going back to.
Cherrypick Frozen Yoghurt
(02) 8021 7859
Shop 28, 59 Oxford St
Darlinghurst, 2010
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