The Scots family business bringing back 'lost' ice cream favourite
Earlier this year it was reported that a Scottish firm was ceasing production of a traditional ice cream treat. But now a family business is making their own with some seriously old equipment.
In January this year, it was reported that Waverley Bakery in Cambuslang - Glasgow’s last remaining supplier of ice cream nougats, the traditional dessert enjoyed by generations - had ceased production. This led to Scotland’s many traditional ice cream shops having to find an alternative supplier, or take the longstanding favourite sweet treat off the menu.
Glasgow company Aldomak has pledged to bring the ice cream nougat back, though they are still seeking support to do this meaning many vans and shops will be doing without. But over in Edinburgh, S. Luca ice cream haven’t had to take the treat off the menu, as they started making their own nougat wafers.
Speaking on the most recent episode of our podcast Scran, Yolanda Luca - third generation of ice cream maker in the family firm, which dates back over 100 years - told us how they are hand making these wafers so they can keep selling ice cream nougats.
She said that her sister has started making the wafers, which are layered with marshmallow and the edges coated in chocolate. A single nougat is ice cream sandwiched between a single wafer and a chocolate-coated marshmallow wafer. A double nougat has two of the chocolate-coated marshmallow wafers.
Ms Luca said they could get back into making their own wafers with equipment the business used to use in the 1940s. She said: “ They've been really popular, but the factory that made them stopped making them about six months ago. We used to make them in the thirties and forties and we found all the kits still in the garage - the kits from the thirties and forties, literally. We went about making them as all the equipment still works.”
As each wafer is handmade, and hand-dipped in chocolate, Ms Luca said the process is “time consuming”. But they can’t keep up with demand.
She said: “ we get plenty of people asking us to now make them for them, but we're not yet, we can't as we’re struggling to keep making them for ourselves. You used to get them in supermarkets - a box of six chocolate wafers. You could go into several supermarkets and buy them, but now you'll not even find chocolate wafers in supermarkets now.”
On the podcast, Ms Luca also talked about the family business and its history as well as how they develop new flavours.
If you’re keen to try this old school treat, S Luca has shops in Musselburgh, and Morningside in Edinburgh. To listen to this episode, search Scran wherever you get our podcasts.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.