A family-run ice cream parlour in Wales has won the title of National Ice Cream Champion 2022 at the 'Oscars' of the ice cream world, with their coveted family recipe - and possibly the cutest tasting experts in the country. Basil & Rusty's in Machen, which has been making Minolis ice cream for more than 30 years, picked up the award for the fourth time.
“We are absolutely delighted to win this award,” said Geraint, the chief ice cream creator for Minolis. "Our success is all down to my late dad, Lewis, who created this recipe that we still use it today and my mum, Sue, who with a little help from us, has carried on this award-winning ice cream making business after my Dad passed away in 2017.”
The ice cream is made on-site at the family's Gelliwastad Farm, where the parlour is also located and is run by Geraint and Emma Richards, who took over from Geraint's mam and dad, Sue and Lewis, and later his sister Sian, back in 2016. Sue still helps out in the business, and it was with Lewis back in the 1980s that she developed the vanilla ice cream recipe using, at first, a borrowed home ice cream maker.
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The ice cream is called Minolis after Sue and Lewis took over the ice cream-making business from an Italian family who moved back to Italy back in the early 1990s. The couple grew the business to have vans, stalls at B&Q stores around the country and supplied the Royal Welsh Show. Sian and her husband took over the running of the ice cream business, renamed as Hapus ice cream for a time, as Lewis and Sue semi-retired. Then Geraint and Emma took over the parlour and ice cream manufacturing and using Emma's background in farming and horticulture to create a welcoming cafe in a beautiful setting, while Geraint's experience of working in the family business previously meant he had the ice cream-making knowledge ready to go.
Geraint added: “Basil and Rustys is a family run ice cream parlour set in beautiful countryside, serving delicious ice cream desserts and gourmet coffee in a very relaxed friendly atmosphere. My mum is an integral part of our business as well. A fair description of the business dynamic is that Emma and Sue are the engine and ensure the essential work is done. I make the ice cream and talk a lot. And our kids Tess, nine, and Ted and Belle, both seven, are the chief tasters.”
Emma also creates the mouth-watering sundaes and added that while she and Geraint make the ice cream nowadays, credit still lies with her in-laws. "Although Geraint and I made the winning batch for the Champion of Champions we give Lewis the and Sue the credit and hope they are proud our ice cream is still winning awards, judged by people who know their ice cream that officially places it as one of the best in the UK."
Basil & Rusty's (named as such after Geraint and Emma's childhood nicknames) parlour sells the original seven classic flavours Minolis created - Dairy Vanilla,Wild Strawberry, Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Chip, Dairy Toffee, Rum and Raisin, Dairy Coffee - but keep these up to date by creating special sundaes with high-quality sauces and toppings to give different flavour combinations.
Their new Lemon Crunch ice cream won a Diploma of Merit at the same competition. The parlour also sells cakes from a local cake maker who uses whole, natural ingredients, and they offer gourmet organic coffee from a small roaster just down the road. The milk and cream used in the ice cream also comes from a small, local family business.
