When Fair Cape Dairies asked me to do a review and use their products in my recipes I was pleasantly surprised and obliged. I have been using the products they sent me for a few weeks now and in many different ways to make sure I can give an honest and thorough review. Fair Cape Dairy Products are available at all major retailers and you can check out their website here for a full breakdown of their products and for more information on this ethical, family-owned business.

Fresh Low Fat Milk:

We don’t use milk that often in our household – I have black tea and hubby doesn’t drink tea that often. If we do have coffee, it’s mostly just me or on the weekends when we have a big breakfast. The first thing I did when I opened it was to have a glass of cold milk. There was something very nostalgic about that. I started thinking about all the things I could make with it, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies to dunk with, traditional milk tart, rice pudding, croissants smothered in Nutella and baked in an egg custard, creme anglaise over a Malva pudding – all sweet items naturally. Then I thought why not use this whole series to make healthier food but with a more modern twist.

This milk was delicious and creamy, I find full cream milk quite rich and prefer low fat milk to fat-free. It is a happy balance between the two types of milk. The packaging is recyclable plastic, the writing is very clear and it didn’t take up that much space in my fridge door. I used the milk to make a Cranberry & Orange Quinoa Porridge, a spiced gluten-free version cooked the same way as you would cook oats and a warm and hearty porridge to make for breakfast. You can find the recipe here.

Lactolite Low Fat Yoghurt:

This was by far my favorite product. According to blood tests I am not lactose intolerant, but there are certain foods in addition to dairy I struggle with, like wheat. I always have to eat yoghurt with added probiotics. Different types of dairy have different effects on me such as milk, cream or yoghurt. Because of this, I have only been eating one brand of yoghurt for the past few years. I have also almost completely given up ice cream which is a real tragedy if you know me. This yoghurt has been the only other brand to agree with me and not cause me any issues. I usually buy double cream yoghurt, so it took a bit of time getting used to the low fat, but there are so many uses for this yoghurt. I made butter chicken and a creamy coleslaw with it, you can even use it for khuri kitchrie, make a drinking yoghurt that you can take to work, eat it for breakfast with your fruit and muesli, make strawberry fro-yo, the ideas are endless.

100% Pure Apple Juice:

What I loved most about this juice was that it didn’t taste like artificial apple nor was it overly sweet. You usually find grape juice added to apple juice but this is 100% pure apple. I made a refreshing anti-oxidant filled ice tea and mixing the tea with the apple juice was a great balance of flavors. I will definitely make this in summer, as it is a healthier alternative to drinking pure juice but is a bit more exciting than diluting it with plain water. Hubby loved it and didn’t even know he was drinking green tea & rooibos tea. You can add chia seeds to it if you want a more filling drink or a pre/post workout snack.

Chocolate & Caramel Delight:

I struggled with the next product, not because it was hard to come up with a recipe for but literally because I had to keep hubby from eating them all! I finally gave in and let him eat the caramel one and just managed to get a taste in as he finished the whole thing. There is 8g of sugar in this 125ml portion, which is a lot less than other pre-made desserts that usually clock in at over 10-12g. This works out to 2tsp of sugar and they are a nice treat. I was surprised at the taste of the caramel delight, usually caramel can be a hard flavor to replicate, it’s either too sweet or too artificial, but this one was neither of those. It would be great if you want to make a lighter peppermint crisp tart dessert instead of using caramel treat which has loads of sugar. I actually ended up buying a second chocolate delight (R5,49) as I wanted to make a chocolate chia pudding with it, but hubby took that as an opportunity to eat another one! I literally could not win here and think you should just enjoy this straight out of the tub with some raspberries, melted marshmallows and crushed chocolate digestives (deconstructed s’mores anyone?).

Low Fat Yoghurt:

Because the weather has been rather dreary lately, I have not been eating yoghurt in it’s cold form. Rather preferring to cook with it or bake with it, I made this lemon & yoghurt loaf cake. Another thing I loved about the Fair Cape products were their expiry dates! They were generous and not “eat within 3 days”. Who can eat a kilogram of yoghurt in 3 days? Anyway as I was perusing the aisles in all the grocery shops, I became more aware of the different products out there and while I haven’t tried this next product I am really excited about it. Fair Cape makes flavored yoghurt that is sweetened with xylitol. If you are watching your sugar intake because of diabetes, following a Banting diet or just generally steering clear of sugar, this product would be perfect for you. I don’t buy any flavored yoghurts that are sweetened because of the high sugar content and will definitely try this in the future!

I really enjoyed using these products and coming up with recipes for them and I hope you enjoyed following me in real time through my Instastories. If you are not following me on Instagram or on Facebook, click on the links at the bottom of the page and feel free to share this post! Have you tried any of these products? Let me know what is your favorite recipe in the comments below.

*First Picture from @faircapedairies on Twitter