St Benedicts is a good street to discover businesses zigging the zag. Next door to the handsome brick ex-convent that is now Hard to Find Books – thriving in this digital age – you’ll find twiice, another business doing things differently. 

Between those who faithfully tote around a reusable cup or bowl and those who choose not to think twice (see where we’re going here) and opt for the disposable, it turns out there’s plenty of scope for those who want to have their cup and eat it too.

Twiice creates edible cups, a biscuit-y vessel that can hold liquid for hours and can be filled with whatever your heart desires. At the hole-in-the-wall espresso set up at the front of twiice’s production kitchen you can give its wares a whirl: order your usual and it will be served in your choice of vanilla, chocolate or double chocolate cup that you can nibble away on while you get your caffeine fix.

You can also fill your cup with plenty more than coffee, your morning oats, your afternoon fruit salad, your after-dinner chocolate mousse – all are that little bit more exciting served this way. Twiice cups make an excellent topic of conversation when replacing boring old inedible cups and bowls at events.

Twiice was born from a trip to the beach taken by Jamie Cashmore and his now wife Simone, when she mentioned how cool it would be to have cups you could eat instead of throwing away. With Aotearoa churning through almost 300 million disposable cups per year, she had just hit on one way to help tackle a problem.

Jamie’s dad, architect Stephen Cashmore, worked on the custom machinery and after many trials to get both the recipe and machinery right, the team had a cup to take to market. Today the business provides cups to a wide range of customers, including individuals and hospitality outlets. Its biggest customer is Lone Star, which has 26 branches around Aotearoa and serves desserts on the kid’s menu in twiice cups. Expanding into overseas markets is on the cards; doing so will involve building the custom machinery here to ship overseas so that production can take place there.

Meanwhile, twiice remains a small operation that’s very much a family affair, with Jamie managing the business and Simone working on its branding, and Stephen and his wife Theresa working on the production side. When I visit they’re busy rolling out dough to press into the cup moulds, alongside staff member Nina. Together they’re busily chipping away at providing an innovative, fun offering to enable plastic-free living. 

Chia pudding with summer fruit 

This dish takes minutes to whip up and then you just leave it overnight or for at least 6 hours to chill and set. It makes a lovely breakfast or brunch, and is equally delicious as an afternoon pick-me-up or healthy dessert.

Here I’ve gone for a chocolate-orange vibe by using Otis chocolate oat milk and a little orange zest, but you can switch out the milk for whatever milk you like, or use coconut cream for a thicker, more decadent version.

We used twiice double chocolate cups here for an extra chocolate hit, but vanilla or chocolate work equally well. Top the pudding with whatever summer fruit and berries are looking and tasting their best 

Makes 2 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Resting time: 6 hours or overnight 

Ingredients

1⁄4 cup chia seeds
1 cup Otis chocolate oat milk 2 tsp honey
1 tsp orange zest

Summer fruit (eg strawberries, blueberries, passionfruit) 

Method

1. In a suitably sized jar, add chia seeds and milk and stir to combine.

2. Stir in honey (if honey is too solid, melt it in the microwave or in a small pan on stovetop first) and orange zest until well combined.

3. Secure lid on jar and place in the fridge overnight or for at least 6 hours. It pays to check on the pudding once during chilling time, giving it a stir to disperse seeds that will have settled on the bottom.

4. To serve, spoon pudding into two twiice cups, top with fruit and serve more fruit on the side. 

Twiice

6 St Benedicts Street

Web: twiice.co.nz

Instagram: @twiice