Although there's been a surge in frozen treat spots opening up in Vancouver as of late, a local dessert company is sweetening things up with their own offerings.

Cupcakes co-owner Heather White tells the Georgia Straight by phone that two years ago, she and her business partner Lori Joyce began searching for "the perfect complement to cupcakes".

After rejecting a few ideas, they started to develop their own ice cream line called Betterwith (as in things go better with ice cream).

"The one thing that we pride ourselves in is that we use natural, whole ingredients," White says.

Following that philosophy, instead of using artificial stabilizers, their custard-based ice cream utilizes an egg yolk base, which thickens and becomes a natural stabilizer for dairy products.

Furthermore, their ice cream only contains five ingredients: cream, skim milk, egg yolk, organic sugar, flavouring.

So far, their range of flavours includes chocolate, strawberry, caramel, vanilla, coffee, and cream (White explains that cream is their ice cream base without any flavouring).

The line will be sold in their stores as well as in grocery stores like Choices and Whole Foods.

But that's not all. Thanks to this new ice cream line, there are three new desserts being added to their menus.

First up is a cake-batter waffle cone, available in vanilla, chocolate, and—ooers!—red velvet.

There's also a cake shake, made of a cupcake, two scoops of ice cream, and milk all mixed in a blender.

The third new item is a cupcake sundae, in which a scoop of ice cream is served with a cupcake, sundae-style.

And this is only the beginning. White said their menu may expand in the future to include items such as ice cream sandwiches, cookies, and brownies.

As they've expanded beyond cupcakes, their name is expanding too—over the next year, they'll be converting their locations to be rebranded as Cupcakes & Other Good Stuff. As White explains, their company has been in business now for 14 years and they were seeking a way to reinvigorate their brand.

A future location to open at Richmond Centre is also in the works. There are eight locations in the Lower Mainland (plus one in Victoria and another in Toronto). 

The new ice cream line will be introduced to most of their stores within the next few months, but for now, it's available at their flagship store at 797 Thurlow Street, which just reopened today (June 16).