Our new special will be Pear and Blackberry Ice Cream, which we made for the first time last year, and which proved very popular. The Blackberries are grown by Haygrove Fruit Farm, just outside Ledbury. The Pears are from an orchard on the other side of Ledbury. Our October Special will be Apple with Cider Brandy Ice Cream, made with apples grown apples by Simon on his small holding, and Herefordshire Cider Brandy produced by King Offa’s distillery in Hereford. This will be available from next week.10/10/09

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Our August Special is Plum, Cinnamon and Amaretto Ice Cream, made with local Early Rivers Plums grown just outside Newent at Castle Fruit Farm by Chrissy Bentley and her husband. This is a regular seasonal special, and always popular. Delicious served with a Plum and Almond Crumble

To make the Crumble: Make the crumble mix, using a 125g Flour, 80g Butter and 50g Demerara Sugar and 50g Ground or Chopped Almonds. Mix in the ood processor, or with your fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. Stone 500g of local plums (variety of your choice) and place in an ovenproof dish. Scatter with sugar if required. sprinkle the crumble mix all over the top, then place in the oven for 30 mins 350 degrees F/180 degrees C/ Gas Mark 4. Serve hot with Plum Cinnamon and Amaretto Ice Cream!.

The 2009 Shobdon Food Festival was another great success. We again entertained thousands of visitors across the two days at an event that is widely being thought of as a culinary must-see! People were able to sample and buy from over a hundred of the region’s finest food and drink producers and craftspeople. For two days the sights, sounds and smells of Herefordshire filled the air as the smell of the sizzling spicy sausages mingled with the subtle aromas of the organic herbs and the live music was somehow enhanced by the therapeutic clanging of the blacksmith’s hammer and the hypnotic chugging of the vintage vehicle engines.

The weekend began with a sporting theme and an audience with England cricketer Graeme Hick and continued with a 1940’s night that went with a real swing thanks to ‘The Hereford Big Band’. As ever though, the main focus was the quality of fresh produce on show from organic breads, Welsh cheeses, preserves, speciality coffees, strawberries, local meats, beer, wines, ciders and liqueurs to antipasti, smoked produce, patisserie, crepes and ice cream.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped both before and over the weekend itself. We simply couldn’t run an even of that magnitude without you, but we always need more people. Now is the time to get in touch if you would like to be involved next year.

Most importantly, we raised £4,500 for a variety of local charities and good causes which was an fantastic effort.

If you would like to see photographs of this year’s festival, visit the website at Click on the ‘History’ section at the top of the page and have a look at the 2009 gallery.

Our July special is Eton Mess Ice Cream - with local fresh raspberries, chunks of crispy meringue and whisky. A lovely seasonal ice cream, with the taste of early summer! Serve with fresh local raspberries, either just as they are, or press them through a sieve, sweeten to taste (icing sugar dissolves easily) then serve the fresh raspberry sauce in a pretty jug for your guests to pour over their ice cream.
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Our March Special is Pineapple, Apricot and Malibu Ice Cream - a really tropical taste to remind everyone what warmth and sunshine feels like. For a special Mother’s Day dessert, serve it in a scooped out Pineapple Shell, accompanied by fresh Tropical Fruit Salad. It’s an easy dessert as there is no last minute preparation.

To make the Topical Fruit Salad: Cut a ripe pineapple in half lengthwise, leaving the leafy top attached to one half. Cut the flesh out from the other half, place the flesh in a bowl and discard the skin. Carefully cut the flesh from the half with the leafy top, leaving approx 1 cm depth all round, so that the skin maintains its shape. Place the flesh in the bowl, and put the shell in the freezer to freeze. When frozen, pile scoops of the Pineapple Apricot and Malibu Ice Cream in the frozen shell, then return to the freezer.

Add other tropical fruits to the pineapple flesh in the bowl - Kiwi fruit, Mango, Grapes, sliced Banana, or whatever you choose - sprinkle lightly with caster sugar and stir well. Leave to stand in a cool place for one hour. The sugar will draw some of the juice out of the fruit. To serve: Put the Pineapple shell on a pretty platter and serve the fruit salad in a serving bowl. Serve a scoop of ice cream accompanied by fruit salad.
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Our February Special is Fig and Orange Ice Cream. There’s not much seasonal produce around yet,(it’s still a bit early for Rhubarb), so we use dried fruits in delicious combinations to create our seasonal ice creams. This one is delicious served with a hot Steamed Orange Sponge

To make the Steamed Orange Sponge: Put 2 tablespoonfuls of golden syrup and 2 tablespoonfuls of marmalade into the bottom ofa greased pudding basin. In the food processor, mix together 175g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 175g butter, 3 large eggs, and the zest of two oranges. Pour mix into the pudding basin, smooth the top and cover with greaseproof and foil. Steam for two hours in a pan of simmering water. Don’t forget to check the water level every twenty minutes to make sure it is not boiling dry. When cooked, turn out onto a warmed serving plate and serve with a scoop of ice creamtly thickened, cool, then pour over the fruit salad to taste.
Just Rachel

Tyrrells have partnered with the Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens charity to launch two scrumptious new flavours, available exclusively to UK Independent Retailers; Roast Lamb & Shrewsbury Sauce Potato Chips and Parsnip Chips with Rosemary. 10% of the sales value of each case sold will be donated to the charity, which works hard to represent and promote community managed farms and gardens across the UK.

A shared interest in working at a community level brought Tyrrells and the Federation of City Farms together. The Federation of City Farms represents around 120 city and school farms and nearly 1000 community gardens in the UK. These farms and gardens are usually established in response to a lack of access to green space combined with a desire to encourage strong community relationships.

Roast Lamb & Shrewsbury Sauce is a hearty introduction to the Tyrrells range, with the sweet, sharp tones of the Shrewsbury Sauce (redcurrants and lemon) perfectly complimenting the rich lamb seasoning. Parsnips Chips with Rosemary is also an exciting addition to the Tyrrells root vegetables range.
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Our January special is Orange Yoghurt Ice Cream - a fresh tasting, less rich ice cream, ideal for post-christmas jaded palates. Try serving this with a Orange and Cointreau Fruit Salad.

To make the Fruit Salad: Allow one orange (or two tangerines or clementines) per person. Peel, cutting away as much of the white pith and the outer skin of the segments as you can. Slice the fruit finely into a bowl, catching as much of the juice as possible, and removing any pips as you go. Pour over Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) to taste. Stir well, then tip into a serving dish and chill until needed. Serve with a scoop of Orange Yoghurt Ice Cream. If you find the oranges are too sharp, make a light syrup with 100g white sugar simmered in 250ml water flavoured with some strips of orange rind. Simmer until slightly thickened, cool, then pour over the fruit salad to taste.

Just Rachel.

Our current special is Apple with Cider Brandy Ice Cream - one of our most locally-sourced ice creams - using Apples grown at Putley on a Community Supported Agriculture Farm, and Cider Brandy made from Herefordshire Cider. Try serving this with Apple Dumplings (English Apples of course).
To make the Apple Dumplings: Allow one cooking apple per person. Peel and core. Stuff the central hole with dried fruit mixed with brown sugar. Rollout some shortcrust pastry (or cheat and use ready rolled). Cut circles of pastry big enough to completely wrap the apples - a small dinner plate will be about the right size. Place each apple in the centre of a pastry circle and mould the pastry up and around the apple to completely seal. Trim off any excess at the top and use trimmings to cut leaf shapes to decorate the dumplings. Bake in a hot oven (Gas mark 6/200 degrees C/400 degrees F) for thirty to forty minutes. Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with caster sugar, then return to the oven until golden brown. Serve hot with a big scoop of Just Rachel Apple with Cider Brandy Ice Cream.
As an extra Christmas treat, we have NOUGAT ICE CREAM and a NOUGAT & ORANGE DESSERT, both made with Spanish Nougat! Not really ideal for those who are watching their figure, but well worth putting on a few pounds for!
Our Christmas range of Ice Creams, Sorbets, Desserts and Mince Pies are now available.
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