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Sheffield - Carousel Chocolaterie

Posted by Unknown Friday, April 18, 2014 0 comments

Happy Easter!

Apparently every child in the UK receives on average 8.8 Easter eggs. I think most kids would prefer quality rather than quantity. If you've not already got one, Carousel Chocolaterie in Sheffield would be a good place to go:

It's a relatively new business, and is currently ranked on Trip Advisor as the second best place in Sheffield to go shopping (only the giant Meadowhall Shopping centre does better)!

They sell good quality chocolates, mainly from Belgium.

So whether you fancy a dark coffee mousse, a milk egg liqueur with pistachio or a white coconut liqueur truffle, they'll have it here!

For lovers of local food, they also have a hand made in Sheffield range.

We played Russian roulette with our selection

and had a dark chilli and lime truffle in our box!

They've got lots of truffles to choose from:

and these pretty Easter figures:

They also have good quality, sugar-free chocolates.

So I'll stop rabbiting on about how good this shop is:

and just say it's eggcellent!

Carousel Chocolaterie

23 Orchard Square Shopping Centre

Church Street

Sheffield

South Yorkshire

S1 2FB

Tel: 0114 276 5444

Web: www.littleshopofchocs.co.uk

Cardiff - Allen's Bakery

Posted by Unknown Thursday, April 17, 2014 0 comments

Allen's Bakery is exactly the sort of place I like to feature in this blog! I think I first read about it in another blog (Gourmet Gorro), and after finding they're also one of Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, I knew I had to visit this traditional bakery.

A lot of local people aren't even aware of its existence, down an alley near Roath:

but it's well worth hunting out. Follow your nose!

Inside the bakery:

there's all sorts of traditional bread and cakes. By now a queue of locals had formed, and everyone was recommending different things to buy. My wife likes the chocolate shortbread and, as it's Good Friday, we can definitely recommend the hot cross buns:

Allen's Bakery

Arran Place
Cardiff
South Glamorgan
CF24 3SA

Tel: 029 2048 1219

Web: http://www.allensbakery.com

Whirlow Hall Farm Trust

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, April 15, 2014 0 comments

It's always impressed me how there's some beautiful countryside right on the edge of the city of Sheffield. Whirlow Hall Farm is just 4 miles from the centre of Sheffield, but it's in another world!

Whirlow Hall Farm is an Educational Trust, which was set up for inner-city children to come and experience the countryside - and have a better understanding of where their food comes from

So you can meet Bracken the pony:

and, if you prefer something smaller, there's Frankie the Shetland pony:

These lambs were enjoying something to eat:

but these very young lambs were having a rest under a heat lamp:

Just above that barn is their farm shop:

The shop sells their own produce, and other carefully selected items, mainly from local producers.

The wall at the back explains they measure food miles in metres:

with fresh eggs from just around the corner, and their own free-range eggs, high-welfare pork, lamb and beef and award winning bacon and sausage.

There's an interesting selection of foods including their own green tomato chutney:

and pickles from Just Preserves, which is just 3 miles away.

They sell organic bread from (the soon to be featured in this blog) Cat Lane Bakery:

Beer lovers are well catered for. There's Punk IPA from BrewDog:

and more local beers come from Kelham Island Brewery (just 5 miles away):

and Farmers' Ales from Bradfield Brewery - a family run brewery based on a working farm in the Peak District.

At weekends there's guided tours of the farm, and the Cruck Barn Café serves their own freshly prepared produce:

All the proceeds are ploughed back into the trust, so you can feel really good about what you're eating here!

Whirlow Hall Farm Trust
Whirlow Lane
Sheffield
Yorkshire
S11 9QF

Tel: 0114 2620986

Web: www.whirlowhallfarm.org

Nantwich - Teresa's Icecream Parlour

Posted by Unknown Sunday, April 13, 2014 0 comments

I love Nantwich, and I've just found another reason for you to love it too. In this lovely historic town there's already 100 businesses selling food and drink, and now there's another!

Yesterday a tricycle in the square was giving out free samples of icecream:

and on the Oatmarket, next door to the Talbot, Teresa's Icecream Parlour has now opened.

There's coffee and cakes

but the main thing here is icecream. It's made on the premises:

and there's 22 flavours to choose from.

In this rotating display:

there's Banoffee, Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Cream Egg, Ferrero Rocher, Honeycomb, Mint Choc Chip, Pecan Caramel, Raspberry Vanilla, Snickers, Strawberry, and Vanilla.

There's more flavours here:

including Pistachio, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Brownie, Lemon, Dairy Free Strawberry, Smartie Pants, After Eight Mint, Caramel Cream Egg, Kibana Sorbet (kiwi and banana) and Dairy Free Vanilla.

It's a little piece of Italy in Cheshire!

Teresa's Icecream Parlour

1 Oatmarket
Nantwich
Cheshire
CW5 5AL

Web (new site coming here soon): www.teresasicecreamparlour.co.uk

Sheffield - Seven Hills Bakery

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, April 8, 2014 0 comments

Seven Hills Bakery started when Matina Mitchell, Laura Bullock and John Travers met at a bread making course at the School of Artisan Food, and then decided to start a bakery near Hunters Bar in Sheffield. Word has evidently got out about how good this bakery is, so I had to wait for the queue outside to go:

There's an amazing choice of bread, including batons, ciabatta, fougasse, roast potato and rosemary, soda bread, sunflower seed and wheat germ & honey:

Sour doughs include apricot and hazelnut, beetroot, fig & walnut, linseed, and raisin & fennel.

We enjoyed this red onion focaccia:

At the back of the shop there's a small café:

where you can have soup, sandwiches, toast, pizza and Monmouth coffee or leaf tea.

There's traditional cakes, like this Victoria sponge:

and lots of interesting items, like these vanilla bean buns:

which don't look anything special, but tasted really nice. We would especially recommend this orange semolina cake:

which was wonderfully moist and tasty.

If you like brioche, you'll also be well catered for. There's sour cherry and marzipan, or lemon and cardamom brioche buns:

and cinnamon brioche swirls:

There's attention to detail here, so the brownies are made with Valrhona dark chocolate.

This lemon almond and poppy seed loaf was wonderfully moist and very lemony (it also smelt lovely). It's also gluten free.

Seven Hills Bakery
129 Sharrow Vale Road
Sheffield
S11 8ZP

Web: www.sevenhillsbakery.co.uk

Oxford - Maison Blanc

Posted by Unknown Sunday, April 6, 2014 0 comments

No guide to fine food shops would be complete without a mention of Maison Blanc in Oxford.

I'm not big on "celebrity chefs", but I've always have had the highest regard for Raymond Blanc. Raymond is clearly passionate about everything he does, and loves and knows good food. Maison Blanc in Oxford is not far from Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, - a place I'd love to visit.

So, if you want a bit of affordable luxury, such as artisan breads, pastries, savouries, cakes and pâtisserie:

visit Maison Blanc!

Maison Blanc
3 Woodstock Road
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX2 6HA

Tel: 01865 510974

Web: www.maisonblanc.co.uk

Cardiff - Madame Fromage

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, April 2, 2014 0 comments

Cardiff still has lots of Victorian and Edwardian arcades, especially in the Castle Quarter. It was in the Castle Arcade that I found Madame Fromage:

It's a café with a deli and cheese shop.

The cheese counter:

has a selection of Welsh cheeses:

and continental cheeses:

and there's bread to go with the cheese:

There's also cakes, like these banoffee cheesecake brownies:

or caramel shortbread

I'm more of a savoury person, so I bought a Welsh Oggie, from Edward's of Conwy.

I also wanted a gift to take home, and settled for some Wesh caviar (handpicked laver seaweed from the Pembrokeshire coast) from the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company: